A Different Kind of Art

"I remember some of the gardens of the farmers in our congregation, their tables spread with food that they had grown themselves: strawberries picked from rows of straw mulched vines - the straw keeping the deep green leaves from ever being muddy, let alone the berries. These were things of beauty as they grew, as they were picked, and as they were served: shining rows of raspberry jam on loaded shelves, beside rows of perfectly shaped peach halves waiting for winter Sunday night guests; rows of vegetable soups made from marvellously fresh vegetables picked and prepared by the children; apples in bushel baskets - yellow, red, green - the varieties painting the cool fruit cellar like a canvas in a museum. Art. 'Hidden Art.' Some of the farmers and gardeners of history have blended the variety of their tasks into a similar and satisfying expression of 'Hidden Art.'"

-- From "The Hidden Art of Homemaking - Creative Ideas for Enriching Everyday Life" by Edith Schaeffer