84-Lancast*r Fanning, Saturday, Fabruary 2,1985
Miles and Irene Melt
(Continued from Page B 2)
later that she began sewing for
relatives and then for friends and
neighbors. In the early days of
their marraige she “helped our
with the eggs and the chickens.”
She was also busy raising the
Nolts’ four children, Fay, now
married to Ira Landis, 40; Glenn,
34; Dale, 25; and Clair, 28. They
have five grandchildren.
Word spread, and now her
business has reached the point
where she sometimes turns
customers away. Although she
worked in a garment factory
before her marriage, she doesn’t
think that played a big part in
developing her skill because she
was making lingerie. She says
simply, “I think God gives people
These are just a few of the many garments that Irene Nolt
has made both for herself and others. She enjoys making
anything from suits to wedding dresses.
talents and mine is a God-given
talent.”
• Asked what she sews, she
responds, “You name it...dresses,
suits, skirts, blouses.” Customers
bring patterns and fabric, and
Irene goes from there. She
requires at least one fitting for
everything she makes.
She does many weddings, but
perhaps those most dear to her
were the weddings of her own
children. She made the wedding
gowns and the attendants’ dresses
for all four weddings. She uses a
basic pattern for wedding dresses,
and customers will bring pictures
which she tries to duplicate.
“It’s a challenge,” she says of
her work. “I have some regular
customers I’ve been sewing for for
40 years. They come from
Millersville, where Irene and Miles
lived for a few years, and from
Hershey, but most are local.
Irene says she didn’t sew in the
summer when the family was
home, because she was busy
gardening, planting tobacco and
pulling tobacco plants. Now,
however, her outside work has
slowed somewhat and she sews
year round.
Irene always has so many
projects that she says she will
often cut when she’s in the mood,
and then sew for a tew days.
Miles and Irene moved to their
present farm in 1949, and planted
V. '«• first nut trees, English
walnuts, in 1950. Miles recalls that
his father advised planting nut
trees rather than shade trees, and
it was the start of an extensive
hobby.
Next they added pecans, which
Miles says most people feel they
can’t grow in this climate. “You
must have two different
varieties,” he notes.
Later they added black walnuts,
shell barks, chestnuts and per
simmons. Miles grows oriental
persimmons, though American
persimmons are hardier.
He now has 30 different varieties
of nuts on 35 grafted trees. He
explained that grafted trees allow
you to get exactly what you want.
If you grow trees that have sprung
up on their own, there is no way to
tell what pollinated them, nor
exactly what quality of nut you will
get. Furthermore, some varieties
are more productive than others,
so if you use scionwood off the
parent tree grafted onto a seedling,
the nut will be exactly what the
parent tree grows.
Miles enjoys doing the grafting,
and likes to do some every year. At
one time he sold many grafted
trees, but now doesn’t have a lot of
stock to sell.
It takes some special knowledge
to know exactly when to graft the
tree. He said the scionwood should
be cut in March, and then kept
damp in plastic in the refrigerator
until it can be grafted.
He noted that it can take up to six
years to produce nuts, although
grafted trees generally produce
after four or five years.
Last year’s dry weather caused
the nuts not to fill out well in the
shell, but this year was good, and
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nuts are plentiful throughout the
state.
Miles points out that nut trees
don’t require too much attention.
"They don’t need any pruning
unless you want to shape them,” he
says. What they do take, however,
is fertilizer, if you want to get nuts
every year. They also need plenty
of water, and Miles says he likes to
keep the weeds away.
Squirrels are the worst problem
for nut growers, although Miles
says he is not bothered by them
because many of his trees are near
buildings, and dogs and cats tend
to keep the squirrels at bay. Birds
will pick into English walnuts
when they are green, causing
damage.
Harvest begins in the fall when
“all the boys come home and
help.” One son usually climbs up
the tree and shakes the nuts off,
then there is a lot of stooping and
bending to gather the nuts. “That
keeps you limber,” Irene notes.
The Nolts use egg baskets to carry
the nuts, and Miles lets them dry a
few weeks before beginning to
crack them.
To get the husk off black
walnuts, he has adapted his corn
sheller, and he has two small in
struments to help crack the nuts as
he sits at a card table.
Miles usually has about 100
pounds of kernels to sell. He says,
“That takes a lot of cracking.” He
adds that customers begin calling
before Thanksgiving, as they begin
to think of extra holiday baking.
“We could sell a lot more nuts,”
Miles says, and adds that in a few
years they will have more nuts
since some trees are just beginning
to produce.
He says there are a few kinds of
trees he would like to have yet, but
says realistically, “I can’t do
everything.”
As a director in the Nut Growers
Association, Miles is eager to talk
about his hobby, and he says
members are a good source of
information. He and Irene have
enjoyed the associations they have
made through the organization,
and look forward to the meetings of
the group. “We’ve met a lot of
interesting people,” Irene said.
They are active members of
Ensman’s Mennonite Church.
Irene is a member of the sewing
circle and also participates in a
p v.
neighborhood bible study.
Irene doesn’t mind sharing her
recipes which helped 'make her a
blue ribbon winner. Below are
some of her winners that you might
enjoy.
BREAD
13/4l 3 /4 cups scalded milk
1 tablespoon salt
3 tablespoons honey or sugar
2 tablespoons shortening
2 packages yeast in l/ 2 cup warm
water, let stand 5 minutes
7 cups flour
Combine salt, honey and shor
tening with milk and cool until
lukewarm. Add yeast and half of
flour. Mix well. Add remaining
flour. Knead until smooth and
elastic. Place in greased bowl.
Turn once and cover. Let rise until
double. Punch down, turn and let
rise again until almost double.
Divide in three 1-pound or two P/4
pound loaves. Shape and grease.
Place in greased pan. Let rise
about 1 hour. Bake 10 minutes at
400 degrees, then 30 minutes at 300
degrees. Take from pans and cool
on wire racks. To make whole
wheat bread use 2 cups whole
wheat and 4'i cups white flour.
PECAN PIE
3 eggs
1 2 cup sugar
l 2 teaspoon salt
1 cup dark corn syrup
1 2 cup melted buttere
Mix above ingredients well. Put
1 cup chopped or broken pecans in
9-mch unbaked pastry lined pie
pan. Add the mixture. Bake at 350
degrees for 50 minutes.
GLAZED NUTS
Beat one egg white stiff. Add 4
cups nuts and use fork to coat with
egg whites. They have cup
sugar, l 2 teaspoon salt and 1
teaspoon cinnamon mixed. Add to
nuts and toss to oat. Spray cookie
sheet with non-stick coating.
Spread nuts out ‘nmly. Bake at 250
degrees for 30 minutes. Stir once.
Watch very clor<'lv
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1978
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