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The Country Life: It’s Harvest Time… Right?

When many people think of the harvest, they think of autumn. But another important time for gathering crops, not to be forgotten, takes place in the heat of the summer!

In an age where food wasn’t from the local supermarket, but from the land people lived on, it was important to use the soil to the best of its ability.  With ground-breaking techniques (no pun intended!) of the time, farmers were able to work the land to provide maximum yield from the beginnings of spring, to the eve’s of winter.

The Corn Harvest (August), Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1565

One important crop of colonial Pennsylvania was wheat.  Of three varieties grown, winter and summer wheat were able to be harvested around the month of June, if weather had been good.  Governor Penn even reports “they may sow eight acres; half with summer wheat and half with oats,” referring to successful agriculture production in his colony.  Other summer crops include rye, hemp, barley, oats and flax.  

In smaller kitchen gardens, more customized techniques could be applied to each plant being grown. Here at Pennsbury Manor we have a reconstruction of William Penn’s own kitchen garden. It was intended for raising vegetables, herbs, and anything else that could be found useful in the estates kitchen. Structures like “hot beds” were created to begin the germination of seeds in late winter. This wooden framework was filled with manure, and topped with a layer of soil; this bed could become as hot as 100°F in the coldest of winter. Once mature enough, they can be moved to garden beds.

A view of the cold frames and hotbed at Pennsbury Manor.

Similar to the hot bed, the cold frame was a structure used to protect fragile herbs.  This structure was enclosed with spare glass, matting or canvas. One would also find raised beds. This state of the art invention allowed planters to control the fertility of their soil and manage it accordingly.

With innovations such as these, the kitchen garden would be able to adapt to the seasons and continuously provide for the estate. In a time like Penn’s, it was always important to put time to its best use, even in the heat of the summer!

By Ray Tarasiewicz, Intern

William’s World: We’re So Cheesy

Aelbert Cyup, "The Dairy Maid," 1650s

We’ve recently been discussing just how important dairying was, first as a career for the idyllic milkmaids and as a country business that was transported into towns (resulting in a more convenient, but poorer quality product).  As those articles mentioned, there were a number of ways to prepare milk to be turned into various food resources. Today, cheese is a highly popular product (and a great way to preserve milk long-term), but it wasn’t always so fashionable!

Volunteer interpreters Susan PLaisted and Joan Healy prepare to drain the whey from cheese curds at Pennsbury Manor.

A large amount of milk went into cheese making. Although dairy did take its role at the table of the 15th and 16th-century elite in a number of forms (of which the five most common were cream, curds, milk, buttermilk, and whey), the one seen at their table least was cheese.  Cheese evolved from being a resource associated with poverty to being a sought-after staple for all social classes.

The main change that occurred in favor of cheese took place in the 1650’s when cheese became the primary reliance of the English army’s soldiers in Ireland. Also used to feed servants or humbler guests, it was found on ships because it lasted without deterioration, and thus it was a good option to send with both sailors and troops.

The whey is allowed to drain from the cheese curds, then the bundle is poured into a cheesemold and wrapped with a linen cloth. Cheese needs to be rotated and maintained regularly while being cured, or the liquid will settle on one side and will turn bad.

Further support for the consumption of dairy in the form of cheese came about as Englishmen saw cheese savored at the tables of high-ranking society members abroad. Initially startling the English elite, especially if served toasted and not cold, cheese eventually took hold at their table. This was especially so as the milk industry boomed and the different counties of England began refining the cheese making process to produce various types include what would be most similar to that of a sharp cheddar today. And, although the outcome was surely delicious, the process behind cheese making is less appealing.

Calve's stomach, which was required every spring for cheese-making.

Firstly, “a suckling calf’s stomach- bag was the usual source of rennet” (rennet-a dried extract made from the stomach lining of a ruminant, used to curdle milk).  As a result cheese was made during the spring when a single calf could be sacrificed for the sake of cheese making and milk would be abundant. In conjunction, the process of cheese making was something simple that could be done at the home if you owned a household cow. Likewise, there was no need for special expensive equipment and the milk could be processed quickly.  The resulting cheese making industry soon grew too and frequented the spring with the annual cheese making processes.

Flrois Claesz van Dijck, "Still-Life with Fruit, Nuts, and Cheese," 1613

 

 

 

By Mary Barbagallo, Intern

Photographs by Hannah Howard, Volunteer Coordinator

 

 

  

Sources

Food and Drink in Britain – C. Anne Wilson, the Anchor Press Ltd., 1973, Great Britain

Food in Early Modern England – Phases, Fads, Fashions 1500-1760 – Joan Thirsk, Continuum Books, 2007, New York, NY

The American Heritage Dictionary, Second College Edition – Houghton Mifflin, 1985, Boston, MA

17th-Century Fashion Show!

In less than 3 weeks, we will have a very exciting event for all members of The Pennsbury Society: a 17th-Century Fashion Show!

 One of the benefits of membership in The Pennsbury Society is access to exclusive programs here at Pennsbury Manor.  On Sunday, April 22nd at 2:00pm, our second program of 2012 will take a look at 17th-Century Fashions in England and the Colonies.   Staff member and residential costume historian, Hannah Howard, will be sharing all her knowledge on the styles of William Penn’s time, including original artifacts, paintings, and drawings of the era.  The program will finish with a Fashion Show of Pennsbury’s clothing collection and discussion of how fashion changed depending on someone’s role in society, with outfits modeled by our very own volunteers!

Image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Pennsbury Manor is a state historic site, but we owe a lot of our program funding to our not-for profit support group, The Pennsbury Society.   The funds they raise go to support our educational and specialty programs, including our wonderful Period Clothing Collection!  If you haven’t yet become a member of the Pennsbury Society, consider joining and taking advantage of our unique events and opportunities.  For more information, please stop by the Visitor Center or see our website: https://www.pennsburymanor.org/support/membership-opportunities/ 

 

Living the Life of a 17th-Century Farmer

Last weekend, during our annual spring Interpreter training, I shared an amazing  BBC mini-series on 17th-century farm life, and I wanted to make sure everyone else got to hear about it too! 

(I’ve actually already shared it a couple of times on this blog, including a recent article about stuffing straw mattresses.  But this is a tv series any history buff should not miss, so I couldn’t resist re-posting a link!!)

The series, called Tales From the Green Valley, follows 5 historians and archaeologists as they live on a real 17th-century Welsh farm and perform the daily activities required to survive. Unfortunately the series is not available on DVD in US-format, but luckily all 12 episodes are available onDaily Motion:*

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xqprv1_e1-tales-from-the-green-valley_lifestyle 

These 12 episodes, one for every month of the year, offers a marvelous inside look at the daily lives of Stuart-era English farmers.  They follow the agricultural year and show how much life was influenced by the seasons, in ways that modern society hardly notices anymore. 

Throughout the year, we’ll be sharing more posts on seasonal activities, so stay tuned!

Hannah Howard, Volunteer Coordinator

 

*No copyright infringement intended, used for purely educational purposes

Our Newest Resident: Meet Romeo!

Pennsbury is pleased to welcome a new addition to our “Living Collections”: meet Romeo!

Romeo is a 26 year old white Arabian horse who moved in on Friday, January 6.  He comes to us after a long and uncertain road. He worked as a school horse teaching children to ride, which explains his calmness and sweet nature.  He spent some time at Special Equestrians in Warrington, then retired about a year ago.  

His next owner was, unfortunately, not responsible in the care for Romeo.  In October the staff at Special Equestrians learned that he was to be sent to slaughter.  One hero in particular, Kaitlin, rushed over and literally took him off the truck and loaded him into her own trailer for a return to Special Equestrians.  Kaitlin found that Romeo had lost 300-400 lbs. and that his ribs were showing.  Furthermore, he had rain rot (from not being sheltered properly) and an (thankfully easily treatable) fungal infection that was out of control.  Kaitlin nursed him back to health, and special equestrians offered use of a stall.  But they could only offer the stall until the beginning of January.  Romeo’s future was more uncertain than ever.

A Pennsbury volunteer who also spends time with Special Equestrians told us about Romeo.  With time running out, we went over to meet Romeo and found a delightful, calm, and people-oriented gentleman.  Some generous donors offered to help pay for his upkeep, Romeo’s health was cleared, volunteers worked overtime to ready his new stall, and everything came together for the big move.  At first, as Romeo walked off the truck, Maraaca (our current horse), took off in fear.  But she soon remembered her manners and the two horses were instant friends.  We’ve never seen such a smooth introduction! 

Romeo was selected not only for his temperament, but for his looks as well.  Arabians are small horses, and our research indicates that many of the horses in early Pennsylvania were under-sized.  Romeo is also white and a gelding (castrated male).  Records show that William Penn had 2 white mares and a white gelding at Pennsbury Manor. 

It is a truly remarkable accomplishment that so many people came together to save a horse, keep Pennsbury’s popular animal program running, and ultimately help our visitors understand the strong link between early settlers and horses.   Please stop by this spring (we re-open in March) to meet Romeo and the other residents of Pennsbury’s stables!

 

 

 

Written by Mary Ellyn Kunz, Museum Educator

And you think your job is hard? Try colonial farming!

I’d like to share a fascinating video our site director, Doug, just emailed my way.  Here at Pennsbury Manor, we talk a lot about life on a late 17th-century farming estate.  We offer a wide variety of demonstrations and plant and harvest an authentic kitchen garden every year, but don’t have the staff or visitation to offer a full-scale agricultural recreation.  Which is why I find this video series so fascinating!!  Click the link to watch the first episode of this 12-episode series where historians work on a real Welsh 17th-century farm for a year: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xqprv1_e1-tales-from-the-green-valley_lifestyle 

Techniques may have evolved slightly by 1683 when William Penn settled at Pennsbury Manor, but not much if at all.  The work recreated on this circa 1620 farm is a great way to imagine how early Pennsylvania colonists were surviving!

*No copyright infringement intended, used for purely educational purposes*

Written by Hannah Howard, Volunteer Coordinator

A New Year

I hope everyone has enjoyed a safe and happy holiday season!  I love the end of the year, it offers everyone a chance to reflect on the past 12 months and start the next year with a fresh perspective!  William Penn’s dream for his new colony was all about living a fulfilled and worthwhile life, and it’s never too late to make a difference.

We have featured some amazing articles this past year on so many different issues and people, and gathered a wonderful following for the blog!  I’d like to send out a big THANK-YOU to the staff and interns who have contributed articles this past year.  I think we have created a very special resource for our volunteers and anyone with an interest in 17th-century history!!

But this is not meant to be a one-way street – we invite your comments, questions, and discussion!  Also if there are any topics you find fascinating and would like to learn more about, please feel free to comment on this post and we’ll try to address it in the coming months!

I wish all Pennsbury’s wonderful volunteers a very happy New Year!

Written by Hannah Howard, Volunteer Coordinator

“It’s made of WHAT?”: Making 17th-Century Soap

Back in August, recently retired volunteer Penny held a workshop to talk about her favorite hobby: making soap!  Penny has been a volunteer at Pennsbury Manor since 1982 – wow!  She retired after almost 30 years of soap-making demonstrations, but graciously agreed to provide a soap-making workshop for her fellow volunteers and teach us about her techniques. 

To provide a little background information, soap was a necessary all-purpose supply to keep in any 17th-century home.  You used the same basic lye soap to wash yourself, your dishes, and your laundry.  Alum could be mixed to make a specialty soap for removing laundry stains.  Herbs like lavender and lemon balm could also be added for scent.  Early Pennsylvanians could have purchased soap at the markets in Philadelphia (or Burlington, NJ which was just down the river from Pennsbury!).  But if you had the time, making your own soap would be a good way to save some money. 

It was made of two basic ingredients: tallow and lye.  Both ingredients were easy to come by – tallow, or rendered animal fat, was regularly available from the kitchen.  Penny taught us a modified version of the original Lye Soap process, which I’m happy to share with you now! **Click on images to enlarge**

Penny’s Castile Soap

1.  Prepare the Suet

Tallow is made by rendering (melting) animal fat, otherwise known as “suet.” Penny recommends beef suet from around the kidneys, but other animal fats can also work. This would have been easy enough to acquire in the 17th Century, but in the modern world the best place to find suet is your local meat shop. This includes grocery store meat departments.  To melt the suet, cut it into small pieces and place in cast-iron pot.  I recommend you start with rendering about 1 lb. of suet, as you need 28 oz. of tallow for Penny’s recipe. 

2. Render the Suet
Add 2-4 inches of water and 2 Tbsp. salt to the suet and place pot  on stove-top (or fire if you’re doing this at a historic site). Slowly bring to a boil – you don’t want to heat the pot too fast, or the suet will burn.  Allow the tallow to melt off, then remove from the heat.

Place a larger clean pot on the ground and drape cheesecloth or piece of linen across the top.  We learned that this works best if the cloth is strapped to the sides with some twine or rope.  If working inside, cover the floor with washable cloth or newspapers to prevent any mess or damage. 

Then take the pot of melted suet and pour onto cheesecloth. Allow to drain for several minutes, shifting mixture and even squeezing the cloth so all usable fat seeps through. Then remove the cheesecloth and toss the sifted mixture.  Congratulations, you now have tallow!  Now leave it to cool to 95°-100° F. 

3.  Making Lye: A Shortcut
Penny strongly recommends a shortcut for making lye water, as the 17th-century method is time-consuming and messy. However, if you’re a stickler for authenticity (which we applaud!) and want to go through the original process, you will need to find/create a Leeching Barrel, like the ones you see here (engraving from unknown source).  

The leeching barrel would be prepared with layers of straw and ash from the fireplace.  By pouring boiling water into the barrel, the lye chemical would be stripped from the ashes and combine with the water, which would drip down into the pot at the bottom. But if you’d prefer to skip this process, Penny picked up some Lye Crystals at her local grocery store.  The directions should be provided for specific measurements of hot water and crystals.  But first make sure you have the right equipment: rubber gloves, wooden spoon, pitcher that can withstand 200° F, and large pot/bowl/container.  Follow the instructions, allowing the crystals to dissolve fully and then leaving the mixture to cool to 100°. 

 4.  Mixing the Soap

Heat 20 oz. olive oil and 16 oz. coconut oil to 95° F.  Measure out 28 oz. of the tallow, which should now be the same temperature (if you are short, then repeat steps 1-2 until you have rendered enough tallow). 

Combine oils in large pot, then SLOWLY pour lye water into the fats, stirring constantly but gently.  The mixture will slowly become the consistency of applesauce.  Depending on the tallow used, this could take anywhere from 15 minutes up to an hour. 

 5. Molding the Soap
Gently pour or ladle mixture into mold(s).  

You can use any size square or rectangular mold you want.  To make an easy mold, find a wooden box (or shoe boxes work great) and line with linen or wax paper to prevent leaks.  Depending on the weather and where the molds sit, soap could take a couple days or a week to harden.  Warm weather will keep it slightly soft. 

 6. Milled Soap (optional)
To make a more refined soap, you could mill (shave) the hardened soap and remelt and mold.  Modern soap-makers often mill their specialty soaps and add in additional scented oils, herbs, and coloring. 

**Caution, use fresh soap rather than old, hardened pieces – it won’t melt or dye properly and you could have a crazy time trying to make it behave!!** 

Thanks again to Penny for her outstanding dedication to Pennsbury’s visitor programs and volunteer education!!

By Hannah Howard, Volunteer Coordinator

 

2011 Student Projects

We would like to offer our sincerest thanks to the army of interns that have offered their time and talents to Pennsbury over the last 8 months.  Often volunteers don’t realize how much behind-the-scenes work happens at Pennsbury, and these 8 students have been invaluable in working on projects in all sorts of areas, in addition to giving tours and helping with special events!  Read on to hear about their adventures. 

Maggie Lee – A rising senior at the University of Delaware, Maggie spent her winter break last January working on ideas for revamping our walking tour and adding seasonal interpretive information.  We look forward to using her research in our new comprehensive visitor brochure, coming this fall.  

Kelly Cole – Kelly spent her spring semester internship as a graduate student from the University of the Arts working with Diane Nadler and our new exhibit.  Using her museum education skills, she developed a series of teacher activities for schools to incorporate into their field trips.  These activities will be featured in a teacher resource section on our newly redesigned website this fall. 

Ruth Lonvick – Another student from the University of the Arts, Ruth decided to incorporate her thesis work on gardens and educational programs into her summer internship with Mike Johnson.  In addition to helping with summer planting and garden maintenance, she researched and developed a wonderful interpretive signage system for the Kitchen Garden which we plan to implement this fall.  

Danielle Lehr – Danielle, an undergraduate student at West Chester University, was also in the gardens helping Mike and Ruth with planting, weeding, and lots of mowing!  She also assisted with Ruth’s plant research and started a new blog featurette, “The Country Life,” which can be read at this link: http://pennsburymanor.wordpress.com/category/the-country-life/ 

Lloyd Frisone – As our third graduate student from the University of the Arts, Lloyd wanted to use his museum communications training and assist Tabitha Dardes with Pennsbury’s public relations projects.  This included putting together a schedule of daily Facebook and Twitter posts with event updates, fun history facts, and a weekly promotional lottery.  He also developed a press kit for Pennsbury, worked on the 2011 brochure, developing some ideas for our new brochure design, and writing a press release for our exhibit award. 

Danielle Straub – Danni spent her summer off from the undergraduate program at the University of Pittsburgh learning about the secret world of Collections Care!  Her curatorial work with Todd Galle included writing acquisition recommendations, adding object photography to the files, developing exhibit scripting, and researching artifacts.  Some of her work on our maps was featured in the Volunteer Blog featurette “Exploring the Artifacts” – click the link to catch up on her work:  http://pennsburymanor.wordpress.com/category/exploring-the-artifacts/

Joshua Martin – As Hannah Howard’s summer intern, Josh (an undergraduate student from Kutztown University) was asked to research and develop some ideas for revamping and growing the Youth Volunteering Program at Pennsbury.  In addition to helping with the summer camps and volunteer picnic, Josh learned about current program strengths and weaknesses, visited other sites to learn about innovative techniques, and compiled background research.  His final report and recommendations offer some exciting possibilities that we will work to implement next spring and summer with Josh’s continuing involvement. 

Jennifer Martin – Apparently we didn’t scare her away during her first summer at Pennsbury, because Shippensburg University student Jenn was back again this year!  In addition to several small projects around the Visitor Center, Jenn once again took charge of our Summer Camps and they were a smashing success, almost double the campers from 2010.  Along with a continuing word-of-mouth campaign from the happy parents, we hope to really promote our 2012 camps and give Jenn even MORE campers to wrangle!

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