I was introduced to Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “Little House on the Prairie” books when I was eight years old.  Soon after, I began doodling on wide-ruled paper when day-dreams would overtake me.  In them, I was Laura and I was playing in the log cabin attic bedroom with my sister Mary.  We would cuddle our tiny corncob dolls while playing house, sitting on pumpkins for chairs.  Overhead, strands of dried onions would hang on every beam.  The detail of my drawings was only limited by the time I had for that particular sitting.  Since I was a farm girl and much of our lives revolved around storing food, preparing food, and growing food, I had found my literary heroine.

Thirty-nine years later, I still romanticize the annual rhythm of doing what I can with my own hands and my own earth to provide food for my family.  And one of these annual rituals includes harvesting onions twice a year, drying them, and braiding them into usable portions to either keep in the garage until those on my hook in the kitchen are gone, or give away to friends.  The process is easy, but I was taught. So in case you are just now at the point where you’d like to learn as well, here is a post to guide you.  Let’s begin, shall we? Continue reading My Little Victory Garden: The Sweet Simplicity of Braiding Onions →