Fruits & Vegetables
by Ruth Williams Matchett, daughter of Ida Hawes Williams, 2002

[My mother wrote this in response to my question about the fruits and vegetables her family grew in Alabama and Florida. Since she was only 9 y/o when her family moved from Sand Mountain to Florida, I'm amazed that she remembered so much about the crops in Alabama. When she was 12 y/o, she returned with her mother (Ida) for a short visit with Sand Mountain relatives. She returned for a visit again in 1933 (21 y/o) by herself. After Ida and Jake moved back to Sand Mountain, Mom and my sister and I visited them. Maybe some of these later visits refreshed her mind about Alabama crops. -- Wayne Matchett]

Alabama Crops

Corn. We ate fresh; dried some. From this some was ground into meal for cornbread. Mom made hominy using our homemade lye. Some we shelled and few to our animals. We ate both the sweet and field types.

Beans. Speckled butter beans; Kentucky Wonder, which we planted with the corn as they were "runners." They were white. We ate them green, even when the bean was fully matured and still tender. We dried some, shelled them for eating later. We had velvet beans just for the livestock, which was also planted in the corn rows. They were very hard to shell and had a sort of hairy covering. We shelled some to plant the next year.

Peas. We raised one called "Blue Goose," which were little, blue-spotted peas. We also shelled some fo these to eat later and some for replantings. We raised "English" peas, the larger, real sweet kind. It was a happy time when we could have a meal containing peas and new "Irish" potatoes. We did not eat the Blue Goose while green.

Potatoes. Both Irish and sweet. We had a cellar, so Dad would make beds of straw there and place the potatoes on it, then cover them with more straw to keep them from freezing. Of course, we ate them while in season. We had both red and white potatoes.

Tomatoes. Those we ate fresh and canned them for later use. They were kept in the cellar.

Squash. We had the yellow crookneck and the "patty cake" varieties. The patty cake squash were small, flat, green, cake types.

Cucumbers. We only had one kind--the long, green ones. Those we ate fresh, made some into spiced pickles, and some with dill, which Mom raised.

Greens. We had mustard, turnip, and rutabaga greens. Before frost, Dad stored them in the cellar, as he did with the potatoes.

Cabbage. We raised two kinds. Early Jersey Wakefield, which made a small, pointed head, and came in early. It made delicious cole slaw. Later I learned to make it into a salad using boiled eggs, pickles, and mayonnaise. The other kind of cabbage made large, round heads. We ate that and Mama made sauerkraut from it.

Radishes. The small, red kind, which we ate with the dried beans.

Parsnips. I don't remember much about them, but don't think they were my favorite vegetable.

Pears. We had Keifer pears, if I remember correctly. They never got soft, but made good pies.

Apples. I don't remember the varieties, but do remember eating them. Mom made apple butter, pies, and dried some, which she also used for pies. She wasn't an expert cake maker, but I always remember the ones she made in layers with apple butter between them.

Plums. We had plums, but I don't remember the kind.

Raspberries. We had them, but I don't remember the variety.

Gooseberries. They were a small, green fruit with stripes and grew on low bushes. They were kind of tart, but made good pies.

Strawberries. Don't know the variety. They were allowed to spread into a bed, not planted in rows as in Florida.

Rhubarb. Kind unknown, but made delicious pies. Mom also cooked some with sugar to eat with hot biscuits and butter.

Others. We picked blackberries in the woods, which were made into jam and jelly. We had a few bunch-type grapes, which we ate fresh. We also ate wild persimmons.

Florida Crops

Corn. We raised both sweet and field types and used them same as in Alabama, except in Florida we had some corn ground into grits. We never heard of grits in Alabama.

Beans. We still planted the Kentucky Wonder plus a husk type. We still shelled some for later (dried) and canned some in jars. We also had speckled butter beans. My brothers also raised Ford Hooks (a type of Lima bean) and a speckled type, which I have forgotten the name. The hull as well as the beans were speckled.

Peas. In Florida we raised English peas, black-eyed peas, crowder, and conch or white acre peas. We always saved some for seed.

Potatoes. We had both sweet and white potatoes; also, the red bliss. Papa also banked some for winter, but without a cellar, they sometimes froze.

Tomatoes. Don't remember the exact varieties, but they were the meaty kind, rather than the seedy, empty space kind. Here we canned them in jars, but had to then cook the jars so many minutes to keep them from spoiling.

Squash, cucumbers, radishes, greens, and cabbage. Same as in Alabama.

Cabbage. Same as in Alabama, except sauerkraut didn't work in Florida.

Pears. Keifer and one we called the Maxwell pear, which was good for eating.

Plums. Don't know the varieties.

Strawberries. Not sure about the kind, but we did pack and ship some north. Here they were planted in rows, mulched with dried grass or pine straw. Later black plastic was used.

Melons. We raised cantaloupes and watermelons for our own eating. Sometimes we shipped watermelons north.