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Homeplace Journal
We will list the happenings on the farm that we have seen and are excited to share with you.
Come back often to participate in the experiences that nature shares with all of us at LBL.....
Tuesday, March 1
Snow, made final preparations for
opening day-moved chickens and ducks from winter quarters to the main
site. Moved horse harness to the tack room of the horse barn.
Wednesday, March 2
Opening Day 2005! Put the Double Pen &
Single Pen houses in order. Made a leather belt. Sharpened tools.
Thursday, March 3
Knitted. Made preparations for the
weekend program by gathering green hickory and sassafrass for smoking
the hams and sides of bacon.
Friday, March 4
Used Ben the draft horse to harrow the
front field and drag logs for splitting fence rails. Hung meat in
smokehouse and began smoking the meat.
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Monday, March 7
Alternative Spring Group from Boston
University at The Homeplace. Picked up brush, moved hay, restacked
split rail fences.
Tuesday, March 8
Alternative Spring Group from Boston
University at The Homeplace for second day. Whitewashed main house of
Double Pen. Put together 2 rope beds at the Double Pen.
Wednesday, March 9
Rendered lard, handwork and knitting,
repaired groundslide.
Thursday, March 10
Cooked dinner, handwork. Tried to make
lye soap but it was too windy.
Saturday, March 12
Harrowed oatfield with Ben the draft
horse. Drug the field to level it with Tic the older draft horse. Made
a vet visit for Bright, one of the oxen, who has been limping for
several days.
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Sunday, March 13
A predator got into the chicken coup, 10
chickens lost.
Monday, March 14
Alternative Spring Break Group from
Texas A&M at Homeplace to volunteer. Built a new decking for the stage
for Pickin' Party June 11-12. Whitewashed parlor of Double Pen House.
Tuesday, March 15
Whitewashed the parlor of the Double Pen
House, Put new wire in chicken coup, Cut slabs to burn in the tobacco
barn when we fire cure tobacco in the fall.
Wednesday, March 16
Plowed and harrowed garden. Made lye
soap.
Thursday, March 17
Cooked a dinner on the woodstove-Corned
beef & cabbage. Harrowed and leveled the garden using Ben. Drug old
rotted poplar log to woods. Planted spring garden including- Irish
Potatoes, peas, cabbage, lettuce, and onions.
Friday, March 18
Worked on chest of drawers at Tool Barn.
Handwork. Cleaned girls room in upstairs of Double Pen.
Saturday, March 19
Received this year's pigs. They both are
Tamworth which is a breed that dates to the 19th century. They are a
red pig and are currently 40lbs. apiece. By November they will be
300lbs. The staff has named them Ham & Beans. Come December they will
become ham, bacon, sausage, and other meats to be smoked on site and
used for cooking at The Homeplace in 2006. [Take a look at them
on the video page]
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Sunday, March 20
Worked on chest of drawers. Sharpened
big crosscut saw and bucksaw. Bright the ox has a torn tendon in his
back leg. We can use him for demonstrations but will no longer be able
to work him on the farm. We are beginning a project to obtain a pair
of Shorthorn Bull Calves to train as oxen.
Wednesday, March 23
Tightened and repaired split rail fences
at Tool Barn and front field. Churned butter.
Thursday, March 24
Cleaned plows so that they will run good
when we plow to plant corn. Finished tightening front field fence.
Friday, March 25
Tomatoes planted in peat pots to use at
the 1850s Agricultural Fair in September are beginning to sprout.
Repaired garden fence. Repaired scarecrow. Leatherwork.
Saturday, March 26
Dyed Easter eggs using 19th century
dyes.
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Sunday, March 27
Yoked and drove oxen. Very heavy
rainstorm. Had ankle deep pea-sized hail on the farm.
Wednesday, March 30
Cleaned duck coup and changed bedding.
At the end of the day, the ducks would not go into the coup because it
did not smell right to them. Woodworking, spun wool, cooked dinner of
fried pork, cornbread, and potatoes. Churned butter. Cleaned
watertroughs. Program- Hands On History Spring Break Mystery- using
yokes and buckets children hauled water to give to the pigs and sheep.
Thursday, March 31
Finished inventory work at Tool Barn.
Knitting, pieced quilt. Onions are beginning to sprout in the garden.
Friday, April 1
Spinning, knitting, took tobacco down
from barn to prepare for program on April 9th.
Saturday, April 2
Leather work, Program comparing cooking
methods of open Hearth cooking vs. Woodstove cooking. Spinning,
quilting. Otter spotted on farm. It is possible that the otter was
responsible for killing the chickens.
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Sunday, April 3
Pieced quilt. Tore rags to make rag rugs
at a program on April 23rd. Plowed field by Tool Barn to plant cotton,
broomcorn, and flax which is used to make linen.
Monday, April 4
Placed an order for 2 Milking Shorthorn
calves which will be delivered in time for the Future of the Farm program
on May 14th. There we will be showing off a number of baby farm animals
and learning about what happens to them when they grow up. We hope to yoke
up the calves that day and begin their training to become oxen.
We also finished plowing the field by the
Tool Barn where we plan to grow cotton, flax, and broomcorn. The field was
then harrowed off to level the ground. Also did some quilting and
woodworking.
Tuesday, April 5
Plowed the corn field with Ben. Ground
broke up very well. Used the #10 Oliver plow.
Wednesday, April 6
Cooked dinner, handwork, had visitors
help with spring cleaning of double pen house. Sowed flax seed. Rain.
Thursday, April 7
Woodworking, knitting, repaired a halter
for Ben the draft horse. Took down tobacco for weekend program.
Friday, April 8
Worked on chest of drawers. Played music
while it rained.
Saturday, April 9
Program focusing on the labor involved in
raising a tobacco crop. Made a new wooden key for the lock at the Single
Pen House.
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Sunday, April 10
Stripped tobacco, handwork.
Monday, April 11
Cooked dinner of white beans, corn bread,
turnips, doughnuts, coffee. Cut slabs to fire-cure tobacco in the fall.
Tuesday, April 12
Aired mainhouse of double pen, mopped the
floor of the kitchen. worked on chest of drawers.
Wednesday, April 13
Moved young pigs from their brooder house
to the main hog pen. In 10 minutes they escaped and free ranged the farm
for awhile. Used a slop bucket to lead them back into the brooder house
area until holes are fixed in fence at hog lot. Split fence rails.
Thursday, April 14
Cultivated garden, worked at tightening
hog lot fence, knitted, prepared rags for rugs for the program on the
weekend of earth day. Worked on chest of drawers, 2 drawers finished.
Friday, April 15
Harrowed and drug the tool barn field.
We then planted 2 rows of cotton and 2 rows of broomcorn. Although
cotton was not commonly grown between the rivers in the 1850s, we
raise a little for home use. The broom corn is used for making brooms
and for livestock feed. Finished plowing the cornfield with Ben. Began
harrowing cornfield. Cooked dinner on the woodstove: Fresh wild
turkey, potatomash, red ripper peas (which were saved from last year's
garden), biscuits, and applesauce spice cake.
Saturday, April 16
Worked on chest of drawers. Harrowed and
drug cornfield with Barney. Finished repairing hoglot fence. Quilting.
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Sunday, April 17
Harrowed and drug cornfield again to
break the dirt up to a very fine state. Will plant corn tomorrow.
Monday, April 18
Planted 12 rows of Bloody Butcher corn,
a variety that will grow to 12 feet tall and red ears. This variety
was grown in the 1850s. Moved pigs from brooder area to the hog lot.
They are now 50 lbs. apiece and growing. Cleaned water troughs. Aired
parlor.
Tuesday, April 19
Finished planting corn with 24 rows
total. Had a visitor help to plant one row. She was in her 70s and had
never planted corn before. She even planted the row in her barefeet!
Moved baby chicks out to the brooder house on the farm.
Wednesday, April 20
Hoed flax, broom corn and cotton.
Woodworking. Tobacco plants are beginning to sprout. The seeds were
actually sown in late February. We will transplant the young sprouts
in late May. One of the horses had an adventure. He had laid down to
take a nap and when he was getting up, he stuck one of his feet
through the split rail fence and got stuck. It took several of the
staff to remove the fence rail to free the horse, but everyone was ok.
We have posted a ballot box in the visitor center as part of a contest
for suggestions as to what to name our Milking Shorthorn calves which
we will be getting in May. Ox names were often one syllable and
Biblical names were very popular in the 1850s. Names suggested so far
include-Cain & Abel, Jacob & Essau, Pharoh & Moses, Slag & Iron, Clay
& Calhoun. Hilled potatoes in garden. Onions are doing really well.
Quilted.
Thursday, April 21
Planted heirloom gourds along fence lines.
Weeded tobacco plant bed. Exercised Tic the 24 year old Percheron/Morgan
Draft Horse.
Friday, April 22
Quilted. Copperhead seen near garden.
Broomcorn up in field. Picked horse hooves. Woodworking. Cleaned horse
harness.
Saturday, April 23
Bright- one of our 9 year old Milking
Shorthorn Oxen had to be put down by a vet. He had torn a tendon in his
leg. He was buried on the farm. Repaired push cultivator. Cleaned Oliver
#10 plow. Planted peas in garden. Repaired halter. Began work on single
ox yoke to work Blaze the remaining Shorthorn steer. Cold.
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Sunday, April 24
Blaze misses his buddy Bright. He stood at
the fence and called for Bright part of the day. Dipped candles. Covered
the windows in the parlor of the Double Pen and lit a single candle just
to show how much one candle power is. Cleaned harness.
Monday, April 25
Worked on fence to have a dye garden
behind the Single Pen House. The garden will hold plants that have the
quality to color wool. The fence is to keep the ducks and sheep from
eating the plants.
Tuesday, April 26
Knitting, Crochet, Handwork, Worked on
single ox yoke. Rain, Rain, Rain...makes the ducks happy.
Wednesday, April 27
Very busy with school groups. Bloody
Butcher corn is coming up. Lots of votes coming in for naming the new
Milking Shorthorn Calves. The names Cain and Abel are looking very
popular.
Thursday, May 5
Received 2 Milking Shorthorn bull
calves. Both are about 6 months old. One is all white while the other
is white with red coloring about the neck. Hoed corn in the front
field. Replanted potatoes in the garden. Woodworking. A visitor
stopped by who had ancestors who once lived in the Crockett Creek
area.
Friday, May 6
Aired girls room, woodworking. For the
past 3 days a brown & white medium sized stray dog had been hanging
around the farm but would not let anyone catch it. A visitor in the
parking lot had a dog and was able to catch the stray. We contacted a
local vet and they were able to trace the dog's owner through his
rabies tags. The dog's name turned out to be Tramp. He had disapeared
from his home 8 days ago. He had wondered over 25 miles from his home
in Bumpus Mills, TN. He was very hungry and was covered in ticks, but
we were able to reunite Tramp with his family.
Saturday, May 7
Invited Artist-Gary Lawson sheared 11
sheep at The Homeplace using handshears. We also had a program
focusing on what happens to the wool after it is sheared from the
sheep in order to prepare it to become wool clothing. First session of
3 part quilting workshop took place. Also hosted a photography
workshop.
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Sunday, May 8
Move the bull calves from the modern
barn to the Ox barn where they will live until they are halter broke.
Cultivated 10 rows of Bloody Butcher corn with Tic. Today was the 4th
anniversary of Doc's death. Doc was a Percheron draft horse at The
Homeplace until 2001 when he succumbed to colic. Doc was a great draft
horse who brought a lot of joy to Homeplace visitors the years that he
was on the farm and his presence is still missed.
Monday, May 9
The results are in! All the votes for
the Name the New Oxen Contest have been tallied and the overwhelming
winners are- Cain & Abel. Stop by this summer and meet Cain & Abel as
they are trained to become working oxen.
Tuesday, May 10
Woodworking, Split a log to be used to
make shingles. Dry, could use some rain.
Wednesday, May 11
Worked with Cain & Abel. The first step
is to gain their trust by showing them that we are not going to hurt
them. This is done through brushing and carressing the calves.
Quilted.
Thursday, May 12
Thinned onions, radishes, and spinach
from the garden. Cultivated corn and ran a double shovel through the
area that will become the summer garden. Knitted, Quilting. Was able
to place 2 hands on Abel which is good progress. Cultivated garden.
Friday, May 13
Cultivated Corn with Tic, hoed
garden, cleaned out calves stall, woodworking.
Saturday, May 14
Heavy Rain. Future of the farm
program focusing on baby farm animals and what would become of
them when they grew up as they would be a future resource for the
farm in draft power, fiber, and food.
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Sunday, May 15
Worked with calves. Presented a
program as a 19th century plow salesman. This program helped
visitors to understand how plows work.
Monday, May 16
Groomed horses, worked with Cain &
Abel, succeeded in getting a halter on Abel embroidery, worked on
Rag Rug.
Tuesday, May 17
Worked with calves, prepared ground
for summer garden using the draft horses, hoed garden, hoed 10
rows of corn, woodwork, handwork.
Thursday, May 19
Finished hoeing corn, thinned and
hoed broom corn, fertilized tobacco plant bed, worked with Cain &
Abel, planted summer garden.
Friday, May 20
Groomed horses and picked feet,
quilting, haltered Abel and went for a walk.
Saturday, May 21
Program-Barking Up the Right Tree:
Focused on the use of tree bark to make containers and bottom
chairs. Cooked dinner on the woodstove of the Double Pen-Turkey,
potatomash, green beans, gravy, cornbread, spinach, green onions,
chess pie. Damper broke in wood stove. Double shoveled Tool Barn
field for tobacco. Haltered Abel. Groomed horses & calves.
Quilting, Sewing.
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Sunday, May 22
Program-Spring Swing: 19th century
dancing to 19th century music. Treated visitors to lemonade and
watermelon. Fed the watermelon rinds to the pigs and ducks.
Harrowed and drug Tool Barn field with Barney. Worked with calves.
Cleaned Double Pen House-aired rooms, washed windows, etc. Split
log for fence rails.
Monday, May 23
Plowed for tobacco, made a poplar
bark bucket, boot repair, knitting, quilting, worked on wood
stove, cultivated and hoed spring garden, turned Cain & Abel out
with Blaze in the Ox paddock. They jumped and ran and had a big
time.
Tuesday, May 24
Plowed for tobacco with Barney.
Tuesday, May 24
Plowed for tobacco,
cultivated corn, cleaned calf stall, fixed damper on
stove, weeded around rose of sharon at Double Pen.
Wednesday, May 25
Cultivated corn, worked on
bark baskets, repaired rifle, split rails, planted
tomatoes & peppers in summer garden, worked with calves,
received thank you letters from a school group that had
visited The Homeplace.
Thursday, May 26
Worked in garden,
handwork, cleaned watertroughs, thinned & weeded
broomcorn.
Friday, May 27
Plowed for tobacco, worked
with Cain & Abel, cooked dinner of fried pork roast,
potato mash, red ripper peas, cornbread, salad, cake.
Saturday, May 28
Plowed for tobacco, worked
in garden. Presented programs on preserving cast iron
and the history of the Great Western Furnace.
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Sunday, May 29
Plowed for tobacco, worked
with calves, a hawk almost got one of the chickens,
worked on friendship quilt which is a quilt that
visitors help to quilt and then sign their names to.
Today the quilt received signatures from Taiwan.
Presented a program called "River Ratting" which focused
on how the rivers were used as a food source for
fishing.
Monday, May 30
Finished plowing for
tobacco, worked on a banjo in preparation for the Pickin'
Party which will be Sat. & Sun June 11 & 12, hoed
garden, harrowed tobacco plot to level it out. Presented
a program on doing laundry the 19th century way which
was very popular with families as the children helped to
haul water, stir the laundry, and wash it over a
battling board.
Tuesday, May 31
Cut hickory tree to make a
banjo head, leatherwork.
Wednesday, June 1
Dinnertime! program allows
for visitors to see a meal being prepared on the
woodstove. Today's meal was chicken, potatomash,
cornbread, red ripper peas, and blueberry pie. Next
week's program will allow children to dress up and to
experience the work and play of a 19th century child.
Cultivated broomcorn and flax and worked up ground for
tobacco. RAIN!!! Finally! Crops were beginning to turn
off very dry and we were in need of rain to set tobacco
plants.
Wednesday, June 1
Cultivated broomcorn
and worked up ground to set tobacco, worked at
repairing horse harness, cooked dinner, handwork.
Thursday, June 2
Rain, Cain broke out
of ox lot, haltered Abel in ox lot without any
trouble, worked at horse harness, quilted.
Friday, June 3
1 wounded and 3
missing Aylesbury ducks (probably a coyote got
them), leatherwork, worked with calves.
Saturday, June 4
Cooked fish for
dinner, knitting, quilting, hilled ground for
tobacco in upper field, hoed 3 rows of corn, worked
with calves.
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Sunday, June 5
Harrowed and drug
front field for tobacco, set tobacco in field by the
tool barn, hoed tomatoes and beans in the garden,
hilled front field for setting tobacco. Received a
group from Murray State University. We did two
programs for them focusing on the steps needed to
turn a raw product into a finished product. One
program focused on the 13 months of work to turn
tobacco seeds into cash money. Participants were
able to set tobacco plants and tie tobacco hands.
The second program focused on turning a sheep fleece
into a finished garment. Participants carded and
spun wool.
Set tobacco in front
field, hoed 4 rows of corn. Hoed corn, worked on
chest of drawers.
Cultivated and
hoed garden, split shingles, hoed tobacco,
weeded herb garden, hand work, fertilized
tobacco in upper field. Pulled Flax,
cleaned sheep stalls, leatherwork, worked with
Cain & Abel, planted Jacob beans, pulled all but
3 rows of onions, smocking, and embroidery. Pulled flax,
cultivated half of front tobacco field with Tic,
worked on chest of drawers, worked with calves,
cooked dinner, worked in garden.
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Sunday, June 19
Finished
cultivating tobacco in front field, reset
tobacco in front field, staked tomatoes in
garden, aired house, pulled beets. Hoed dirt
to tobacco in front field, cleaned out dye
garden, worked in garden, staked tomatoes,
worked with calves,
Hosted
Murray State University's Summer Institute
Program. Participants were able to marble paper,
make basket pieces, write letters using pen and
ink, hear storytelling and music, and
participate in a version of The Homeplace Toys &
Games and Children's Chores Education programs.
Cooked dinner,
afterwards bolts in the stove gave out and the
front fell off of the stove. We will no longer
be able to cook using this stove and will have
to replace it. Turned knobs on the lathe
for chest of drawers, handwork. Hoed and reset
tobacco in front field, sharpened hoes and
knives, watered pumpkins, knitting and smocking,
turned flax, woodworking.
Worked with
calves, cut cane to stake beans in the garden,
worked on banjo, handwork, thinned broom corn,
weeded herb garden. Worked with
calves, woodworking, presented program on the
various types of feet found around the farm and
how their adaptations help the livestock.
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Sunday, June 26
Began work on a
hay box for the calves, cultivated upper field
with Tic, moved stove from Single Pen to Double
Pen House. Woodworking,
worked with calves, hot, washed laundry. Pulled onions,
kniting, ironed clothes, woodworking, worked on
straight back chair, worked with calves,
finished repairing horse harness, cut and
shocked oats, worked on hay box for calves.
Worked with
calves, mowed oats using a scythe, worked on
straight back chair, weeded garden, mended,
tied onions to store them for winter. Worked on
straight back chair, fertilized and watered
pumpkins, prepared marble yard for 4th of
July, worked with calves, churned butter,
worked in garden, mending and knitting. Tied oats into
sheaves and then stacked sheaves into shocks,
reset and hoed tobacco.
Baked applesauce
spice cake, also cooked donuts and fried apple
pies, worked with calves.
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Sunday, July 3
Worked with
calves, was able to halter Cain for the first
time! Finished hay box for calves and put in
place, presented a 19th century camp meeting
program Independence Day was filled with
oratory and celebration of what makes America
great.
Quilting, making
dress, gardening, worked with broomcorn. Cooking,
gardening, coopering (making water tight
containers out of wood), worked with calves. Aired girls
room, cleaned downstairs at Double Pen, worked
on 9 patch quilt top, pulled rest of flax,
worked with calves, coopering.
Worked with
calves, broke over heads of broomcorn which
will later be used to make wisk brooms,
coopering, woodworking, played music. Split white oak,
sharpened hoes, cultivated tobacco, hoed tool
barn field, weeded and hoed garden, hand work,
picked squash.
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Sunday, July 10
Knitting,
smocking, hand sewing, worked with broomcorn. Rain, Rain,
Rain. Finally, Finally, Finally.
More rain,
worked with white oak tree to make bucket
bands. Cooked
dinner, knitted, worked with a white oak tree
to make splits to build a basket, coopering.
Cooked
dinner, knitted, coopering, worked with Cain &
Abel, began working on an oak basket.
Continued to rain, worked on
basket, knitting, spinning, quilting, worked
with calves. Abel is making great progress as
a working steer, taking to the halter and
starting to lead very well and follow commands
for left and right. We are starting to have
good success haltering Cain.
Pieced
quilt, knitting, hand sewing on a shirt for
Jonathan, picked garden, broke beans, spread
manure over pumpkins, gourds, and dye garden
area, worked on basket. If it keeps raining,
we might have to build an ark to put the
animals in before the the farm is under water.
Cooked dinner,
finished white oak basket, leatherwork, worked
with calves, picked corn. Had a pair of boys
who misbehaved on the farm. One boy locked his
brother in the smokehouse and wouldn't let him
out. The mother of the boys insisted that
since the boys had misbehaved that they had to
do a chore of some kind. The staff gave the
boys cultivating tools and showed them weeds
that needed taken out of the garden. The
mother kept the boys in the garden chopping
weeds for almost an hour to teach them a
lesson that I doubt they will soon forget!
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Sunday, July 17
Put down new
bedding for the pigs, worked with calves,
chased a black rat snake out of the chicken
coup, cut weeds along garden fence,
woodworking program featuring how to make
dovetail joints, tore down tobacco plant bed
as it is too far into the tobacco season for
any plants set now to catch up to the other
plants in the field. Wormed sheep,
worked with calves, made oak splits for
another basket, dug potatoes, picked squash
and beans. The black rat snake was back in the
chicken coup today. Got a feed bag and went to
collect him. He was coiled up along the beam
right above the doorway. Grabbed hold of him
and fortunately he put his head into the feed
sack to get away. Took him to an old home site
near the former town of Model, TN where there
ought to be lots of rodents to snack on. He
measured at least 6ft long and had a girth of
3 to 4 inches.
Worked with
calves, worked on smocking, several visitors
helped to dig 11 rows of potatoes from the
garden filling a washtub, worked on tool
chest, cut weeds around garden, wormed horses,
knitting, aired bedding in girls room of
Double Pen House.
Handsewing,
crocheting, hoed tobacco, worked with
calves, topped tobacco, gave Tic a bath,
wormed tobacco. Hoed tobacco,
woodworking, sewed on quilt top, cultivated
and hoed Jacob's Cattle beans, picked beans,
tomatoes, and cucumbers.
Cooked dinner
with vegetables from the garden, had fresh
Bloody Butcher corn from the front field,
woodworking. Hoed garden,
held a watermelon social where we had fresh
watermelon, told stories, played games and
relaxed in the shade. Another watermelon
social will be held Sunday, August 21st.
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Sunday, July
24
Worked on
chest of drawers, hoed garden, brushed Cain
& Abel, worked with tobacco. Repaired a fly
swatter, quilting, gave Abel a bath and
noticed places where manure was matting his
coat so we put both Cain and Abel on the big
pasture. Dew and rain will help to get their
coats clean. The calves acted like kids in a
candy store when they made it up to pasture,
compared to the 1/2 acre lot they have been
kept in for the past 2 months, they now have
over 15 acres to explore.
Worked with
calves and gave them both and Blaze a bath,
woodworking, cleaned horse harnesses.
Temperatures in the high 90's. Noticed that
the ducks were panting today. You know it's
hot when ducks pant.
Worked with
calves, gave Tic a bath, trimmed horse hooves,
suckered upper tobacco field, wormed lower
tobacco field, worked in garden, quilted,
worked on chest of drawers. Cooked dinner,
wormed and topped tobacco, woodworking, worked
with calves. Aired the
upstairs of DP House, Cultivated and planted
fall garden, hoed tomatoes and cucumbers,
picked tomatoes, pieced on quilt, worked on
baskets.
Held a tomato
taste test which was very popular, cultivated
tobacco, basket work, finished planting fall
garden, picked green beans, worked with
calves, worked on making a banjo.
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Sunday, July 31
Worked on chest
of drawers, basket, and steambent an ox bow. Cleaned
watertroughs, picked hoofs of horses, worked
on chest of drawers, aired SP Parlor, put up
potatoes. Spinning,
handwork, worked on book binder and chest of
drawers, dyed wool with walnuts.
Suckered and
wormed all tobacco, worked with calves, cooked
dinner, woodworking. Topped over
broomcorn, worked with calves, woodworking,
cooked dinner. Handwork and
swept house, woodworking, leatherworking,
worked with calves.
Sorted and put
flax in to rett (The
woody stalk is purposefully almost rotted,
making them weak and brittle in order to
remove the fiber)
at Modern Barn. This process rots the
substance that holds the fiber that is used to
make linen to the stalk. On Labor Day weekend,
The Homeplace will be hosting a program
showing all the work that it takes to turn
flax into linen.
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Sunday, August 7
Handwork,
knitted, quilted, made Ice Cream, wormed,
topped, and suckered tobacco, leatherwork,
worked with calves. Cooked dinner,
knitted, worked on basket, worked with calves,
cut weeds in front field.
Wormed and
suckered upper tobacco field, worked with
calves, split shingles, picked tomatoes, aired
and cleaned main house. Quilting, picked
beans, clipped suckers from broom corn and fed
these to the pigs.
Suckered and
wormed tobacco, basket making, made a mold
to bend a banjo hoop, sharpened knives at
the Double Pen House. Bent banjo
hoop, worked with calves, picked corn from
the front field, picked tomatoes and okra.
Enjoyed The Homeplace
Children's Festival
Bob Holliday
The Homeplace
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Sunday, August
14
Smocking,
quilt piecing, aired the upstairs of the
Double Pen House. Picked
vegetables from the garden, broke green
beans, seasoned and put up kettles, pieced
on quilt. Mended shirts,
worked on feedbox for Tic, repaired shoes.
It was
very hot.
Leatherwork,
worked with calves-took Abel for a walk
outside of the pen and haltered Cain without
having to use the fee bucket.
Pulled big
weeds out of pumpkins/gourds, suckered
tobacco, worked with Blaze and the calves.
Suckered
tobacco, bent hickory for banjo head, worked
with calves putting Cain and Abel into yoke
for the first time, quilting.
Bob Holliday
The Homeplace
____________________________
Sunday, August
29
Fieldwork for
the last couple of days has included suckering
and worming tobacco getting ready for the
tobacco harvest on Labor Day. The tobacco
worms have been particularly bad this season.
Rob has been busy preparing flax for a program
Sun. Sept. 4 demonstrating the processes
involved for turning flax into linen. Work has
also continued in the garden getting the fall
garden cultivated and hoed out. Fall beans are
coming along well and some of the other crops
are just beginning to sprout with all the rain
from the hurricane. Overall, The Homeplace
survived the hurricane in tact although the
summer okra and pole beans were knocked down
pretty bad.
Cain & Abel are
coming along pretty well. We have succeeded in
being able to halter both calves without
having to use the feed bucket as a lure. We
also have been successful in yoking the calves
which is also a good thing.
With the recent
heat wave, projects at the Double Pen House
have included spinning wool, knitting,
quilting, and some baking on the woodstove but
not much. At the tool barn, Nathan has bee
working on a banjo while Robert has been
putting the finishing touches on a leather
bookbinder.
Staff are
excited about the 16th Annual 1850s
Agricultural Fair which will be Saturday,
Sept. 17th from 10am to 4pm. We are expecting
a good crowd to participate in this special
event.
Bob Holliday
The Homeplace
___________________________
Wednesday,
September 7
This past
week was full of work to prepare for the
tobacco harvest. The tobacco was suckered
and wormed as best as possible and one of
the draft horses was used to move a ground
slide and tobacco sticks to the field.
Labor Day found the staff cutting tobacco
in the morning while the ladies worked at
preparing a large dinner on the Double Pen
wood stove for the tobacco hands. After
the tobacco was split down the center it
was hung on sticks to wilt so that it
could be handled without breaking.
After a
magnificent dinner of ham, corn pudding,
biscuits and cornbread, potatoes, squash,
fried green tomatoes, cheese that Jennifer
had made, peach cobbler and pumpkin pie it
was time to hang the tobacco up in the
barn. We used Ben, one of our 6 year old
Percheron draft horses to get the job done
and it took three trips to get all the
tobacco up to the barn.
Several
visitors helped to hang the tobacco onto
the sticks and to put it up into the barn.
As well, a number of children who stopped
by the barn took great delight in
capturing tobacco worms that fell from the
hanging tobacco and feeding them to the
chickens.
In a week or
so, we will begin fire curing the tobacco
by building a low fire within the building
and the smoke of the daily fire will give
the tobacco a dark color and rich flavor
which will make the tobacco suitable for
chewing tobacco. In the 19th century, the
area of western Kentucky and north central
Tennessee was known as "The Black Patch"
because of the quantity of chewing tobacco
produced in this part of the country.
Until next
time,
Bob Holliday
Lead
Interpreter
The
Homeplace
___________________________
Wednesday,
September 21
For some
reason this season we have been having quite
a bit of trouble with predators taking
chickens and ducks from The Homeplace. When
the year began we had 3 roosters and a dozen
hens. Then something dug its way into the
chicken coop and killed several birds. We
sealed the hole and the next night something
came through the roof and killed a few more
birds. With only 5 birds left, we tightened
the coop with wire and sealed all the holes
we could find. We did catch an oppossum but
there was a river otter seen around the farm
and it is quite possible that the otter was
the culprit.
In
early Spring we purchased 25 new chicks to
increase our poultry numbers. We ordered
Dominique and Silver Laced Wyandotte; two
breeds that were available during the 19th
century. Both are considered to be rare
breeds.
Then in early
September it happened again, during the
morning between when the chickens and ducks
were let out and the farm opened to the
public (a time window of about an hour)
5 piles of feathers were found on the farm
including Fuzzy, a Black Cochin bird who was
an excellent brooding hen and very popular
with the public. Two weeks later, when the
ladies were putting up the chickens in the
evening but there were 10 birds missing
including Little R, the dominant Dominique
rooster and Roy, a young rooster that we
acquired with our spring batch of chicks. A
search of the area the next day discovered
the remains of some of the birds. As the
poultry and waterfowl are allowed to free
range they will often go into to woods to
find things to eat. It is possible that
coyotes found the birds in the woods and
scattered them but in the rush the birds ran
away from the farm instead of towards the
farm.
So now we're
down to 12 hens. As unfortunate as the loss
of the birds is, it will mean that we will
be purchasing more Dominique and Silver
Laced Wyandotes next year which in the long
run helps to protect these rare breeds
because it means business for poultry
producers that are working hard to preserve
these rare heritage breeds of poultry and
waterfowl.
Bob Holliday
Lead
Interpreter
Wednesday,
October 12
For the past
couple of weeks we've been firing tobacco
daily. We've also been spending a lot of
time working with Cain and Abel who are
coming along very well. We are able to
halter them both individually and work
with them and they are taking to being
yoked together and beginning to ground
drive. Soon we'll begin plowing for the
fall.
Charlotte
and Lora Ann prepared a fine meal
yesterday on the woodstove of the Double
Pen House. They put together a deer
stew with apple pie and apple crisp.
We've been
very busy with special events such as The
Autumn Nature Celebration, The Homeplace
Wedding, Snap Apple Night, and the busy
Columbus Day weekend. We also have been
receiving at least a school group a day.
So there's been a lot going on and we
still have a lot to do before we close for
the season on November 30.
Bob Holliday
Wednesday,
November 16
We keep a
number of animals at The Homeplace-
cattle, horses, sheep, etc. but from time
to time we will have a stray dog that will
show up at the farm. Although it would be
historically accurate for there to be
several dogs on a 19th century farm and it
could be a great help with herding the
sheep, we have refrained from having a dog
on the farm for several reasons. For one,
LBL regulations require all dogs not used
for hunting to be in direct control of
their owner by a leash of some kind. As
well some people are simply afraid of dogs
and we would not want to have a free
ranging dog at HP that would be more of a
liability than a help.
As I was
beginning to say though, from time to time
we have stray dogs that will show up at
HP. How do these dogs get here? Some
become separated from their owners, some
get disoriented and become lost; and
unfortunately, some are deliberately
dumped by their owners because the dogs
are unwanted, or the owners believe that
the dogs would be better off free ranging
in LBL. We've had some interesting
encounters with dogs over the past few
years. In 2001 we had a stray show up and
we thought we might keep it as a farm dog.
He was a calm friendly blue heeler that
the staff took to feeding and named
Patches. Unfortunately, not a week after
the staff had gotten attached to Patches
that he began to have a bad cough. A trip
to the vet discovered a large tumor
pushing on one of Patches' lungs that
would prove terminal. Our thought was that
the previous owner knew this but could not
for one reason or the other do what needed
to be done. So the HP staff paid to have
Patches put down and then we buried him on
the farm.
A happier
ending occurred last year when another
blue heeler showed up at the farm. We fed
this dog and put him down at the new barn
but he escaped and came back up the
historic farm because he wanted to be
around people. Fortunately, this dog had
tags around his neck. A call to the vet
was able to trace the tags to the owner
who lived in Dover, TN. When the owner
arrived to claim his dog he commented
that the dog like to ride in the bed of
pick up trucks and must have hopped in to
one that went by The Homeplace.
This spring,
we encountered a young bird dog that had
tags but would not let anyone catch him.
He lived in the parking lot for several
days but avoided any attempt to get close
to him. One late afternoon, a visitor who
had been feeding his dog in the parking
lot was able to get a collar on the stray
and we were able to bring him inside. This
dog was in rough shape, covered in ticks
and fleas it did not seem that he had
eaten in several days. The staff fried
some eggs for him and he ate a half a pan
of cornbread. This dog also had tags.
Through the vet we were able to contact
the owner who lived in Bumpus Mills, TN a
distance of almost 30 miles from The
Homeplace. The owner and their young
children had been worried about the dog
and were very thankful that we had caught
and taken care of the dog who's name
appropriately turned out to be "Tramp".
But the dog
story of the year has to be the story
of "The Dog". The Dog showed up at HP in
mid-summer. A black and tan medium sized
dog with no collar. Initial attempts to
catch the dog failed so we thought that if
we fed the dog for awhile the dog would
gain trust in us and let us catch it.
Well, a week turned to two weeks to three
weeks and so on and the dog would not let
us catch him. Visitors would comment on
the dog insisting that we should feed our
dog to which we would reply that it was a
stray that we were trying to catch but
were feeding. In fact for several days
when Jonathan came to work he would stop
by McDonald's in Dover and buy the dog
his own sausage biscuit which the dog came
to look forward to but would still not let
anyone get a hand on him. As other LBL
staff from other facilities came to know
that the dog was at HP they would stop by
and drop off food for us to feed the dog
until we caught him. Someone had even left
toys in the parking lot for the dog. He
had a toy bone and a plush coyote which
would make noise when the dog played with
it.
Although we
were putting a lot of effort into taking
care of the dog, we weren't any closer to
catching the dog. We acquired an array of
nets and catch poles from Woodland's
Nature Station but could not get an
opportunity to use any of the catch
equipment as the dog would stay just out
of reach. In mid-September some of the
staff were able to catch the dog in a net
but before they could get it into a kennel
the dog escaped. Frightened, the dog left
HP altogether. There was concern that the
dog would die alone in the woods but then
it turned up at Brandon Spring Group Camp.
Attempts to catch the dog there were also
unsuccessful and the dog disappeared for
awhile. Then it turned up in Dover where
staff from local pharmacies were feeding
the dog. Then in late October, who should
show up at HP again, but The Dog. Again
the staff fed the dog and attempted to
catch him, but again he disappeared. A few
days later he was spotted walking on 68/80
near Golden Pond, KY. However, this past
Monday word spread quickly through LBL
that the dog had been caught! Somehow he
made it up to Hillman Ferry Campground
near Grand Rivers, KY. In all this dog had
traveled a distance of over 100 miles
during is stay in LBL.
What will
happen to the dog now? The dog was taken
to the Law Enforcement office. For all his
travels he seemed in pretty good shape. As
with all stray dogs or cats caught in LBL
the dog will go to a NO KILL
Animal Shelter to get cleaned up until an
appropriate home can be found for him. A
reasonable attempt will be made to catch
all stray domesticated animals found in
LBL as they can be a threat to wildlife.
As final note, a lot of staff from all
over LBL were really pulling for this dog
to make it and helped out by trying to
catch the dog or provide food for it
and luckily, this story also has a happy
ending. In fact, "Lucky" would probably be
a good name for this dog.
Bob Holliday
The
Homeplace
Wednesday,
November 23
Things are
winding down for the year at The
Homeplace. We've been active with the
cooler weather splitting out fence rails
and working with our new team of horses
Bob & Jake. Both horses are Percherons and
measure about 16 hands high and weigh in
at about 1600 pounds. Bob is 17 and Jake
is 16. So far we have used these horses to
plow, harrow and drag a field and to do
some work on the ground sled. We look
forward to working with these two as we
move into our closed season from Dec. to
Feb.
The ladies
were busy at the Double Pen House the last
couple of days making lye soap. The soap
really only has 3 ingredients- Lye, Lard,
and Water. Care must be taken when working
with the lye as it is a very powerful base
and can be very caustic. In fact, once
made the soap must cure for 30 days. Using
it before this date would result in
chemical burns.
We've had
some serious weather come through this
area last Tuesday. There are at least 8
confirmed tornadoes that touched down in
the surrounding counties. Oddly, we've
been finding insulation and asphalt
shingles at Homeplace. Those items of
debris must have been sucked up into the
atmosphere and are now coming down. As The
Homeplace is located in the middle of a
170,000 acre National Recreation Area and
since there isn't a building with asphalt
shingles on it within 20 miles of the
farm, this is certainly a testament to the
power of nature.
Our last day
of being open to the public will be
November 30th. We will re-open for the
2006 season on March 1st and we look
forward to seeing you all next year!
Bob Holliday
The
Homeplace
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