There is that proverb "You have to eat a peck of dirt before you die." It means "No one can escape eating a certain amount of dirt on his or her food.; Everyone must endure a number of unpleasant things in his or her lifetime." (from http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/You+have+to+eat+a+peck+of+dirt+before+you+die) Here is the context where this sentence was used: With this Mrs. Rachel stepped out of the lane into the backyard of Green Gables. Very green and neat and precise was that yard, set about on one side with great patriarchal willows and the other with prim Lombardies. Not a stray stick nor stone was to be seen, for Mrs. Rachel would have seen it if there had been. Privately she was of the opinion that Marilla Cuthbert swept that yard over as often as she swept her house. One could have eaten a meal off the ground without overbrimming the proverbial peck of dirt. (Anne Of Green Gables by Montgomery, Lucy Maud) The last sentence may mean that she swept so well and clean that one could eat right off the ground without increasing this certain amount of dirt in their lifetime (mentioned in the proverb).