Gertrude call it roughage, not fiber and she sure knew that it was important. During the spring and summer she served large portions of in season fruits and vegetables. We'd eat fresh carrots, onions, cabbage, spinach and tomatoes all from the garden. I think some days all we ate were fruits and vegetables, like pounds of it! I still crave a tomato sandwich, if the tomato is straight off the vine.
During the late summer and Fall she canned anything and everything. Tomatoes were abundant in Western New York, and she knew so many ways to can them with different seasonings. Her homemade chili sauce was to die for.
Dried bean were also available, and after soaking overnight in a pot of water they were ready to cook. No store-bought beans for her. I wish I could remember how she made them, but Gertrude did not use recipes. A pinch of this and a handful of that. I have never found a recipe that comes close to what she could do with dried beans.
Now everyone is being told to eat a plant-based diet and be sure to get enough fiber. Gertrude definitely knew best. Soluble fiber, insoluble fiber were not part of her vocabulary. All she knew was fresh fruits and vegetables were best. Canned in the winter was a good substitute, as long as she canned it. Oh, by the way, no one ever mentioned being constipated.
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