Harvest Festival – Quiet Valley Living Historical Farm

45th Harvest Festival Bringing Families & Community Together

Deb D (Aunt Eunice) — Fri, 18 Oct 2019 05:42:00 +0000

Another Successful Harvest Festival

Hello Folks, Aunt Eunice here. Our 45th Harvest Festival is over and what a wonderful event it turned out to be!! The weather was perfect and the visitors plentiful. Guests were able to try samples of cracklings, scrapple and sausage at the Butchering demo, freshly made farmer’s cheese at cheese making or stuffed pig’s stomach at the Dutch oven demo. They had fun with tasks such as stirring the apple butter, stomping the sauerkraut, doing a bit of bobbin lace making, and churning butter. Children ran around in the fresh air and were able to have fun with pastimes like tug-of-war, sack races, and throwing the corn dart. They also had “chores” to do and the favorites were washing the laundry and cracking the corn. A bonus for Festival goers was the birth of the baby piglets in the wee hours of Saturday morning. Guests were able to tiptoe in and get a peek at the nine tiny piglets. Too cute! There were so many things to do and see that you could spend the better part of the day and never get bored. If you missed attending, put it on your calendar for next year, October 10 and 11, 2020. I want to say thank you to all who came and supported our non-profit farm museum and to all the wonderful volunteers who made the festival possible.

Pennsylvania Trout Fishing Presentation

The Brodhead Chapter of Trout Unlimited attended Harvest Festival and taught our visitors about fly tying, casting with a fly rod and the history of the sport in our area. Don Baylor is the founder of the local chapter. Here is an excerpt from a description of his 2017 presentation found on the groups’ website.

Pennsylvania is steeped in trout fishing tradition and evidence exists that the Poconos was the birthplace of fly fishing in America. Through Don’s extensive research he will explore and explain the rich trout fishing literature, legends, and lore of the sport in the Poconos and the many celebrities, presidents, and writers who have fished its storied waters and lodged in its grand hotels and hostelries- including the almost mythic Henryville House among others.

Just some of the names from the 1800’s and early 1900’s who graced these waters reads like a Who’s Who of historical characters: presidents Teddy Roosevelt, Grover Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison, Calvin Coolidge, General Phillip Sheridan, governor Gifford Pinchot, boxing greats John L. Sullivan and Jake Kilrain, … Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley – and many others of note.

A bit of local history I really didn’t know much about. How about you? Learning and having fun are two things Quiet Valley is good at combining.

Making Memories for Generations

Farm school trips have begun again and students are experiencing life on an 1800s farm for a few hours. Making memories as well. Many visitors to the Festival mentioned that they came to the farm on field trips when they were young and still have fond memories about it. I hope you come out soon and make some fond memories of your own. How about at our next event, Spooky Days on the Farm, October 25, 26 and 27? Family friendly in the day and a bit spookier after dark. There is a very well done murder mystery Friday and Saturday evenings between 5pm and 8pm, last group goes at 8:00. Dare I say you will have a Spook-tacular time?! Then there is always my favorite event, Old Time Christmas, which will be here before we know it. Hands down the best way to get into the true spirit of the season. December 7, 8, 14 and 15.

Well, I’ve gone on enough for now. You all take care and I hope we see you on the farm soon. Thanks for checking in. Aunt Eunice

October, Best Month for Visiting the Pocono Mountains

Deb D (Aunt Eunice) — Tue, 01 Oct 2019 04:27:00 +0000

Fall Season in the Poconos

Hi Folks, Aunt Eunice here. I have been off on vacation to beaches in New England. I managed to visit a few historic places there that are even older than Quiet Valley. Now I am back and am in high gear preparing for our wonderful Harvest Festival which is on October 12th and 13th. It’s a lovely time to hold an outdoor event. October has become THE month for visiting the Pocono Mountains. It is also one of the most popular months for having a wedding. The beautiful foliage, the comfortable daytime temperatures make walks or bike rides a pleasure. The cool, crisp evening air allows for a marvelous night’s sleep. It’s a good time for a cup of hot cider and sitting around a fire in the evening. There are usually still a few summer-like days mixed in, enough to give us a brief reminder of August. October makes me think of caramel apples, butternut bisque soup and shushing through the dry leaves. I have always loved that sound as you shuffle your feet through a pile of yellow, orange and red leaves, shussh, shhhush, shussh, shhhush! Makes me feel like a kid again. Just watch out for hidden walnuts under the leaves! They can catch you unawares and cause a tumble onto the ground.

The Versatile Walnut

Here on the farm we are diligently raking up the leaves and walnuts and butternuts. We will continue doing this right up to the Harvest Festival so visitors can have a clear path as they check out all the demonstrations and activities. At the traditional dying area you can see walnut hulls used to dye wool yarn a nice dark brown color. It was also useful in making a stain in the past. The nut meats were a good source of protein and quite tasty. The walnuts on the farm are black walnuts which are not as easy to open as the English walnuts you buy at the grocery store. You always have to be careful of biting down on small pieces of shell.

Quiet Valley’s Largest Fundraiser

I encourage visitors and local community members to come out and support Quiet Valley’s largest fundraiser of the year. For small nonprofits like ours, this event is very important. Your reward will be to learn some interesting things while having a good time and helping a great organization. Ah, October! Enjoy this month, it’s one of my favorites.

That’s all for now. Take care and talk to you soon. Aunt Eunice

45th Harvest Festival “Farms – Center of the Community”

Deb D (Aunt Eunice) — Thu, 29 Aug 2019 03:11:00 +0000

Hello Folks,

Aunt Eunice here. I feel as frisky as a young goat thanks to this lovely cool weather with which we’ve been blessed. It makes me think of fall and that’s alright, though I’m not quite ready to let go of summer. We have three and a half weeks before summer officially ends and I plan on enjoying every day of them. This past weekend, the Pocono State Craft Festival was held here on the farm and it was a lovely event. Lots of folks came to visit, check out the fine arts and crafts that were for sale, and have a look at the farm museum. Next on the calendar is our Covered Bridge Farm to Table Dinner for which tickets are all sold out. Good food, lovely setting, and good company.

Last Opportunity Summer Tour 2019

Summer tours season ends on Monday September 2nd (Labor Day) so you can still get in a visit to the farm. We are open for Fall tours, which technically take place during the summer according to the calendar, on Saturdays September 7 and 14 from 10am to 4pm. That’s your last chance for the regular historic tour in 2019.

45th Harvest Festival Coming Up!

The biggest adventure of our year is on the horizon. Our 45th Harvest Festival will take place on Saturday and Sunday October 12th and 13th. This year’s theme is “Farms – Center of the Community”. There are far too many demonstrations and activities to list, but you can read more about it under the Calendar of Events section. I always pray we can have smooth sailing for the Harvest Festival as it is our largest fundraiser of the year. Good weather, large crowds, plenty of volunteers are all needed to bring about success. When September arrives, it will be full speed ahead on preparations for this event. I hope you will consider coming out to support us and our Harvest Festival. You are sure to have a marvelous time so come and enjoy yourselves!

That’s all for now. Have fun during these last few weeks of summer. Take care. Aunt Eunice

Sauerkraut: How We Prepare a Pennsylvania German Favorite

Kat M — Fri, 27 Oct 2017 00:10:00 +0000

Fermented foods play such a large role in human history and prehistory. Food manipulation and preservation has allowed us to survive throughout unending climate variations. While things that are old and moldy may not be everyone’s favorite treats, we are alive today because our ancestors figured this out. Fermentation is used to detoxify poisonous plants and make them edible. Fermentation is involved in the process of preserving food for a later date.

Making sauerkraut is surprisingly easy. In the garden at Quiet Valley, we grow numerous heads of cabbage which are usually gathered 10-20 heads at a time. We have two wonderful cabbage experts who prep those heads down into thin slices. Fun fact: did you know cabbage plants will regrow heads? If you slice them early, you will get miniature heads growing back in their place.

Once the cabbages are sliced thinly they are placed in a large stoneware crock where salt is added. The salt causes the cabbage to release water and keeps dangerous bacteria from growing. Although salt does encourage bacterial growth, it’s the kind that causes fermentation and not spoilage. The cabbage is then pounded down to the bottom of the crock and the salt water forms a protective seal over the top. This is allowed to ferment for at least a couple of weeks but some people may wait a couple of months.

Once it is ready, according to Gary Oiler (one of the founders of the museum and the resident sauerkraut expert) we scoop out the top and bag it up. Here at the museum, we freeze the sauerkraut for Christmas time. But it can just as easily be canned or eaten straight away. Traditionally, the Pennsylvania Germans would eat sauerkraut and pork as part of their New Year’s celebration because pigs root forward and it was believed to bring good luck.

The Quiet Valley Blog is written by Kat Muller as she explores the farm museum throughout the year. Follow along with Kat and learn about the farm!

Building Partnerships with Teachers, Educators, Museums

Kat M — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 23:48:00 +0000

It is always important in business to build partnerships with other businesses. This is particularly true with ones that share similar goals or products as your own (such as carpenters working closely with electricians); as well as forming partnerships with dissimilar businesses as a way to expand potential customers and clientele. This is particularly true with museums. We all struggle at times to draw in an audience and are often faced with similar challenges to overcome. Recently, Quiet Valley Living Historical Farm has been working towards building partnerships with a couple of different institutions.

East Stroudsburg Area School District has an amazing teacher in Mr. Bob Labar. He teaches history but works on incorporating technology into the classroom. In the spring, he reached out to Quiet Valley to see if we could build a partnership. Quiet Valley is perfectly geared for the curriculum his students study in their history classes, colonial through the mid 1800’s. As they study throughout the year, the students are going to be relating their lessons back to Quiet Valley. Since they incorporate technology with their lessons, they are going to be talking about Quiet Valley on social media and producing little videos we hope to share with our visitors. Keep an eye out on our website and social media to see them. This is a great partnership because it introduces a new age group to Quiet Valley, helps us engage with a new promotion strategy, and even allows us to reach out to prospective volunteers. It also allows a group of students a good case study for their history lessons that allows them to connect with the past and answer that constant question of “why should we care?” (or in teenage speech “so?”). We are really looking forward to building this partnership throughout the year. We hope to be able to grow the program into a cyber-classroom and teach students on other continents about Quiet Valley.

The second partnership I want to update you on is with the National Museum of Industrial History down in Bethlehem. NMIH has a large collection of industrial machines that were used for historic trades and crafts. As a Smithsonian-associated museum, big institutions like that don’t always pay attention to, or wish to partner with, smaller ones. Because our 43rd Annual Harvest Festival theme is “Forgotten Arts and Crafts”, we reached out to NMIH to see if there was anything they wished to demonstrate. To sweeten the deal, I spoke to them about my research on iron smelting. If I did a presentation or two for them, would they be willing to do a presentation or two for us? The answer, a resounding yes. NMIH will be out demonstrating a printing press and have invited an associated flint-knapping group to come out as well. This past weekend a group of us gathered at NMIH, performed a smelt, and produced a bloom of over 16 pounds of steel. It was the first time steel was made in Bethlehem since the furnace closed down in 1995. Pretty cool. Make sure to stop by and say “Hi” to NMIH at our Harvest Festival in October.

The Quiet Valley Blog is written by Kat Muller as she explores the farm museum throughout the year. Follow along with Kat and learn about the farm!