Danny was raised on a fruit farm and I was raised with fruit cocktail.
Just weeks after we were married his sweet grandma brought at least a bushel of peaches to our small one bedroom apartment in the avenues to teach me how to can. We carried the jars and pots up the flight of stairs to our 2nd story dwelling and worked for hours.
They were delicious---but I learned so much more than canning that day.
Grandma was an inspiration of resourcefulness and respect for God's gifts and creations.
It was important to feed your family. It was maybe even more important to care for the resources we have been entrusted with.
Grandma taught me over the following years...the names of beautiful flowers, how to transplant them and even how to cook. She was giving and sweet.
Marrying into a fruit farm family---I have learned the sweetness of fruit picked right off the tree.
We serve only fresh fruit...or if we are lucky enough to have home-canned fruit from a family member. At our back to school "cafeteria fear factor" Sophie's biggest challenge (I have video of her gagging to prove it) was choking down a grape from fruit cocktail.
