Doing things Mammie's way

That's my Mammie, my paternal grandmother who grew up picking cotton in the hot sun of Tennessee. I knew her as mule-headed, because she insisted on doing things herself and in her own way. (In Mammie speak, that means stubborn, you know, like a mule, which I have also been accused of being) She lived to be 95 years old...

With the guidance and urging of my Aunt Hilda, I had the honor and privilege (although I will admit at times it felt like torture) of living with Mammie for about 6 weeks in the summer of 2007. Growing up I never completely understood why she did some of the things she did, but I came to appreciate these quirks and even now & here, away from the world that Mammie knew, I appreciate her some more. You see, Mammie grew up a child of the depression, she was born in 1914! She worked hard for everything she had, times where really tough back then. Kind of like now in some ways. People didn't know if they'd have work or where their food would come from, so they spent & saved wisely.

Several weeks ago, while washing dishes, Mammie came to mind...I think I did it because of the ants, I had a tub that fits into the kitchen sink, I would rinse the dishes, then put them in the tub with clean, soapy water for washing. Since ants can't swim, I was able to keep them away from the sink area. I washed the dishes and then rinsed them all at the same time. I saved water and since we pay for our water here (which we never had to do in Chicago) I'm also saving us money. Mammie would approve, especially since this is exactly how she did the dishes.

Mammie also had a green thumb and when she lived on State Street in St. Joe, she had a garden in her back yard, she grew tomatoes, cucumbers & green beans. (As far as I recall..)

So naturally Mammie came up again today when I collected our first, what I call farm share, but here they call community supported agriculture or CSA. There's a group of folks at CMIS (the school where I work) who participate and it couldn't be easier. I paid 200 baht (just under $10) for a box of locally grown produce. On a weekly basis, they drop it off at the front gate of the school, all I have to do is return the box for next week. This week our box had a huge bunch of bananas, several eggplant, a pumpkin, morning glory greens, 2 kinds of green beans and tons of leafy greens which I'm going to use for salad. I was thrilled to come home with my new treasures and while going through the meditative process of cleaning, cutting and preparing I was caught in thought once more about my Mammie and the way things used to be. This produce that I brought home today was probably picked yesterday and I prepared and ate some of it already today. Fresh from the earth at the farm into my belly the very next day. As I prepared the food, I was thinking how simple the meal was going to be, yet how excited I was to eat it. Yes, simple is ok, actually it's more than ok! This evening I ate...sauteed morning glories with garlic & soy sauce, steamed green beans, a hard boiled egg and white rice. It was simple, delicious and filling! I have already made my lunch for tomorrow and have enough lettuce for several more salads, that 200 baht is going to last a long way!

Now, I just need to convince my husband that composting won't attract roaches! Mammie did that too by the way, only she had a different name for it.

Let's all take this lesson from Mammie, take what you need and use it all.