In addition to writing the biographies of my four maternal great-great grandmothers, I have for some years been learning the “skills of yesteryear” that were routinely practiced in the generation of my maternal great-great grandmothers – growing food, making some of my own clothes, making patchwork comforters, making soap, the list goes on. I blog about that through my Burkhardt at Home, Made with Kim website, such as what I laid out in my first “City Dweller Learning Country Skills” post in 2018.
It was gratifying to hear today in a radio segment that the “home food movement” – along the lines of what I am doing – is growing in North America: home gardens, back yard chickens, planting fruit trees in one’s yard, etc. More people are learning “skills of yesteryear.” I view this positively – food grown close to home, self-reliance, reduced commercialization, slowing down…… I would hope that my ancestors whose biographies I’m writing would approve.
Out of Obscurity 