I did a lot of research before buying property in Floyd County, investigating the lifestyles of the residents and learning a little bit about their culture. I have friends who have retired to Asheville and I had been looking there, but Asheville really did not appeal to me because it seemed to me that there wasn’t a real community with real people there. On the other hand, Floyd was very real, with people from all walks of life. And there is a very active community in Floyd, too – one that new residents can be a part of, if they choose to do so. One fact that caught my eye early on was the presence of meat processors in the County (for venison, mostly) and also the fact that nearby (is it in Dublin?) there is a community canning facility, where, for a set price per jar, you can can your own vegetables if you don’t have your own canning equipment. It appears that plenty of people in Floyd have canning equipment, but it also appears that there is a good market for such equipment, judging by the window display that I saw at Farmer’s Supply, the general hardware store in town:

My mother had a canner when I was a wee little one, but I don’t remember her using it very often. I do remember her telling me that it was dangerous – that it could explode and injure you badly. As a teen-ager, I was a fan of Euell Gibbons and read his book, Beachcomber’s Handbook. I was fascinated by Euell’s accounts of foraging for food and that inspired me to make coconut cream pie from scratch. I gathered coconuts, husked them, punched a hole in the eye of the nut and drained the coconut water, cracked them open, scraped the coconut out, grated it, boiled it and then skimmed the cream from the top. It was a long process and I remember that the pie was really yummy! I also made jellies and jams, but since we didn’t have a garden and there was no need to put up canned food, I never learned anything about pressure canning. But that might be in my future. It is nice to know that Farmer’s Supply has everything that I might need!