Recently my grandchildren have been asking me about what autumn was like when I was a kid. I found it difficult to explain what autumns were like for me with only words. However I remembered that each year, beginning on a cold morning in September and ending on the day after Thanksgiving, there was a list of things that my grandmother and later my mother did that they always faithfully observed each and every year.
Rather than tell my grandchildren about these traditions I thought it would be more fun to recreate many of these traditions with them when they come to our house. Some of these traditions were easier to recreate than others, some took more work than I thought they would and some we still do today, but never thought of them as traditions! These are a few of the traditions that never cost much and have stood the test of time.
Rake the leaves by hand and let the pile be the point
I remember Dad raking the leaves on a Saturday as a kid. Bamboo rake and all. And, of course, the obligatory trip into the mountain of leaves before depositing the evidence at the curb. I don’t think there was a single leaf blower on our entire street. Last fall I tried to instill this family tradition with my grandchildren. I purchased the cheapest rakes I could find (one for each person), and set out to clean the front yard. It took us the better part of a morning, and the results weren’t any better than if I’d used the power blower. However, my arms are still sore. They at least will have a happy memory of that morning (albeit mostly spent jumping in the leaves. We had to rebuild that pile more than once!). Moral of the story: Yard work is more fun with friends (even little friends) and takes much longer!
Switch the closets as soon as the mornings turn cold
Closets work best when they contain only clothes appropriate for the weather outside the window.
I swapped out some summer clothes for sweaters and other fall fare last month when the cold weather moved in. My grandkids helped me haul the sweaters down from the attic. As I shook out each sweater I looked for holes, and if it no longer fit me I tossed it in the bag headed for the thrift store.
When I was a girl Mom kept our summer clothes in the cedar chest, as she did our winter clothes when summer arrived. One morning as she walked to the mailbox and noticed she could see her breath she knew it was time to bring down our sweaters and store the cotton summer dresses in the cedar chest. For days the house would smell of cedar.
Put flannel sheets on every bed before the furnace comes on
One of my favorite fall traditions is putting the flannels out. As a child my mother always changed our bedding on a weekend in early October. This always preceded my dad’s ok to turn on the heat.
Last fall when my grandchildren were staying with us on the weekend I continued the tradition. All cotton sheets and pillow cases came off and into the laundry to be replaced with our flannels. Even my grandchildren who initially commented that they were kind of scratchy didn’t want to change back on Sunday.
The furnace stayed off an extra week saving a little on the gas bill. It’s always less expensive to warm bodies than houses. For me snuggling up at night was always the best part of the week as a kid.
Wash the windows and take the screens down before the cold sets in
I learned from my grandmother to wash ALL the windows in October with nothing but a bucket of water with vinegar in it and old newspaper. She took out her screen doors and windows, hosed them off and put them away in the garage until spring time. More sun light in the wintertime!
Last fall I washed every window in the house and had my grandchildren hand me more pieces of newspaper! Believe me there is NO bottled spray that beats vinegar, water and newspaper. I did take out my screens and I was surprised how much brighter the rooms are when I sit in them in the afternoon. Never realized how much daylight those dust covered screens blocked. It’s another no cost way to give ourselves more light in the winter time!
Pick the apples yourself and bring home more than you think you need
Every fall when I was a kid, our family would go to an orchard, pick apples until our bushel basket was full, drive home and my mother would say, Now that’s too many apples! Every year we used them all.
Last fall I repeated the scenario with my grandchildren. Of course, while I wasn’t looking, they ate plenty right from the tree. Our full basket rode in the trunk for the short trip home at less money for each pound than apples in grocery stores. Stored in our cool garage, our hand picked apples will stay fresh much longer than store bought and will last till it’s almost Thanksgiving.
Moral: pick your own apples, they cost less, last longer and get eaten!
Make applesauce on the stove instead of buying it in a jar
My grandmother made applesauce. Apples went into a tall pot on the back of the stove (peels and all), were cooked till soft, run through a food mill and finished with a sprinkle of cinnamon.
Last fall, I set my grandchildren at the kitchen table with a bowl of sweet orchard apples and paring knives apiece. I still have Grandma’s food mill and it still works. We filled lots of jars, put most of the jars away in the freezer, and the kids spooned out all the rest, still steaming, at the kitchen counter. Windows steam, the whole house smells sweet.
Making applesauce from scratch takes a whole afternoon, and it doesn’t taste a bit like applesauce out of a jar.
Bake an extra pie and carry it to a neighbor
My mom always made an extra pie and took one over to a neighbor, across the street or next door, with a little note saying Please return the pie plate. I think she felt this was the least fussy way she knew to make sure of how the neighbors were doing. As a child we received many a baked good in return on those plates!
Last fall I made apple pies (with our apples from the orchard!) with my grandchildren and we took an extra pie on a little errand on foot to a sweet older couple at the end of our street. It was fun for all concerned and they could show off their dog! Next week we had our pie plate back with a lovely loaf of banana bread inside.
It’s never expensive to make an extra pie. Good Neighboring!
Pull the garden and plant the garlic the same afternoon
In my childhood home the closing of the garden took place on a gray Saturday in late October. Daddy would pull the spent tomato plants and bean vines. Right behind him came Mommy, tucking cloves of garlic into the emptied earth for the following summer. In that way the garden was over and just beginning.
Last fall I cleared and planted my garden with the help of my grandchildren. It is a satisfying project for them to rip out the spent plants. I showed the kids how to tease apart a bulb of garlic into individual cloves and how to tuck each one back into the earth with the pointy end up. Come spring the garlic will pop out and they won’t have done a thing, and the kids can’t wait to visit it.
Put up the last of the tomatoes before the frost takes them
When I was a child, my grandmother paid careful attention to the October weather. When a hard frost was in the forecast, any tomatoes remaining on the vine (whether green or ripe) were gathered into dishpans and brought into the house.
The green tomatoes would go into paper bags and onto a sunny windowsill to ripen. The red ones became a delicious chili sauce (her own recipe, mostly tomatoes, onions, vinegar & sugar) that could be jarred & stored.
Last fall I repeated the exercise, complete with trips into the garden with dishpans in the darkness, with my grandchildren. The filled jars of chili sauce sat on the counter all night (you could hear them pop). Nothing from our garden will go to waste!
When frost is in the forecast it’s time to harvest everything still remaining from the garden!
Make a big pot of chili the day the weather turns cold
When it’s so cold you have to wear a coat my mom made chili. It wasn’t fall according to the calendar, but according to my mom. And by noon on that first cold day the pot of chili was bubbling on the stove top. We’d eat chili for the rest of the week.
Last fall the grandchildren were at my house when the cold days returned on a Sunday. We made that pot of chili, browning the meat and opening cans of beans. Left bubbling on the stove on low it simmered away the afternoon. The enticing aroma even co-opted the grandchildren into setting the table.
I remember from my childhood how much better the chili tasted on Tuesday, two days after we’d made it on Sunday. On those cold days chili makes the rest of the week easier.
Heat cider on the stove with whole spices
Last fall I purchased cider at the orchard stand and warmed it up for my grandchildren the same way after we carved the pumpkins. They enjoyed sipping the hot cider out on the porch (coats and all). Not one asked for a drink with a straw!
Hot cider only calls for a few items: cider of course, a sauce pan and a couple spices. A packet of mulling spices can be purchased at the store but they’re mainly sugar. A cinnamon stick and a few whole cloves cost next to nothing and have been a Halloween night tradition in our family. My parents purchased cider in a glass jug at the orchard and my mom would warm it up with a cinnamon stick and few whole cloves. It was the only hot beverage our family partook of besides hot cocoa.
Press the best leaves between waxed paper and hang them in the window
Pressed leaves have been in our family for generations. As a kid, there was always a roll of waxed paper in a kitchen drawer devoted just to leaves. On the walk home, we would pick up any especially bright colored leaves, especially maples. At home, the leaves would be laid on a sheet of waxed paper, another piece of waxed paper would be laid on top, and then with a dish towel under, they’d be ironed (not hot, just warm). Then they’d adorn a window in the kitchen all the way through Thanksgiving.
Last fall I repeated this feat with my grandchildren. We gathered leaves in the yard, they decided placement, I did the ironing and they stayed pretty vibrant for a number of weeks. A nice change up for window decor without forking over for a store bought item.
Takeaway: Pressed leaves are a free fall decor item.
Take a slow drive just to look at the trees
As a child, each and every October, at least once on a Sunday afternoon my parents would cram us into the car and cruise down back roads for no particular reason or destination except to enjoy fall foliage.
Last fall I repeated the exercise with my husband and grandchildren. We sought out roads with good tree coverage and made a stop at a farm stand and came home with a squash and a bag of popcorn kernels. Although they vocalized their opinion of it, soon my grandchildren were pointing out trees for most of the trip. Not one of us consulted a phone. It only took one afternoon and a tank of gas, but it is definitely gas money well-spent.
Carve the pumpkins on newspaper at the kitchen table
Hand carved at the kitchen table, no pumpkin kit can take on our jack o’lanterns!
Last fall my grandchildren and I spread a thick layer of newspaper over the kitchen table. Each grandchild took a marker and drew the face on a pumpkin and I did the carving. We took as long to clean up as we did to carve the pumpkins.
Lopsided as they were my grandchildren were proud of their work. The newspaper and innards of the pumpkin were easy to clean up, tossed right into our compost pile. On Halloween night they glowed by candle light from our porch steps.
Just as in years past when I was a child they were drawn by my Mom and carved by my Dad using nothing but a large spoon and paring knife. Memories indeed!
Roast the pumpkin seeds the same night
Every pumpkin comes with a free snack!
Last fall I carved a pumpkin with my grandchildren and we made roasted pumpkin seeds. The kids thought it was gross (at first!) to pull all of the seeds from the gory pulp by hand. Then it was fun! We made roasted pumpkin seeds with chili powder and salt. They were all gone before bed time!
My Mom always made roasted pumpkin seeds. After we would carve a pumpkin, she would wash the seeds in a colander, dry them on a dish towel and place them on a cookie sheet with a little salt and butter. We ate them right out of the pan, nice and toasty hot as we lit the candle and took our carved pumpkins inside. I really enjoyed that tradition with my family, and am glad that I was able to do that with my grandchildren.
I’m such a cheapskate, and the very thought of making something you can EAT out of things headed to the compost pile appeals to me on many levels!
Make Halloween costumes from what is already in the house
Nobody used to go out and purchase Halloween costumes in bags when I was a girl. My Mom would rummage around in the closet and the rag drawer and figure out what we could make. There was the classic sheet as a ghost, my Dad’s old suit for a businessman and a robot created out of a cardboard box.
Last fall as Halloween approached I informed my grandchildren that the store had closed its costume shop and so we would have to make our own. After the initial pouting subsided we rummaged through the closet and came up with some creative ideas. Using my husband’s flannel shirt and a hat stuffed with straw from the garden center, I created a scarecrow.
Although everything had a very home spun look I think the folks in the neighborhood enjoyed them even more knowing they weren’t from the costume shop. Closet costumes are always free and memorable.
Make popcorn balls for the children you know
My grandmother always made popcorn balls on Halloween afternoon. Made from pot-popped popcorn and a sugar/corn syrup/butter syrup, she’d make popcorn balls, wrap them up individually with waxed paper and then take them to the kids in the neighborhood. (Not just any kids, but ones that she knew!)
Last fall my grandchildren helped me make some, and they were happy to help. You need to have butter hands to make these so it is a very messy project, which the kids enjoyed. We made popcorn balls for our family and our next door neighbors (whose parents we know). I don’t think you should give them to just anyone as most parents wouldn’t allow their kids to accept a home-made item from a stranger. By the next morning ours were gone.
Easy and quick to make, a good item for kids to help with and inexpensive. Make some popcorn balls this Halloween.
Mend the wool socks and sort the mitten basket before the snow
An afternoon well-spent now can save a shopping trip in January!
My mom had a basket by our back door where she kept all of our hats, scarves, gloves and mittens. One rainy afternoon in November, she’d empty out the contents of the basket on our kitchen floor, find the missing mate for gloves and mittens, darn the holes in our wool socks (with a wooden darning egg) and make sure everyone was prepared for the winter to come. Nothing was replaced until it couldn’t be fixed.
I replicated this past fall with my grandchildren at the table. We found mittens without mates and gloves with holes in the thumbs. They learned how to weave yarn in the holes of the socks. My basket is ready for action and those socks will last another winter!
Polish the silver and iron the tablecloth the weekend before Thanksgiving
My grandmother used to bring out her silver the weekend before Thanksgiving Day. She would sit at the kitchen table and polish each piece with a soft rag and a jar of paste. My grandchildren helped me do both this past fall. It was her silver, tarnished from laying in a drawer too long. The little hands rubbed each fork shiny. Lined up on a towel. And just like Grandma, I ironed the table cloth, starched and all, that day too, laying it over a chair back to prevent wrinkles.
When I set the table for Thanksgiving it took me right back to being a little girl.
Let the children make the place cards by hand
Handmade place cards trump printed versions every time.
Growing up, on Thanksgiving morning, in our house, the kids made their place cards for the Thanksgiving table. Construction paper, crayons, names spelled as our youngest kiddo spelled them and nobody was corrected! My mom kept these cards and some are now in my possession. Stored in a drawer.
Last fall, I left paper and crayons with my grandchildren. Stepped out of the room and entered to a myriad of turkeys and pumpkins and spellings you wouldn’t believe. My husband found his and read it. The cards are now in the same drawer that has my mom’s cards from my childhood. Worth much more than a printed card and they are free!
Go around the table and say what you are thankful for before anyone eats
Last fall’s Thanksgiving dinner included my husband, children and grandchildren. It included (just like every Thanksgiving dinner of my childhood) each person at the table sharing something he/she was thankful for before the meal was eaten. Sure, we groaned (not everybody) but we especially remembered some of the responses given by the grandchildren (just not anticipating what they might say). Did the turkey get cold? It most certainly did! Did anybody care? Nope. After all, that is really the point, no? Take a few minutes before digging into dinner to think about all we have to be thankful for.
My dad’s predictable comments were groaned about yearly (because he gave the same comments each and every year!) It took quite awhile before everybody got a chance to share, and that turkey got mighty cold, but we sat around a full dinner table, sharing.
By the time I got through all of them (including most with the participation of grandchildren) on the day after Thanksgiving, my house was neither cleaner nor better than last year. There is just a jar of chili sauce on the shelf, some pressed leaves in the window, and a whole drawerful of place cards (with a few new ones on top).
Each of these traditions cost me an afternoon and nothing special to purchase. They aren’t just cute (although they are that too), but they are practical, money saving, fillers of the cold months and memories (for my grandchildren) that aren’t commercialized. What fall tradition from your childhood are you still a part of?
