Working Systematically

Before the commercial firms of Birds Eye or Mr Heinz invented the present-day facility of selecting legumes from refrigerator freezers, home-makers spent many hours each year on this small, but much appreciated task.

Systematic work was the only way to produce the food in edible form.

The garden plot was usually a pleasant walk away from the kitchen’s hot confines.  It would have been easy to work slower, and to enjoy the fresh air longer.  However, when a goal has been set, it is essential to work on at a steady pace.  The basketful of filled pea pods plucked from the growing vines challenged the picker to proceed.

First-time podders attempted to break the ends and had difficulty extracting the fruit.  Grandma’s method of holding the pod sideways applying two thumbs with a gentle pressure to pop it open, revealed a boat-shaped dish for an easy rundown of one thumb pushing each round pea off its short fastening stalk and into the waiting bowl of the cooking utensil.

Each pod produces only five to eight peas.  Every Grandparent will recall the effort of a grandchild or two, who, after a dozen or so pods are processed, tire of the task and want to do something else.  But, of what use are 100 round green peas when Grand-dad, Mother, Father and the four teenagers expect a meal on the tea-table at six p.m.?

Conscientious podding until the last empty pod reached the tray became the only way to ensure no hunger was experienced by any member of the family.

In any situation, an orderly attempt to accomplish, can draw a parallel to podding peas.  Consider it this way –

Establish the goal:  e.g. to feed the family or write a manuscript.

Preparation:  Use every available resource.  Within a short period, the empty pea pods previously relegated to the compost heap, become material suitable for inclusion in planting trenches.  Just as a garden bed has to be turned over and improvements added before the seeds are planted, so too, must the mind be tuned to attempt the new situation.

Timing:  When those seeds planted are being cultivated to maturity, a previous planting is harvested.  Use all the time available to further the project in hand.

Organization: 

• Find the collection receptacles – in the case of peas it would be baskets and saucepans; a Family Historian seeks outlets for manuscripts.
• Reclothe suitable to the occasion – Sunhats and stout shoes were necessary in kitchen gardens.  Ball-gowns or tuxedos are not suitable for composing an historical gem at a computer or an office desk.
• Remove extraneous material – it was time-wasting to push aside the thistles or ragwort when picking peas from vines;  concentrate on the one purpose in hand.

Successful conclusion:  Unless proven systematic procedures are employed, extra work is encountered, and the possibility of non-completion of the planned project may become a reality.  Squashing the pods gives less result in a longer time, leaving insufficient cooking time to present the meal at the appointed hour.

Perhaps it is because the nation’s home-makers have forgotten, or not been taught systematic work procedures that the Frozen Vegetable industry has become so financially successful, and the problem of disposing of discarded plastic packaging, an environmental headache.

Melva A Welch OAM