A few weeks ago, I found a jar of dandelion jelly in my cupboard. I made that a few years back, but it was still good. That got me to thinking about how we used nature to provide.

My mother-in-law and her sister always enjoyed eating dandelion salad. When Aunt Lillian celebrated one of her milestone birthdays, there was a party at her daughter’s in her honor. My husband potted a dandelion to give to her. That may seem like a strange gift, but it brought tears to her eyes since he was always the one who picked the dandelions for them.

Another thing grandma liked were leeks. My husband also picked those and brought them home to his mother. It did not take many leeks to make a good sandwich. She added mayo and lettuce. He always ate them with her.

She also liked May Apples. We had some of those growing up on the hill. Once they were in blossom he watched for the ripe ones.

In this pandemic I think things like that go unnoticed. That was how we survived in the good old days.

I no longer make dandelion jelly because of our dogs. To make the jelly you make an infusion with the blossoms. can no longer guarantee that the blossoms are clean unless I go out back.

When my children were very young, we walked up and down the road for exercise. On our trips up the road we picked wild strawberries and dewberries.

I put them into my hand and let the children eat them. Today that is not even a possibility. There is too much traffic on this road and too much dust. We would have to bring them home to wash them off before we could eat them.

I also picked elderberries along the road. They made wonderful pies and potpies. I hated picking them off the stems though because they were so small. I saw some elderberries on television the other night and they were far larger than the ones I picked. When I was teaching over at Lander School a mother came to school and picked the elderberries near the school to give to me because she knew I would use them.

The blackberries in the back 40 were plentiful. The children and I walked up to pick them. They ate more than they put into their pail but that was part of the fun. I wore some old coveralls that I found to keep the briars away from my skin. I also wore a shirt with sleeves. The children took toys with them and played while I picked. I was always on the lookout for bear. We did not have many of them back then though.

When I got the berries home, I cleaned them and canned them or made a pie. We loved blackberry pie and jelly. They were a delight to have during the winter months — especially if you did not feel well.

One year we ground our own flour. Although it was more coarse than the flour bought at the store. It was good for homemade bread. That year we grew our own wheat as a cover crop. I enjoyed the experience.

If the electric had been out, we sometimes could not send our milk — especially if it was out for a long period. My mother-in-law had a butter churn so we skimmed off the cream and made butter. That was quite an experience. We added salt to it so that it was good to eat on our homemade bread. My husband suggested that we try the buttermilk — what was skimmed off. That was not so good. I guess I did use some of it to bake with but it was not good to drink.

Sometimes we made our own ice cream. We had an electric ice cream freezer that you put snow into and added salt so that it would get cold and churn. That was so good. We especially enjoyed it because we did not make it often.

I had emergency substitutions for almost everything I made because I did not go to town often. I knew how to make my own yogurt. I knew how to make sweetened condensed milk. I had recipes that called for no eggs. I made my own candy.

When I came home from the store my husband always asked what I bought that was good to eat the way it was. The answer to that question was almost nothing. Almost everything I purchased needed something done to it before it was ready to eat. The exception to that was all of the fresh produce that I purchased. The fresh fruit and vegetables were ready to eat.

We grew our own produce during the summer months. It was a treat to pick a fresh tomato and eat it. There is a picture somewhere of my grandson picking cherry tomatoes and eating them fresh from the garden. The seeds dripped from his mouth and all the way down the front of his overalls.

Cucumbers were plentiful. I made many types of pickles from those. Of course, we ate them fresh in salads and as a garnish.

Last fall my husband brought home some cucumbers that someone left at his house for him. He wondered what we would do with all of the cucumbers. I got busy and made pickles with them, so we got to enjoy them during the winter. I was not about to let them go to waste.

DANDELION JELLY

1 qt. dandelion blossoms

1 tsp. lemon extract

1 qt. water

4 c. sugar

1 pkg. pectin

4 drops yellow food coloring

In the morning when the dew is still on, collect 1 quart of dandelion blossoms. Boil in water for 3 minutes. Drain off three cups of liquid. To this add pectin and extract. Add four cups sugar and food color. Boil for 3¢ minutes. Pour into jelly jars. Add 3-piece lids and allow to seal.

This has great flavor. Those weeds are good for something.

Ann Swanson writes from her home in Russell, Pa. Contact at hickoryheights1@verizon.net.