Mondays & Memories of My Mom – Summer Has Only Just Begun

Thank God it’s Monday, again. I always look forward to Mondays, as they’re my 52 Chances a year, in which I get to share Memories of My Mom with you. Therefore, happy Monday.

Finally, the Summer [Solstice], the longest day of the year, officially arrived on Saturday. Of course, people have already been celebrating the summer season for several weeks. Now the weather and temperatures are actually starting to feel a lot more summerlike, more often – what a difference a few weeks makes – and summer has only just begun!

Besides being the first month of summer, June is also celebrated for being National Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Month and National Great Outdoors Month. I love the great outdoors and spending time in my garden. The first fruit and vegetable that are ready for me to harvest in June (sometimes late May) are my strawberries and asparagus.

I’ve written in several other blog posts, about growing some of your own food to save money on the household groceries’ budget – that is if you don’t factor in the value of your time (which has been on the rise, too) – but gardening is additionally beneficial in so many other ways than just financially.

To start, gardening is known to lower the physical risks of high blood pressure, diabetes, and osteoporosis. Moreover, it stimulates the brain’s production of serotonin, which regulates mood and anxiety.

There’s been growing research on all the positive health benefits of gardening – mentally, emotionally, and physically. It’s a boundless win-win-win! I would also add social benefits – as community gardens, garden clubs, and social media groups for the like have been growing like weeds. By the way, next Monday is Social Media Day.

Did you know that gardening is considered to be exercise? It’s classified as a “moderate” exercise regime (like aerobics), as it works all of the major muscle groups, depending on the tasks performed – legs, buttocks, arms, shoulders, neck, back, and abdomen – while you stretch, bend, lift, pull, push, and the like (all of which also builds strength).

Gardening is healthy in even more ways. Mentally and emotionally, it invigorates the brain, relieving stress and elevating joy. It’s known to improve heart and lung function and help prevent obesity. Growing your own fruits and vegetables also inspires a healthier diet, which, in turn, strengthens the immune system.

Moreover, it provides a physical and cardiovascular workout that burns a lot of calories. According to 20 Everyday Activities and the Calories They Burn, by the Editors of Publications International, Ltd. (as seen on HowStuffWorks.com), you can burn about 324 calories per hour or more, depending on the tasks performed.

Gardening tasks include (but aren’t limited to) – tilling, digging, planting, weeding, mulching, composting, watering, and pruning. Meanwhile, we’re also feeding our bodies a lot of vitamin D, just by being outdoors in the sunshine (which is a natural source for it).

Moreover, pushing a lawn mower for an hour can burn 324 calories. 30 minutes spent raking up the grass clippings will burn another 171 calories. The article further advocates that, by spending 4 hours of hard-work cleaning up the neighborhood, you can burn about 1,800 calories, while beautifying your community.

EnglishGardens.com claims that doing various gardening activities for 30 minutes, based on a 180-lb person, one can burn 61 calories, watering plants; 162 calories, planting seedlings; 142 calories, weeding or manually pruning or trimming shrubs; as well as 250+ calories, when composting, digging, spading, or tilling. Lighter people usually burn less calories.

There’s also a great calorie-burning chart at NutriStrategy.com, where I found that, while weeding and refining my flower garden a few weeks ago, I burned about 393 calories per hour for someone my size.

FROM MOM’S MEMORIES…

Gardening Tips by Gloria Pitzer, as seen in…

Gloria Pitzer’s Homemaker’s Newsletter (Happy Newspaper Features, Algonac, MI; Vol. 1, No. 6; June 1974, p. 59)

YOUR OWN BACKYARD

A MIXTURE OF ONE part water, one part citrus flavored soda, and half a teaspoon of chlorine bleach for each quart of solution can help flowers stay fresh longer. The alkalinity of most tap water is neutralized by the citric acid and carbonation in the soft drink. The bleach and carbonation control bacteria that block water flow in the stems. The sugar and soda pop nourishes flowers.

CALLA LILIES ARE MORE delicate in appearance than cannas. Plant in sun or in light shade, in pots or in the ground. In the north, lift Calais in the fall and store them in dry vermiculite [for the winter].

PEAS MATURE IN EARLY summer and don’t like midsummer heat. So, after they’ve finished, one can pull the vines or bushes, dig the space over, feed it, and plant a fall-crop vegetable like broccoli, cauliflower, or Brussels sprouts. Or, if preferred, use the space for lettuce or beans. Brussels sprouts can often be harvested into December.

BONEMEAL, HIGH IN phosphate and containing some nitrogen, will not burn and can be used on bulbs, dahlias, roses, and the like.

Decades ago, when we lived in Algonac, Mom had a raised garden bed, about 8-ft square. I remember helping her plant and harvest strawberries, cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers. There were also perenials of rhubarb, as well as apple and pear trees. I remember helping her turn all of it into homemade pickles, jams, sauces, and desserts.

I think Mom picked up most of her gardening (and canning) skills from Dad’s mom, who always had wonderful tomato and rose gardens, herself; when she lived on French Road, in Detroit.

I recall Mom always using old coffee grounds and grounded egg shells in her gardens and patio pots to help her tomato plants flourish – something she learned from my grandma. Mom taught me all about gardening, as well as cooking and everything else a good homemaker needs to know, too.

MORE FROM MOM’S MEMORIES…

As seen in…

Gloria Pitzer’s Secret Recipes Newsletter (Secret Recipes^TM, Marysville, MI; August 2000, Issue 215, p. 6)

INSPIRATION

MY OWN INSPIRATION, to become a better cook than I was, came originally from the two most important influences in my young life, my mother and my mother-in-law. From my mom I learned the elegant, artistic presentation of even the most humble leftovers and the joy of making any meal an occasion rather than a ritual.

From my mother-in-law, I learned (while we were briefly living with Paul’s family), the art of practical food preparations, preserving and canning techniques not always found in the popular cookbooks… How to make your own ingredients when you were out of something.

And so, by combining the lessons learned, from both women, I became an accomplished cook (and much against my better judgement)!

Since then, inspiration has come to me from various other sources, including the big, boring, generic cookbooks. These recipes are always a challenge to try and “Pitzerize”, condensing the lengthy number of ingredients into only a few and arrive at a similar result.

It’s something you will become accustomed to doing once you have used “Secret Recipes^TM” for a while. Whatever requires, for instance, tomato sauce, vinegar, and a little sugar makes use of ketchup, instead – a good replacement of 3 ingredients.

Likewise, others will occur to you as you continue to cook. If inspiration doesn’t come to you immediately, give it time and, with practice, I promise it will.

#NationalCampingMonth

There are a lot of other summer activities, besides gardening, to enjoy in the great outdoors – which also improve one’s health, in both physical and mental fitness – walking or jogging on a beach or wooded trail or through some sand dunes; in addition to swimming, biking, golfing, kayaking, canoeing, and the like.

Summer is a great time to spend with the people you love, having backyard barbeques, picnics, and potlucks or going to an outdoor concert or taking a road trip or going camping together. By the way, it’s also National Camping Month. In Michigan, camping season runs May through October. It’s most popular in July and August, when the days are hotter.

NEEDLESS TO SAY, I can’t wait until we can begin our “motor-home camping” again with our Good Sam friends. It’s our weekend vacation pleasure, May through October. Becoming part of the Good Sam organization is the best thing that has ever happened to us, where we could both enjoy mutual friendships and activities. Wonderful, caring people, who constantly remind us that “there are no strangers in Good Sam – only friends we haven’t met, yet!” – Gloria Pitzer, as seen in… “GOOD SAM – CARING AND CAMPING”, from Gloria Pitzer’s Secret Recipes^TM Newsletter (Secret Recipes^TM, St. Clair, MI; May-June 1987, 126^th issue, p. 3)]

Picnics are one of the most popular summertime activities. Among the classic picnic treats, there are usually finger foods that travel well and won’t spoil on a warm day, including subs/sandwiches/wraps, fried chicken, fresh vegetables and fruit. [NOTE: If anything has mayo in it, keep it chilled.]

Based on a Google search consensus for the 10 most popular picnic food choices, I found that they include (in no particular order) fried chicken, hot dogs, subs/sandwiches/wraps, pasta salad, potato salad, baked beans, deviled eggs, watermelon, brownies, and pie.

There’s so much to do and see in the summer – the possibilities are endless. This is also a popular season for garage or yard sales, graduation parties, class or family reunions, carnivals, festivals, water parks, art fairs, car shows, and drive-in movies.

The two greatest appeals for this season’s increased activity potentials are the warm temperatures and extended daylight hours for spending time outdoors – and it has only just begun.

LAST THOUGHTS…

Checklists are handy when packing for anything. I use part of my camping checklist for my picnic “basket”, which is actually a plastic tote. It’s always on the ready so I can easily throw it in the trunk of our car, along with a food bag and cooler, whenever my husband and I want to go on a spontaneous Road Trip.

It may seem like a lot but it actually packs up small and compact. I learned from my mom over the years, as she used to have to pack for a family of seven, how to pack 10 pounds of stuff in a 5-pound bag; after all, “it’s better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it!”

Thanks for visiting! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my memories of my mom, her memories, and other related things. Feel free to email me your questions or comments at therecipedetective@outlook.com. You can also find me on Facebook: @TheRecipeDetective.

https://www.balboapress.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-001062253

IN CLOSING…

In honor of June, being National Country Cooking Month, here’s Mom’s imitation for “Hush Puppies, Southern Style”; as seen in… Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – The Best of the Recipe Detective (Balboa Press; Jan. 2018, p. 110). [A revised reprint of Gloria Pitzer’s Better Cookery Cookbook (Secret Recipes^TM, St. Clair, MI; May 1983, 3^rd Edition)]. As always, I’m asking only for proper credit if you re-share it.

#NationalCountryCookingMonth