ANNA KREBS
ANNA'S STORIES.
At night, after bathing me and tucking me in, my mother
would settle herself on my bed and read fairy-tales and other children's
stories to me, and then, like a dessert, tell me a story from her childhood
on the farm in Wisconsin. I have told them to my children, who grew up,
like me, far from any farms.
Perhaps there was something exotic for the city child
in the sense of freedom, even wildness, that seemed to be part of mid-west
farm life, with nature ever close in the forest, the lakes, and wide, green
meadows, the fierce thunderstorms and beautiful snows. Also there was the
secure knowledge that nature all around them would always provide an abundance
of good things to sustain and enhance life.
In summer the cooking and canning of fruits and
vegetables took over the kitchen for weeks at a time. My grandmother was
very careful with this procedure, and taught it to her daughters. The jars
and lids must be boiled, the vegetables and fruits cooked until almost
done, then packed in the jars, and capped immediately, ready to store in
the cellar, along with the root vegetables.
When the time came to use them, they must be brought
to the boiling-point on the stove, and cooked until tender. In this way
they were perfect for eating, and, more important, the danger of botulism
was avoided. Cases of it were not unheard of in the community.
In the smokehouse hung the hams and bacon, cured
and ready; the men attended to this work.
There was always milk from the farm-bred cows, and
of course butter; the cream was so thick it was served in a bowl with a
spoon. And there was cheese and cottage cheese.
A flock of hens provided eggs a-plenty, and fried
and roast chicken; the geese gave the family traditional roast-goose dinners,
and goose-down for their pillows, and perhaps quills for writing-pens.
A large kitchen-garden close to the house provided
a variety of vegetables; potatoes, carrots, beets, turnips, parsnips, onions,
cabbage and even tomatoes and cucumbers. The women of the family considered
this garden their special province: Josephine, Pauline, Cordelia, Margaret
and Anna.
Before starting dinner, the cook for that night
visited the garden with a basket on her arm to hold the vegetables she
chose for that meal.
The men, John, Conrad, Leonard, Frank, and Mike
worked in the fields, and towards the end of summer, in the forest cutting
firewood to replenish the woodpile for the fireplace and stove; winters
in Wisconsin could be icy-cold.
Besides these basics of grains for bread and pastry,
meat, fish from streams and lake, fruit and vegetables, eggs and dairy
products, there were delicacies from the forests and ponds nearby: frogs'
legs, mushrooms and maple syrup.
Cordelia assigned the task of picking mushrooms
to one of her sons. In order to train him, they went together into the
forest, where he watched her carefully choose the edible ones, explaining
their characteristics. She also pointed out the deadly ones, so there would
be no mistakes.
There were a few things to buy at the market in
neighboring St. Lawrence: coffee, (half Mocha, half Java ground at the
store) tea, sugar, spices, baling powder, yeast, soda and salt.
Life on the Krebs' farm was bountiful. The combination
of rich soil, plentiful rain and sun, and hard work produced abundant crops.
There were lessons to be learned in the right way to control and manage
this abundance: how and when to prepare the soil, irrigate and plant, till
and harvest; how to store. The maple trees must be tapped in the spring,
the syrup stored in the cellar in jars.
Thus I learned that there was a balance to be maintained;
knowledge and faithful work were the answer to enjoying the good life on
a farm; success was putting forth enough effort in the right ways,
Every Sunday this German-Catholic family, which
had fled persecution in their homeland, rode to the Catholic church in
St. Lawrence to attend Mass. They thanked God for his goodness, and asked
for wisdom and strength, forbearance and grace for the week ahead.
I still have the crucifix my grandmother held in
her hands when she died, with her family at her bedside. It was the peaceful
and happy death she had always prayed God would grant her.
NEXT: LITTLE ANNA AND THE
GEESE.
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