A Glimpse of Things Past

This past weekend, we spent some time at Left Bower Farm for a potluck with others involved in the CSA.  The farmer had great things planned, from a farm trivia contest with a huge squash as a prize, a contest for finding the biggest bean, and a chance to shoot green tomatoes into the lake.

What I never realized about the larger farm where Left Bower is located, Manchester Farms, is that many of the artifacts from the 200 year old history of the farm remain.  We were able to tour the springhouse and the shed.  I never expected that the springhouse would be an old summer kitchen.  The spring running through kept the kitchen cool (Although the spring no longer runs.)  There was a butter churn attached to a huge wheel where they would put the dogs to run and churn the butter!   The owners of the property even found a letter saying that once the people who lived here so many years ago found a bear cub and used it to churn the butter!  The shed was filled with a carriage, two sleighs, and countless saddles and other historic artifacts. I didn't get any pictures of those, sadly, but enjoy the springhouse:

I just can't get enough of things like this!  It's amazing to get a glimpse into the past.  The farmer's wife told us that she recently learned that the two leading causes of death among women were childbirth and catching on fire while cooking!  How much things have changed!

Tags: farm, picnic, historic, kitchen, spring, butter churn, fireplace, pots, baskets, kettles, table, jars