Groundhog Day - Feb 2

Farmers in the German (Pa. Dutch) parts of Pennsylvania and the east would get some hope if the groundhog did not see his shadow. But. This year we are not getting a break... the varmint saw his shadow in single digit temps. So below are some 100-150 year old writings on the tradition. 1880 was also a very cold year, and a reporter wrote that the groundhog "saw his shadow today; we shall see."

Farm fences – Stone walls, Hedgerows, Waddle fences

These endangered fences using rocks or trees/bushes should be preserved... or at least appreciated. There are several upcoming hedgerow talks and some very good talks on a variety of stone walls, that were taped.

Bank Barns and taped barn & farm talks

The Bank Barn was set into a hill to allow the horse and wagon to enter the upper story to unload the hay, which would be dropped to the lower floor to feed the cows, horses, etc, who could exit on that level through doors under the overhang.

Victory Gardens, Plants, Farms and Barns talks

May and June 20 talks UPDATE. There were over 25 talks in April on Victory Gardens WWII (War Gardens WW1), Medieval & Colonial gardens, 2 on White House gardens, Indeginous food & plants and more. There are also many taped talks from the past year on gardens, seeds, sugar beets, Manoomin (Wild Rice), farms and a few on livestock and stone walls.

The Farm - plowing, sowing, reaping, thrashing, winnowing and milling

This interesting farm image with tools is from a book published in London by 1844. Closeup of the sketches (click to enlarge) and description follow...

Hussey, the inventor who made bread cheap

Obed Hussey (1797-1860) created the first successful reaper in America, rather than the more well known Cyrus McCormick (1809-1884). Great films of harvesting 1904, 1938...