84-L>ncntar Fanning, Saturday, Septambar 18, 1993
W
a farm jj^Sa
Joyce Bnpp
-And other
hazards
Errant leaves litter the front
porch, as if carelessly tossed by
some unseen, giant hand.
So, day after day, I tackle them
with a broom, sweeping the
brownish-green, half-wilted, has
beens of the season out into the
yard with numerous others.
But this year’s leaf fall is differ
ent from most We’ve had “fall”
since mid-summer. And every one
of the noisy, blustery thunder
storms of recent weeks re-litters
the porches and lawns with a fresh
scattering of maple tree fallout
Perhaps it was the trauma of
July’s drought and record setting
stretch of high temperatures that
has resulted in this premature leaf
drop. Or maybe an infestation of
aphids, as has been the case in
some of the past hot dry summers.
Though I’ve never completely
outgrown a childhood passion for
climbing trees, our ancient maples
are a bit high to go scaling in
search of bugs.
This early onset of falling
leaves appropriately ushers in this
week’s “official” start of my fa
vorite season. But autumn has al
ready worked a foot in the door,
its early signs easing into our sur
roundings more gradually than the
jolt of tearing off the flrst-day-of
autumn page from our day calen
dar.
Our tall Norway spruce has also
been giving us “drops” all season.
Pine cones make wonderful wood
stove kindling, quick-starting
when dry and wonderfully fra
grant with authentic pine scent
But the “drops” arc not yet kind
ling-dry, a fact I discovered when
trying to start a doggie-roasting
fire recently.
So the winter woodstove supply
of pine cones, ours and those ga
thered from the cone-littered lawn
of friends, are being “cured.” Laid
out along the middle “step” of the
railroad-tie retainer wall, the con
es are protected from blowing
away during strong winds while
being exposed to the drying effect
of the bright sunshine.
Thunderstorms rolling by every
other evening, however, tend to
slow this drying process. The con
es are definitely clean and free of
dust, though.
Ears on some of the neighbor
hood’s earliest-planted com began
showing maturity some weeks
ago. As husks turn brown and
crinkly on some varieties, the ears
droop toward the ground, a plant
characteristic that helps shed
moisture and protect the golden
kernels.
A sure sign of the season is the
area’s army of forage choppers,
noisily chewing up row after row
of standing com and spewing it
out in tiny pieces of green and yel
low into forage wagons lumbering
behind. That urgency to start
chopping, keep chopping and get
finished chopping silage usually
overrides all other jobs on dairy
and livestock farms during Sep
tember.
Farm wives nag, worry and
pray until the last load is chopped
that all that silo-filling-season ur
gency doesn’t override their farm
ers paying attention to common
sense equipment safety measures.
And now, weedy meadows and
brushy fencerows begin to
“brighten up” with their seasonal
colors, as stands of goldenrod
wave long fingers of fluffy yellow
blossoms. I break off a handful of
the tall blooms growing along a
field road, to mix with cattails
from the pond bank and loosely
Snltzing will be a featured activity at the Hans Herr House Snitz Fest.
Snitz Fest Reflects Early Settlers’ Diets
WILLOW STREET (Lancaster
Co.) Documents in the collec
tion of the Hans Herr House prove
the importance of the everyday
apple in the diet of early Menno
nite settlers in Lancaster County.
Christian Herr’s 1749 inventory
lists among his other possessions
an “apple mill and dough (trough)
and a cider press.” Three genera
tions later, a great-grandson of
Christian’s (also named Christian)
describes planting an orchard.
Dated March 9, 1821, he states
“...I planted an orchard on the
place where John Beam lives as
f0110w5....” He then describes by
row the apple varieties planted in
this orchard, including Rambos,
Redstreaks, Winesops, Sweet Pip
pins, Bellflowers, Newtown Pip
pins, Romanites, and Hughs
Crabs.
arrange in the old nail barrel on
the porch. Butternut squash tumb
ling from an up-turned wicker
basket near the bhrrel adds a har
vest touch.
Now if I can just find the gold
papertwist ribbon to replace the
tired, worn, insect-riddled laven
dar stuff hanging limply on the
front-door wreath, we’ll be all set
to properly salute the arrival of
fall.
I’ll have to sweep the leaves off
the porch again so fall can find its
way in.
GOOD FOOD OUTLET STORES
See Our Original Line Of Golden Barrel Products Plus All Kinds
Of Beans, Candies, Dried Fruit, Snack Mixes, Etc. At Reduced Prices
A BAKING MOLASSES * MAPLE SYRUP
* <?-*■ * BARBADOS MOLASSES * PANCAKE A WAFFLE
i (ft B. ¥6 S’ * BLACKSTRAP SYRUPS
jfcXSfr MOLASSES * SORGHUM SYRUP
A CORN SYRUPS A LIQUID A DRY SUGARS
f'Z jtl/ A HIGH FRUCTOSE * PANCAKE * WAFFLE
H/* SYRUPS SYRUPS
y , A CANOLA OIL
-4 1 S A COCONUT OIL
\lr hjL, If your locil ttore * CORN OIL
Uki. doe ‘ not h,ve “■ * COTTONSEED OIL
SEND FOR A OLIVE OIL
BROCHURE A VEGETABLE OIL
**■ 1 A SHOO-FLY PIE MIX
Processors Of Syrups. Molasses,
Cooking Oils, Funnel Cake Mix.
Pancake ft Waffle Mix ft Shortly Pie Mix
GOOD FOOD OUTLET
Located At Good Food, Inc.
W Main St, Box 160, Honey Brook, PA 19344
215-273-3776 1-800-327-4406
Located At L & S Sweeteners
388 E. Main St., Leola, PA 17540
717-856-3486 1-800-633-2676
WE UPS DAILY -
The sixth annual Snitz Fest at
the Hans Herr House celebrates
the history of the apple in Lancas
ter County. Many of the same var
ieties mentioned by Christian Herr
in 1821 can still be found in the
museum’s orchard. The antici
pated bumper crop of apples this
year will give visitors to Snitz Fest
a unique opportunity to taste and
compare most of the 40 historic
varieties at the Tasting Table.
Snitz Fest will be held this year on
Saturday, October 2 from 10:00
a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
There are certainly more ways
to consume an apple than right off
the tree, as the colonial forefathers
well knew. Besides the apple tast
ing table, visitors to Snitz Fest will
also be able to sample apples in a
variety of other forms. Apple but
ter making, cider pressing, and
“snitzing” apples for drying will
all be ongoing activities through
out the day. Colonial apple recipes
will be used in turning out delica
cies from the past at both the
raised hearth in the 1719 Herr
House and at the outdoor beehive
bakeoven. After experiencing
everything that can be done with
an apple, visitors can then board
the Conestoga Wagon for a tour of
the orchard from which the apples
came.
As important as the apple was
in the early settler’s diet, man can
not, after all, live on apples alone.
Snitz Fest will also include
demonstrations of a variety of fall
harvest activities. Come see com
husked by hand and shelled with
an oxen powered shelter, sauerk
raut being made, flax being pro
cessed into linen, sorghum being
squeezed, soap making and butch
ering demonstrations. 18th cen
tury children’s games will keep
younger guests to Snitz Fest busy.
Tours of the 1719 Herr House, the
oldest original building in Lancas
ter County, will also be an ongo
ing feature of the day.
A special event at this year’s
Snitz Fest will be the release of a
print of a painting done by local
artist and illustrator Wilson V.
Chambers. Chambers was for
many years prior to his death a
resident of the Willow Street area.
Admission to Snitz Fest is $4
for adults and $1 for children
7-12. Snitz Fest is a fun-filled edu
cational event sponsored by the
Herr House Foundation. The Hans
Herr House is located 5 miles
south of the city of Lancaster PA,
near the village of Willow Street,
just south of Routes US 222 and
PA 741 and one mile east of PA
272. For more information, call
(717) 464-4438.
SPECIALS FOR THE
MONTH OF SEPT.
GOLDEN BARREL MAPLE SYRUP
Regularly $4.99
nov $3.99
GOLDEN BARREL OLIVE OIL
VI Gallon Regularly $6.29
NON $5.99
SUGAR FREE ITEMS -
CANDIES. JELLIES. RELISHES
10% OFF
★ FUNNEL CAKE MIX
* PANCAKE & WAFFLE
MIX
* ASSORTMENT OF
CANDIES
* DRIED FRUIT
* SNACK MIXES
* BEANS
* HONEY
* PEANUT BUTTER
* BAUMAN APPLE
BUTTERS
* KAUFFMAN PRESERVES
* SPRING GLEN RELISHES