I'm only in my early fourties and I was quite late into my teens before I realized that almost no-one else did this like my family.

We grew up on a farm, dirt-poor and did it out of necessity but it was all delicious food: pickles, relishes, canned fruit, jams, jellies, home-made tomoto sauce.

We also laid in bushels of produce into cold storage - potatoes, squash, apples and cabbages.

Do I need to mention what we froze?

Blanched peas, green and yellow beans, corn (cut off the cob) and home grown lamb, pigs, beef and chicken (both kinds).

I am far more well off then my parents were at the same age, but my kids are not nearly as well fed (nutritionally) as I was at the same ages.

Now that we are in prime harvesting season for a lot of this stuff, I might have to rethink what we're eating and preserve some simple, homemade foods.