A Typical October Week

Wed. Oct. 27, 1926 : We ironed today. Dad, Ma & I went to Galena this afternoon. It was a nice warm day. Yesterday, Mother churned butter and also baked. Len & Ruby were busy husking corn on the Weis’ place*.

On Monday we washed. We also brought in the celery. The Aunts & Uncles* came down this evening.

Sunday the weather looked nice in the morning. And the roads still looked good so we packed our lunch and went to town to church. We ate our dinner in the car over by the park and then we went on the cement to Robert Virtue’s.* We found them home. Mr & Mrs. Charlie Gray and 4 children were there also. They wanted us to stay for supper but we didn’t. We thought it would be too late to get our choring done. They thought we ought to have come to spend the day. Vera teaches at Derinda, IL.

* Len and Ruby rented a piece of the Weis' property and farmed it for a few years.

* The aunts and uncles would have been Annie and Edd Tippet with Tillie, Maggie and Dan Dittmar.

* The present owners of the Trudgian house are related to the Virtues. They are the ones who have seen a elderly ghost in the back yard by the old barn dressed for farming and sitting on what is left of a brick wall from one of theout buildings.

Same Old, Same Old ...Work, Work, Work

"Wed, Sept 6, 1926: Sunday was rainy in the morning and Uncle Henry and his family did not come to visit us. But, the Aunts (Annie, Tillie and Maggie )and Uncle Edd came down for dinner. Then in the afternoon Uncle Edd, Len & Dad went over to see Billie Bastian as he has been sick. He was up and around again. It threatened to storm this afternoon but didn’t. On Monday Len and Ruby & Dad picked apples. Mother dug some potatoes. There was a terrible windy forenoon and the apples were falling so. Tuesday Len,Ruby Dad & Ma dug some potatoes. In the afternoon Len & Ruby picked corn. I hulled some walnuts and sliced some large cucumbers for slicer pickles. Today we washed laundry and baked bread We also made six qts. of slicer pickles."

Tasty? Treats

" Thu, Sept 16, 1926: Yesterday we put up 4 quarts of tomatoes and 2 quarts of ground cherries*. Then Ma & I went over to the Weis' place and got a few Chickasaw plums*. Also picked a paper sack full of towl grapes*. Today we washed clothes. Dad, Ma, & I went to town late this afternoon. Len helped finish the thrashing at John Tippet’s place."

*Ground cherries are small orange fruit similar in size and shape to a cherry tomato. The fruit is covered in papery husk. Flavor is a pleasant, unique tomato/ pineapple like blend. The ground cherry is very similar to the cape gooseberry, both having similar, but unique flavors. They grow on a small shrub-1-3 ft.in height similar to the common tomato as an annual or perennial. Source: http://tradewindsfruit.com

*Chickasaw plums come from a twiggy, thicket-forming tree, 15-30 ft. tall, with fragrant white flowers in flat-topped clusters and yellow fruit ripening to red in August or September. The tree has a short,crooked trunk and flat-topped crown with scaly, nearly black bark. Reddish branches are covered with thorn-like side branches. Cultivated by the Chickasaw Indians and other indigenous peoples before the arrival of Europeans. This plum is eaten fresh and made into jellies and preserves. Source: www.wildflower.org.

*Towl grapes: After searching the internet for an hour trying to find these I pulled out the actual diary and I think the word she has written is tame.
Source: Sheryl's aging eyes

This family was adventuresome with their eating habits, picking and canning foods from field and hill. Has anyone ever eaten any ground cherries or Chickasaw plums? I bet you have had a taste or two of "tame" grapes!