Foraging

Ramps - Allium tricoccum (three seeded garlic, or wild leeks) - are found in the spring and early summer in wooded areas along the Appalacian Mountains. Don't confuse with Lily of the Valley.

There are many small and large Ramp festivals and dinners. West Virginia hosts so many there is a website listing yearly events HERE

Flour / Grist Mills tapes, Oliver Evans vs the Ellicotts

Sharpening millstones (photo on left and in blog post). Wye Mills in Maryland is having three talks on mills and grains. Orrell’s Beaten Biscuits at Wye. Oliver Evans' patent fight with the Ellicotts. Many taped talks.

Loft over the hearth in 1846 Ireland

During the Irish Famine, or The Great Hunger of 1845-49, this image of a loft, oddly built over the hearth fire in a County Kerry tenent's cabin was in The Pictorial Times, London.
So what was on the loft?

Maple sugaring

Native Americans collecting sap, then boiling it in a 1724 image. Two talks are about Native American traditions in Vermont and Michigan.

Several taped maple syrup and harvesting talks, followed by this week's talks.