We went to our first ever Spudfest this weekend sponsored by the Washington County Rural Heritage Museum. It was a wonderful event! The spuds that had been planted earlier in the season were ready to be harvested! A team of horses plowed up the spuds and then the kids did the work!!!
Emmeline was a bit unsure about getting dirty!!! (That's a first!) But she ended up digging in the dirt and coming up with some mighty fine taters! In fact, she picked a whopper!
I have fond memories of digging potatoes at my uncle's farm when I was her age. We used to visit my aunt and uncle on the weekends. I'm afraid when I was young, I didn't appreciate our trips to the farm like I should have. What I'd give to be able to do that again! They retired and sold the farm and those opportunities were lost. I hope that Emmeline will learn to appreciate the role that farming has played in the life of her relatives as well as the early settlers in this area.
Here is the moment of truth. Her spud weighed in at 14.4 ounces--the biggest tater of the day! The harvesters were allowed to take a small bag of spuds home and the rest were donated to the local food banks! What a wonderful day!
This is a shot of the "three sisters." The Native Americans taught the early settlers in the area to plant the three sisters. First they planted the corn. When it had grown to about 12 inches, they then planted the beans to wind around the corn stalks. (Apparently, the beans have already come and gone in this picture!) And lastly, they planted pumpkins to shade the roots of the other plants! Neat bit of folk lore that I had not heard before. Thought it was worth sharing with all you gardeners!Mike and I hope to be able to volunteer at the museum in the coming months. They have a wonderful museum and are in the process of rebuilding a village on the site. They have several restored log cabins, a church and a few more buildings in the works. I hope to be able to demonstrate rug hooking there with some friends as well.
Hope you all are enjoying this first day of September!
Mary, it sounds like it was a wonderful day. Congrat's to Emmeline for getting the biggest tater of the day! That was big!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing about the three sisters. Very interesting.
I'm sure you and Mike will really enjoy volunteering your time at the museum.. Hope you share some more stories with us. That would be great if you got to demonstrate the rug hooking!
Looks like a fun day and a great learning experience.
ReplyDeleteWe don't have that many country fairs or events like we used to.
Debbie
WooHoo! Congrats to Emmeline! What a sweet smile she has too! :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like you all had a really fun time.
Smiles,
Betty
Big Congrats to Emmeline for finding the biggest spud! She's adorable! Looks like a great day with a lot of stuff to learn! I know what you mean about family and farms - we just didn't appreciate it growing up!
ReplyDelete