"The past is never dead.
It's not even past."
William Faulkner

 

Farming was the way of life. The paintings below show pickers in orange groves, cotton fields, the woods and the truck garden.

About "Picking Huckleberries" (right) Bettye says: "Huckleberries grew wild in the woods around my Mammy's house in Baden, Georgia and we picked them (and blackberries) for her to make ‘doobies’ (which were berries boiled in sugar and water and dumplings added after the berries were tender). The warm doobie topped with rich cow's cream was 'gooder than gopher' to us grand children. What wasn't "gooder" was having to pick the berries, because when huckleberries were in season the yellow flies were also 'in season' and they nearly ate us alive. Til this day, when I see blueberry pie, I want to scratch my yellow fly welts." BWms

It was a rough life, but Bettye feels there was more of spirit of "caring and sharing" in earlier eras than there is at present. Everyone worked in the fields together and helped take care of the children - and of each other, in hard times.

Fruits and vegetables to be canned were cash crops (see the dollar sign in the mason jar?)
"Truck farm open to U-Picker Folks at near/end of harvest for all the do-it-yourself-canners. The empty boxes furnished to pickers include Kendall Motor Oil, A & W Root Beer, Pepsi Cola, and Del Monte." BWms

(This is a closeup of the left foreground in the "Mason Jar" painting to the left) "Please note the name of the farm on the sign just left of mason jar - - BWms, of course - - therefore this painting is twice signed by the artist, yours truly." BWms

Return to Doc's story about Bettye Williams

 

View some more of Bettye's memories