The Everyday Bean

The final lesson from “The Long Winter,” by Laura Ingalls Wilder is that food security is very important. In the story, the families of De Smet, South Dakota begin to run out of food when the trains stop running. It’s only a very dangerous 20-mile trip that saves the town from certain starvation. Here’s how these lessons apply to us in our day.

First, even experienced gardeners are subject to weather and pests. It’s important to plant enough to survive in case of transportation collapse or in case the stores run out of food.

Second, appetite fatigue is real. In the story, the Ingalls begin with a harvest of potatoes, turnips, green tomato pickle, tomato preserves, and beans. Gradually as their stores run low, they begin to eat bread every day three meals per day. Eventually everyone gets sick of their daily ration. Pa is firm and makes each person eat their share. In our day, we have access to a wider variety of foods than what was available back then. It is wise to store a variety of foods so that eating does not become drudgery.

Third, the starving time or hunger gap is real. As I’ve stated before, the hunger gap is the period of time when garden produce begins to run out and gardens begin to produce again. For the Ingalls, this was between February and June. They had their bread and sometimes tea but that was all and they all got sick of eating it. The hunger gap doesn’t mean there’s no food. It just means that there is not a wide variety of foods. In our day, I think that we are not taught to consider this important time when storing food for our year’s supply. It would be good for all of us to set aside special buckets with food stored for this period especially. Store a few treats and things you regularly eat. Make sure it is labeled clearly that it is not to be opened until February.

I’ve only shared a few of the lessons I learned from this book. It is well worth reading and rereading again and again.