Posts Tagged ‘1930s’
early schools – the exotic and the common
In my Aunt’s book about early schooling in Nova Scotia, she tells an amusing story about field days at school:
… I recall another field day when Dr. DeWolfe, Miss Harris, and Miss Baker came with shrubs to our school. The shrubs were ten cents each. My mother had always longed for a weigela and a snowball and we were delighted that at last she could have her wish, for both these varieties were among Dr. DeWolf’s collection. They were duly planted at my home on the bank of the French River. One turned out to be a high bush cranberry and the other a spiraea, but today we still refer to them as the “snowball” and “weigela” and, I may mention, they have many an offspring throughout our province.
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I must have seen the high bush cranberry and spiraea many times at my mother’s old home, but I don’t remember them in particular. I do remember the gardens, lush with rose bushes, tiger lilies, and grape vines.
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Copyright 2016 Jane Tims
early schooling – what to do at recess
When I was young, recess was a big deal. You had to take a treat to eat and something for play. In Grade Three, tops were all the rage. My Dad made me a top from a wooden spool and we painted it in a rainbow of colours. I can still see it spinning on the concrete step. We also played hop-scotch, ball games like Ordinary Secretary, marbles, skipping and tag.
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April 30, 2016 ‘top made from a wooden spool’ Jane Tims
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I am lucky to have some of my Dad’s writing about his early years and his experiences in a one room school. He went to the Weaver Settlement School in Digby County in Nova Scotia in the late 1920s and early 1930s. He tells about some of the activities at the school, especially at recess. Fishing was popular, as well as playing ball and trading jack knives.
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… There was a well out beside the school and it was a good appointment to take care of the water-cooler for a day of a week … Gave a student time off from books…
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… There was a brook nearby … In fall we usually built a dam so the brook became a pond for winter … A place to skate or just play on the ice …every moment of recess and noon was spent there …
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… The big contest was ‘who comes to school first in bare feet ’ … Our parents had control, not full control as there were hiding places for shoes and stockings along the way to school …
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Dad with the family horse Goldie in about 1930
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I am certain recess is still a favorite time for school kids – time to talk with friends, play games and get a little break from the classroom. I think we could all build a little ‘recess’ into our busy lives!
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Copyright 2016 Jane Tims
Common Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale Weber)
For a week, I have looked forward to a small celebration of the beginning of my new efforts as full-time writer. Since the title of my writing project is ‘growing and gathering’, I wanted to mark this celebration with the gathering, preparation and eating of an ‘edible wild’. I cannot think of a more accessible yet neglected food than dandelion greens.
Dandelion greens in spring… fallen Red Maple blossoms among the Dandelion leaves
I made my salad of freshly picked dandelion greens, garden chives and pea sprouts. The pea sprouts are a gift from a friend in Cocagne, New Brunswick, given to me a couple of weeks ago when I did my first poetry reading and presentation on the topic of ‘growing and gathering’ at an evening gathering of Le Groupe de développement durable du Pays de Cocagne . The chives are from my garden, started years ago by my son when he planted his own little garden.
I picked the dandelion greens from around our front steps. This time of year they are fresh and generally untouched by bugs. I picked the best leaves and cleaned them in fresh water, removing any blemished bits and the stems which contain a bitter sap.
My salad was delightful. I had it without any dressing because I wanted to taste the flavour of the greens. The green leaves were delicious, crisp and tender at the same time. The flavour was very pleasant with none of the bitterness you may get from older dandelion leaves. The flavors also blended well, none overwhelming the others. My celebratory salad is declared an unconditional success!
My Mom often used dandelion greens for food. She always cooked hers, the way you would prepare Spinach or Swiss Chard. I know she ate dandelion greens regularly as a child, growing up in the lean years of the 1930s.
The Common Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale Weber) is easy to identify. In summer it has a bright yellow flower with a hollow stem. After flowering, Dandelion seeds are dispersed by wind from fluffy, spherical heads. The leaves grow from a basal rosette and are lobed and toothy.
drawing from Franz Eugen Kohler, Koehler’s Medicinal-Plants, 1887. Source: Wikimedia Commons
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Salad greens
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Chives poke slim fingers
between dry leaves,
pea sprouts sway
on slender stems,
wrists and tendrils
follow sun,
a burst of dandelion leaves,
an offering
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hands prepare a salad
a simple meal
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Warning: 1. never eat any plant if you are not absolutely certain of the identification; 2. never eat any plant if you have personal sensitivities, including allergies, to certain plants or their derivatives; 3. never eat any plant unless you have checked several sources to verify the edibility of the plant. © Jane Tims 2012
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