Friday, July 20, 2012

Finished with North and almost South Dakota

Friday, July 20th

Nothing but driving today.

Nowhere but on Rt. 281S from Jamestown, ND to Mitchell, SD - which is flat, not much traveled and not much to see except for how the farmers are suffering here - no rain in 6 weeks in South Dakota.  Corn being ground for silage already.

Had time to remember my childhood vacations on Grandpa Kast's farm:
  • fields of tomatoes and plates full of them at every meal (peeled and sliced and with a little sugar)
  • picking cabbage seedlings in the muck and watching the planters popping them into the soil back on the farm
  • fresh peaches on ice cream for dessert or cereal at breakfast
  • going to the field to pick fresh peas and sitting on the back porch shelling them for dinner and freezing
  • making jam and canning peaches and pickled cherries
  • the best bacon in the world from their own pigs smoked in their own smoke house - salty and thick and after you nibbled the bacon right up to the rind you sucked on the rind
  • plenty of sweet corn on the cob after you husked it and removed ALL of the silk
  • milk coming in after milking the cows
  • the cookie tins were always filled with apple-oatmeal cookies and graham cookies with a whole walnut half on top from the tree outside the back door.  And for special occasions the hickory nut cake with 7 minute frosting and each piece was designated by a hickory nut.
And that was just about the food produced on the farm.

DATA:


mileage:      265                       gas:  $42  @  $3.60                       camp:  $24
temp:  106 (heat advisory until Tues. night!!)

2 comments:

  1. I feel fortunate to have many of those same memories, albeit a generation difference. As a kid, you enjoy such wonderful tasting fresh food, but don't truly appreciate it. Until later.

    ReplyDelete