Town bought versus home grown. It's a phrase, and might I say a lifestyle, taught to me by my grandparents.
We hear a lot about Farmers Markets and locally grown foods nowadays. And while I'm a staunch proponent of production agriculture and its ability to feed the world, I still have my druthers. I prefer to eat foods that my hands have raised or at least had a hand in the preperation there of. I came by this attitude in an honest fashion. You see, my grandparents John and Vera Cox, Route M Lockney, Texas, got by much of the time on what they raised themselves. I can remember many a meal when some one would compliment my Nannie Cox on her cooking skills, and she would pass it off this way, "Well everything tastes better home grown."
And at our table it's still the same way. Our cupbords are filled with home grown versus town bought. We raise a garden year-round and feed at least one hog, one mutton, one calf and a pen of broilers each year. We keep a group of 20 or so hens on the farm yard also.
Fresh eggs for eating and baking can't be beat. Claire, my wife, and her sister Melody do all the canning. 
They have found, just as my grandparents did, that these activities- the gathering, preparation, and canning or putting up as we call it, allow them time to visit and bond. At a recent farm show we displayed many of our home grown/canned items. Folks were eager to learn about it and Claire was more than happy to share our lifestyle. This week she has put up beans, pickles, peppers, stewed tomatoes and apples in syrup. So tonight as we sit down to enjoy the fruits of our labor we'll thank the Father above for the folks who taught us to enjoy home grown more than town bought way back so many years ago on Route M in Lockney, Texas.