"SOUTHERN PEANUTS"

"SOUTHERN PEANUTS"


There are 4 types of peanuts growing in the USA:  Runner, Virginia, Spanish and Valencia....
Peanuts are planted after the last frost in April or early May and heaviest harvesting months are September and October.
Peanut plants originated in South America.
A mature peanut plant produces about 40 pods that then grow into peanuts.
Most USA peanut farms are family-owned and operated.  Average peanut farms 100 acres.
January 24th is National Peanut butter month.
It takes about 540 plants to make a 12 ounce jar of peanut butter.
There are enough peanuts in one acre to make 30,000 peanut butter sandwiches.
Two peanut farmers have been elected president of the USA:  Thomas Jefferson and Billy Carter.
Astronaut, Allen Sheppard took a peanut with him to the moon.
Peanut butter was the secret behind "Mr. Ed", TV's talking horse.
Four of the top 10 candy bars manufactured in the USA contain peanuts or peanut butter. ........(internet)


"SOUTHERN TREAT - BOILED PEANUTS"


HERE IN THE DEEP SOUTH,WE LOVE OUR BOILED PEANUTS.  WE LIKE OUR GOOBER ROASTED, TOASTED, PARCHED, DIPPED IN CHOCOLATE, SALTED, UNSALTED, IN SOUP, GROUND INTO PEANUT BUTTER, IN CANDY, COOKIES, AND ICE CREAM AND PIES.  BUT IN THE SUMMERTIME, WE LIKE'M BOILED.
IT IS BELIEVED THAT BOILED PEANUTS HAVE BEEN A SOUTHERN INSTITUTION SINCE  THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES (1861-18650.  
WHEN GENERAL SHERMAN AND HIS TROOPS MARCHED THRU GEORGIA, THE CONFEDERACY WAS SPLIT IN TWO AND DEPRIVED OF MUCH NEED SUPPLIES.
WITHOUT FOOD, PEANUTS WERE AN IMPORTANT NUTRITIONAL SOURCE FOR THE CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS.  WITH COOKING FACILITIES SCARCE, SOLDIERS ROASTED THE PEANUTS OVER CAMPFIRES OR BOILED THEM.  NO IDEA WHO CAME UP WITH THE IDEA OF ADDING SALT WHEN BOILING THE PEANUTS BUT THE SALT PRESERVED THEM FOR SEVERAL DAYS.

 authored by: Brenda Harrison(News and Journal)

"ON A MELON HUNT, DON'T THUMP"

"ON A MELON HUNT, DON'T THUMP"


How do you select a ripe or quality watermelon?  Nothing is more disappointing than to gather or buy, wait to cut, and then the melon is green or worse---mushy!  
There are certain traits you can look for to get the best possible melon.
First of all, a watermelon is ripe when its belly turns from white to a cream  or  yellowish color.  The belly of a watermelon is the part that rests on the ground  and it is white when the melon is green and will get, as we say in the south, "yellower" as the melon gets riper.  But be careful---if it's real bright yellow, it's probably over-
ripe
Next, if your melon is an oblong-long type melon, slight longitudinal (lenghtwise), ridges can be felt on the upper surface when it is ripe.  Like Ruffles, ripe melons have ridges.  If the belly is yellow, but no ridges the melon may have been picked green, allowed to ripen, and will be of poor quality.  If harvested green, the watermelon flesh will turn red, but will  not be sweet.  Unless they are picked out of a garden or bought on the farm, most melons are harvested a little early  to allow for shipping and handling.  The earlier they are picked, the less time for the fruit to get sugars from the plant and the poorer the quality.  This is why Certified S. C. grown is so important.
If you are picking a melon out of the garden, the curl (tendril) nearest the melon's stem will be dried when ripe.  However, once ripe, the curl dries, and if you wait too long to check the curl, you may be harvesting the melon overripe.

If the stem is completely dried, the melon most likely has been harvested for a long time.  Vendors may keep cutting the stem as it dries, to make it appear that the melon has been harvested recently. If the stem has been removed, most likely it has totally dried.  
Don't depend on thumping the melon---it is a poor test of ripening, growth rate, water levels, sugar content and other factors.
 Fresh watermelon is also good for you.  It contains higher levels of lycopene than any other produce, including tomatoes.  Studies have drawn  correlation between lycopene consumption and the possible prevention of cancer, heart diseas and stroke.


author:  Tony Melton...Clemson University Extension....

"Great-grandma's Sewing Basket"

"GREAT- GRANDMA'S SEWING BASKET"

Joretta Freeman ..Lamar, S. C. (Oates Community)

I inherited great-grandma, Joretta Freeman's  sewing basket with handed painted flowers embellishing it....In it are many treasures:  church fans, antique buttons, crocheted turtle pin cushion and wooden spools of thread and a silk hankerchief also metal embroidery hoops.

"RABBITS AND BIRDS"

"RABBITS AND BIRDS"

Artist:  John A. Fowler, III

SHARING MY BATHROOM WITH RABBITS AND  BIRDS....

"IN MEMORY OF "UNCLE TOOT"....

" IN MEMORY OF "UNCLE TOOT".....


         "Since I met you...I am not afraid."


Look, God, I have never spoken to You, but now I want to say how do you do,  You see see, God, they told me You didn't exist,
And like a fool, I believed all this.
Last night from a shell hole, I saw Your sky and I figured right then they had told me a lie.  Had  I taken time to see things you made, I'd have known they weren't calling a spade a spade.
I wonder, God, if You'd shake my hand, because somehow I feel that You will understand.  Funny I had to come to this hellish place, before I had time to see Your face.
Well, I guess there isn't much more to say, but I'm sure glad, God, I met You today.  I guess the "zero hour" will soon be here, but I'm not afraid since I know You're near.
The signal!  Well, God, I have to go.  I like You lots, this I want You to know.  Look now, this will be a horrible fight, who knows, I may come to Your house tonight.
Though I wasn't friendly to You before, I wonder, God, if You'd wait at Your door.  Look, I'm
 crying.  Me! Shedding tears!
I wish I had known You these many years.
Well, I have to go now, God, good-bye!  Strange since I met You, I'm not afraid to die.   (author unknown)




Born in 1927, the son of Agnes Freeman Garner and Millard Lee Garner, "Uncle Toot", as I lovingly refer to him, imbedded many wonderful memories into my life...He was a loving and giving person and when I was born, he took care of me, because my mother, Mildred Garner Richburg, had to return to the hospital for additional care...He used to smile and tell me that he would rock me in the old rocking chair until he thought I was asleep and when he stopped rocking, I would wake up and cry...I "musta been bad"...He and his family were stationed all around the world and when he was station in England, he was invited to a party that Winston Churchill attended.  When Mr. Churchill found out that "Uncle Toot" loved to smoke cigars, he gave him one of his...."Toot" did not talk much about his experiences in  serving  Our U.S.A., but our family is so proud of him....and I expressed to him how much I appreciated him and that he was one of the reasons that I can enjoy freedom.


"Toot's Homemade wine"
5 gallons of fruit, 5 gallons water and 25 pounds of sugar....
Let set 30 days in large container (not metal).  Insert 2 hoses down in a jar and run the other end of the hose down in the container of water.

(Left) Raymond Winston Garner(Uncle Toot) 1927-1999

If still bubbling after 30 days, add 25 extra pounds of sugar and let set 30 more days.  Do not take up and strain on a cloudy day.

"CELEBRATING MOTHER'S DAY"

Martha Richburg Dimery

"CELEBRATING MOTHER'S DAY"


"Mother,
I caught my reflection in a window and was surprised to see you looking at me from my eyes.  How fortunate for me there was a you that I could become as I grew."


"She is far more precious than jewels."

Mildred Garner Richburg...1920-2004

Proverbs 31:10

" ANTIQUE PUMP ORGAN"

"ANTIQUE PUMP ORGAN"


I want to share with you a special piece of furniture that I have enjoyed for 45 years.  When I would play the organ, one of my children would get on the floor and push the pedals of the organ, so that I could play it.  When I was a child, age 5, I had the dreaded virus, polio, which left my right foot weak.  God is so merciful for bringing me through with victory. This is a beautiful oak antique pump organ...72 inches high..I helped to refinish this organ and all of the felt under the keys was replaced.   It has been a favorite conversation piece, when folks come to visit.
Between 1840-1930, there were approximately 600 pump organ manufacturers in the U. S., such as the Estey Organ Manufacturies, Brattleboro, Vermont. Most of these factories were located in the north.
This is probably understandable as much as the south was still trying to recover ravages of four, tragic years of Civil War(1861-18654).  Plus the fact, that the south didn't have the abundances of hard wood that the north had.  For the most part, just about all pump organs were built with either oak wood or walnut.

In it's day, the pump organ industry employed tens of thousands of workers.  However, unlike the other musical instruments that have been around for a long time, the pump organ enjoyed only a brief period of popularity (less than a century) and then they were gone....internet information...