In the past, a family from Konya had certain customs and traditions based on the four seasons. These are still seen in some indigenous families. In the spring, after mid-April, housework increased. First of all, the stoves are disassembled, cleaned and stored in a moisture-free place. When it was time to clean the carpets, the help of the household and neighbours was also requested. Carpets and rugs are shaken in the garden or on the street.
After the dust was swept from the carpet, mothballs were scattered and folded, it was stored in a cool place. This event was called migration. Meanwhile, the wool of the beds and cushions was shed, beaten with wands, and after being cleaned, they were stuffed into their old covers. Some of these items were deported. After the winter blankets were removed from the rooms, snow-white covers with lace and embroidered skirts were laid on the sofa, on the armchair pillows. Rugs were spread in the middle of large rooms. Before these works are carried out, whitewash is applied to the walls if they are lime, or white earth polish is applied to the plaster. Room floorboards, cabinet doors, and window frames were washed and cleaned by rubbing them with a brush, and the windows were wiped. After the household goods, winter food was washed, dried, mothballed and put into clean bundles, and the bundles were stacked for the migration.
After spring cleaning is done, it is time to dry the vegetables. Fresh mint and parsley were bought, washed thoroughly in plenty of water, the stems were removed, and then dried in the shade. After the drying process, they were placed in clean bags and attached to nails on the shadow walls. From Meram and its surroundings, people migrated to vineyard houses and lived there throughout the summer. In the past, the locals of Konya did not buy their oil, cheese, yoghurt and milk needs from the market, but obtained them from the cows or dairies they kept at home. Additionally, about 8-10 sheep and goats were bought for meat in the autumn and for slaughter in the winter, tied to one side of the barn, and grazed in the garden or in the surrounding pastures during the day. In the autumn months until the spring months, an equal amount of winter fuel called “mayiz” (dung) is prepared from the manure of the animals collected near the barn door, with the help of the household or the working women hired for this job. These are burned to make bread in the tandoor in the winter, as well as in the stove instead of wood. Dried artefacts were regularly slid on places called fuel roofs around the tandoor.
Summer Preparations
Fruits ripen in this season, sour cherries, apricots and plums in sufficient quantities to meet household needs in winter were collected from the trees in the garden or purchased from the market. Apart from cherry jam, cherry syrup was also boiled for the winter. On the other hand, apricot, plum, pear and apple jams decorated with cloves were prepared. Jams are filled into green glazed pots, they are covered with clean cloth covers and tied, praying that they will be eaten healthily, and they are placed on the cool walls of the warehouse. After the jams, it was time for drying. Apricots collected from the trees in the garden in the cool of the morning were collected in baskets, and in the cool of the afternoon, a cover or mat was spread on a clean part of the roof, separated on the apricots and left to dry. Plums and other fruits were dried in the same way. If the apricot and plum fruits were too ripe, they were sieved and poured into oiled copper trays to be made into fruit pulp. In winter, cherries and apples were dried for complacency; some of them were peeled, cut into slices and prepared for drying.
In addition, in the summer, tomato paste was made to meet the household's needs, and zucchini, eggplant and peppers were hollowed out and dried. Some vegetables were left to dry on the roof in thin slices. Towards the end of the summer months, it was time to make bulgur and extract starch. During a winter season, soft wheat is bought from the field and the wheat market. Bulgur was boiled by helping neighbours. It was dried by spreading it on the covers spread on the roof, and the wheat that dried in two days was put in a sack and ground in the mill. After that, it was time for winter bread wheat. A few tons of wheat, sufficient for one winter, would be purchased, cleaned and washed, dried, then taken to the mill to be ground, poured into the flour warehouse and stored in sacks.
Winter preparations began in the autumn season. The first of these preparations was undoubtedly molasses and boiling for those who had vineyards. Grapes are brought home from the vineyard in baskets loaded onto carts or donkeys, poured into the laundry room near the firewood, and picked from the bunches as large and hard and tied together with twine. These were called “Hevenk” and were hung on nails nailed to the poles of the attic or warehouse.
The juice of the collected grapes was extracted by crushing them with feet, they were boiled on this must passed through white soil, and they were taken from the basin to the cauldron and left to cool. While the molasses was boiling, sliced dried apricots or small whole zucchinis and eggplants were thrown into some of it to make molasses jam. After molasses preparation was completed, it was time to make pickles. The most popular vegetables at home were pickled in glass jars. Pickle vinegar was prepared at home rather than in the market. This vinegar was usually made from the pulp of grapes squeezed to make molasses. This was called "cibra". After the pickle preparation was completed, it was time to make pastrami and sausage. A barren cow or moth bought from the market or fed at home is slaughtered and some of it is made into pastrami and some of it into sausage. To prevent the beef sausage from being tough, one or two goats or sheep were slaughtered and their meat was mixed. After the pastrami is balanced, the sausages are stuffed and dried.
In addition, roasted meat was prepared so that it would be ready in winter and meat would not be bought from the market. 5-6 sheep or goats or a small cow bought from the market would be slaughtered by the butcher brought to the house, the meat would be chopped with the help of neighbours, and roasted meat called minced meat would be prepared, some of it with bones. After the roast was cooked, a piece of roasted meat with bread was sent to the houses of the neighbours who had helped. which is called (bread release). Lastly comes the winter fuel. Most of the time, winter fuel was taken from the spring and broken into pieces, carpets and rugs were removed from the migrations and laid out, stoves were dried, winter clothing items were taken out of the bundles and prepared for wearing, and then the daily household chores began.