Editor’s note: Angie Wotton loves her work as district manager for the SASWCD. She also raises pastured pork and vegetables with her husband on their small West Berry Farm in Hammond. She can be reached 532-9407 or via e-mail at angela.wotton@me.nacdnet.net.
by Angie Wotton
Once in awhile I meet someone and decide that they are my “NFP”, (new favorite person). This happened after I met Marlene Lawlor last summer. I don’t now remember why I decided this but I thought of Marlene again this summer when thinking of writing this column. I knew from her son Gene, chair of the SASWCD board, that she is an avid gardener and sewer, and from her neighbor Zach, the first person I ever interviewed for Conservation Corner, that she has taught him many life skills that few continue or care to pursue.
Gene once told me a story of how Marlene, after ordering dandelion seeds from Johnny’s one year, got teased by the family to the extent that she received a framed display of the seed packet. When I asked Marlene about it, she said she still hadn’t planted the seeds as she has gotten so much mileage out of the story. Still, she goes out faithfully each spring and digs the young plants up to enjoy them fresh, freezing the excess to eat as a treat each time it snows. She did note that while her frozen supply normally lasts her through the winter, 2008 was an exception. The secret to tasty dandelion greens are to dig them before the buds appear, briefly boil and top with a little vinegar. Marlene has yet to convince the rest of her family to try them.
After talking with her, it seems that the love of dandelion greens is probably the only thing that Marlene doesn’t share with her family and others. Take, for instance, her shared garden with a grandson. After bringing in compost from Gene’s beef farm, she and her grandson discovered a new weed that also tastes good – purslane. Another “weed” that the rest of her family enjoys eating with her is lambsquarters. While I had always known of using lambsquarters in salad, Marlene cooks it by boiling it for 2-3 minutes, topped with vinegar.
Zach, the young man I wrote about who is the local Johnny Appleseed but for oak trees, has benefited greatly from Marlene’s knowledge. They have plans for making soap together this fall and are gathering the lye from wood ashes. Marlene and Zach have also spent time in the kitchen making cranberry jelly and mincemeat. In turn, Zach has shared his oak tree project with Marlene and she has several planted on her land.
When I asked about her life growing up and where she learned much of what she continues today, she said that her mother always put food up and it was a fall tradition to have her grandmother come to the house where she would butcher their chickens and make soap. While Marlene learned to make soap on her own later in life, that seasonal tradition has stuck and, like her grandmother, she makes it once a year in the fall.
Marlene continues to carry on the country skills and traditions influenced by her mother and grandmother, sharing them with others. While she doesn’t see this as special, there are few left keeping such traditions alive.
