Gayle's Mom Sylvia

I remember this ...

With five children to feed, and living in the Spokane Valley which was abundant with fresh fruit, Mom (pictured left) canned all summer.  She would get us up before first light to pick strawberries in the early morning when everything was still wet with dew.  We, along with neighbors, would pile into cars and head for the u-pick strawberry fields intent on picking several flats of strawberries. Just as the sun would start to beat on our backs, we would be finished!  At home, Mom would put us to work:  sort, clean, cut and sieve.  Magically jars of jam would appear in our cellar.  Pears and peaches were easier, because we bought those in flats.  But the system was the same.  By the end of summer our cellar would be lined with jams and jellies, cherries, applesauce, pears, peaches and tomatoes.  My favorite were the pears because Mom would color them green, yellow, blue, pink and white.  My!  They made a pretty site.  Thanks, Mom, for feeding us with such warm and happy memories. - Gayle

 Tell Us What You Remember!