Beyond The Fritter Blog
Farmer Dave’s Ramblings I decided to build a home for a few chickens, so I took a tour of ‘the shed’ (every farm has one) to see what materials might be available – it was, really, more like ‘please get this junk out of my shed.’ Here’s what my initial search uncovered: Altogether, a pretty…
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Hidden in the woods of southwestern NH, in the small town of Chesterfield, you will find Madame Sherri’s Forest (and the remains of her “castle”). The forest is named after a former owner, Madame Antoinette Sherri, a costume designer for the Ringling Circus, Ziegfeld Follies, and Broadway during the 1920s. Madame Sherri’s Forest consists of…
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A scenic 40-minute drive from East Hill Farm in Chesterfield, New Hampshire, lies a forest with much more meaning than people may know. Madame Sherri’s Forest holds breathtaking views and wonderful hiking trails, but the land also holds many stories of a time passed. Antoinette Bramare, or “Madame Sherri” grew up in Paris, France. In…
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Pull on your snow pants and zip up your coats. Put on your hat, mittens, and boots. We are going outside for winter fun – sledding! Sledding has been around for centuries. In ancient Egypt, wooden sleds (sledges) moved large stones from quarries to pyramid-building sites. The Oseberg Viking ship (buried in 834) was excavated in…
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April 8, 2024 will provide a rare opportunity for millions of Americans to observe one of the universe’s most dazzling displays: a total solar eclipse. “An astoundingly perfect black void sat where the sun had been, surrounded by a jagged white nimbus of light that nearly brought me to tears. This was the solar corona…
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“…Winter fringes every boughWith his fantastic wreath,And puts the seal of silence nowUpon the leaves beneath…”-Thoreau The days are getting colder here on the farm and the winter darkness seems to be creeping in earlier and earlier. This is the time of year that wood is being chopped and stored in our cellar. Animals come…
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Autumn Yellow the bracken,Golden the sheaves.Rosy the apples,Crimson the leaves.Mist on the hillside,Clouds grey and white.Autumn, good morning!Summer good night! -Florence Hoatson The air is turning crisp and cool here at the Farm. The changing winds are a gentle reminder for us all to slow down after the busy summer months and relish the calm…
Read MoreThis post is an excerpt from Uncle Jim’s story, Celebrating the 4th of July, published in the New England Homestead, July 1969. Gone are the good old days of the Fourth of July. If a boy had fifty cents to spend, what a good time he could have! A package of small firecrackers was five cents…
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As I work with old barn preservation around the state, I get many inquiries from photographers and historians about the beauty and uniqueness of barn cupolas. These structures on top of barn roofs were more than decorations, they functioned as part of the ventilation system. Although hay is dry when it is put into the…
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Many guests this summer have been perplexed to find a new activity on the schedule called Drink Like a Farmer: Come make a refreshing switchel. What does drinking like a farmer even mean? And what is switchel? The history of switchel dates back to the 1700s when farmers would drink “nature’s Gatorade” after a long…
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