As a kid I grew up on a lot of foraged, fished and hunted foods. The forage foods most every family in our area used were cow slips, a green found in marshy area. Of course there were all kinds of mushroom all thru the summer. I know not why but there was wild asparagus we would pick tons of mom fixed it fresh for us and canned a whole bunch, not every family had that growing wild in their area. I often wonder if at one time there was an asparagus farm near by.
In the spring when the suckers were making spawning runs were going on people staked out the road side bridges build fires and speared suckers as they came up stream to spawn. Probably 99% were canned and used like tuna and salmon. Many a man and boy would be found wading the shallows of a lake when the carp were spawning, spearing them, using them same as the suckers. I can not remember how many afternoons we worked to get chores done early then drive several hours to dip smelt from a stream running out of lake Huron to the east and lake Michigan out of the west. I remember many a day spent with scissors gutting smelt that got canned. OH GAWD how many days in a row did we have fried smelt dinners during those times.
Then there were the day trips to those same streams where we used Multa hook perch rigs and sat elbow to elbow with others stream side catching perch going off to spawn up stream.
July and August would find us afield again as it was berry picking time. Black berries so big and juicy and seedy but made some great pies and short cake. Of course like every thing in those days unless your were really rich you caned for use at other times. We were one of the few family's who also picked the winter green berries. Elder berry's seemed to grow here along creek beds and marshy areas. there were wild apples to pick many were from areas where at one time there was an old logging camp and apple trees had grown from cores thrown out by cooks. In July we got what we called transparents a yellow skin apple very sweet and juicy. the Rustis were prized by my mom and she caned a bunch of them . They had a ruff brownish skin and were a firm apple. had many a pie made from them.
I do not believe many do much of these things today. Most probably don't even own the amount of canning jars my mom kept for the garden harvest.
I remember a time back about 1963 my mom told my aunt she had almost 3 thousand quart jars and almost as many pint ones.
😀 Al
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