 Chase was the second oldest of 13 children, according to "The New York Times"; other sources report that she had 10 or 13 siblings.She was six when the Great Depression struck and later recollected surviving on produce the family grew themselves—okra, peas, greens—and clothes made of sacks that had held rice and flour.The children helped cultivate the land, especially on the 20-acre strawberry farm her father's family owned, which Chase described as forming an integral part of her knowledge of food