Terrific and joyful article to read! I appreciated the historical and modern perspectives - something I never thought about. I was raised in a big city and never attended a county fair. I live in a rural county but have not attended the county fair. It's going on the calendar for next year!
Hi Ashley, I am pretty new to the newsletter. That was one of the best reads to wake up to and brought a smile to my face. Loved hearing about how the fairs used to be, what they have turned into and ideas of how to contribute to my own fair; yes, you have the wheels turning here. I especially liked hearing that even though the Butternut Tree is fading, you are doing your part to keep that going and creating a tradition through your children to keep that going. Living here in the Pacific Northwest, I would absolutely do this with any local trees that are struggling (but I don't know of any yet). Your newsletter read more like a story and glad I had a nice warm tea to sip while enjoying. Keep up the great work and I will check out the archives!
I loved it all - esp. the duck slide and the ash basketry. I heard about the butternut + black ash tree issue in The Overstory and To Speak for the Trees. Heartbreaking. Today I am making 8 berry ice cream (with silver buffaloberry, seabuckthorn, haskap, saskatoon, red raspberry, black raspberry, red currant and black currant) ... last of the summer ice cream as the grass is drying up and the milk production is slowing down for the season.
What a fun article! I'm 70 and county fairs when I was a child had 3 rides, ball toss and shooting gallery. I lived in agricultural Pennsylvania so 25 acres had the animals, food production and knitter's/crocheters barns. The animal shows were the best with small rodeos, blue ribbon cattle, horse shows etc. Where I am now, in Virginia, I'd have to drive 200+ miles to find the old style fair. Again, thanks. It helped me take a happy trip down memory lane.
Sadly here in WI our White and Green ash trees make up a lot of our firewood. Our youngest son who cuts down trees as a side job will never be out of a job as most folks here had many ash trees of their property. To come across a healthy one is rare.
Awesome article ! Thank you so much for taking us all to the fair and writing so eloquently about its origins. You're a great writer and so very much appreciate all that you share with us 🧡
Loved reading this. I liked how you balanced the “kinda sad” with the “pretty cool.” Great photos, as well. I wish all kids could experience an old-fashioned fair like this.
Oh, what a great article! Those ducks on the slide were precious--I've never seen anything like it, and if I had ducks, I'd want to have something like that for their entertainment...as well as mine!
The other day, I was reading about raspberries--I really love them, but don't love the idea of huge canes and thorns, so I had no intention of growing them, but then I found that there is a little 3x3 shrubby raspberry that is thornless called "Bushel and Berry Raspberry Shortcake." I ordered some to try out. Have you had any experience with these?
I also ordered a heartnut and a butternut tree. I have four hazelnuts, but wanted to broaden the selection of nuts and I am loving the idea that heartnuts only grow to about 20' tall. I also got a nut catcher tool to pick them up. (Wishful thinking; I know I'll need to wait a number of years before it will be used for picking up nuts.) I guess it will also pick up things like fallen apples and pears, so it should get some use before then. In the interim, maybe I'll see if Middlebury College has any butternut trees!
Which fair were you at? Lamoille County Field Days happens in July, and is rather small compared to what you show. I'd love to visit wherever it is you were!
I always learn something from you! We're saying goodbye to summer, as well. We just harvested our pumpkins and squash and are clearing out garden spaces for next year... lining up winter projects to keep us occupied through the 5 months of snow that's coming. You know the drill.
Wonderful article, thanks for sharing the history. As long as I'm being thankful, your words regarding the original goings on at a country fair make me wonder about why we celebrate Thanksgiving so many days after the harvest. Thanksgiving should be celebrated now, like Canada does, it just makes more sense. Anyway, I am double thankful because I have Canadian relatives and get to celebrate twice! Thanks again for sharing your knowledge and time.
Terrific and joyful article to read! I appreciated the historical and modern perspectives - something I never thought about. I was raised in a big city and never attended a county fair. I live in a rural county but have not attended the county fair. It's going on the calendar for next year!
You should definitely go!
Wow! Thank you so much for taking us along on this trip to the fair.
Hi Ashley, I am pretty new to the newsletter. That was one of the best reads to wake up to and brought a smile to my face. Loved hearing about how the fairs used to be, what they have turned into and ideas of how to contribute to my own fair; yes, you have the wheels turning here. I especially liked hearing that even though the Butternut Tree is fading, you are doing your part to keep that going and creating a tradition through your children to keep that going. Living here in the Pacific Northwest, I would absolutely do this with any local trees that are struggling (but I don't know of any yet). Your newsletter read more like a story and glad I had a nice warm tea to sip while enjoying. Keep up the great work and I will check out the archives!
Cheers.
Terrill
I loved it all - esp. the duck slide and the ash basketry. I heard about the butternut + black ash tree issue in The Overstory and To Speak for the Trees. Heartbreaking. Today I am making 8 berry ice cream (with silver buffaloberry, seabuckthorn, haskap, saskatoon, red raspberry, black raspberry, red currant and black currant) ... last of the summer ice cream as the grass is drying up and the milk production is slowing down for the season.
What a fun article! I'm 70 and county fairs when I was a child had 3 rides, ball toss and shooting gallery. I lived in agricultural Pennsylvania so 25 acres had the animals, food production and knitter's/crocheters barns. The animal shows were the best with small rodeos, blue ribbon cattle, horse shows etc. Where I am now, in Virginia, I'd have to drive 200+ miles to find the old style fair. Again, thanks. It helped me take a happy trip down memory lane.
What a wonderful read while I'm waiting to pick up my little at school. Thanks!
That was great. Thank you
Sadly here in WI our White and Green ash trees make up a lot of our firewood. Our youngest son who cuts down trees as a side job will never be out of a job as most folks here had many ash trees of their property. To come across a healthy one is rare.
This brought back so many memories of taking my kids to the county fair many years ago. You captured it all! ❤️
Awesome article ! Thank you so much for taking us all to the fair and writing so eloquently about its origins. You're a great writer and so very much appreciate all that you share with us 🧡
Loved reading this. I liked how you balanced the “kinda sad” with the “pretty cool.” Great photos, as well. I wish all kids could experience an old-fashioned fair like this.
Oh, what a great article! Those ducks on the slide were precious--I've never seen anything like it, and if I had ducks, I'd want to have something like that for their entertainment...as well as mine!
The other day, I was reading about raspberries--I really love them, but don't love the idea of huge canes and thorns, so I had no intention of growing them, but then I found that there is a little 3x3 shrubby raspberry that is thornless called "Bushel and Berry Raspberry Shortcake." I ordered some to try out. Have you had any experience with these?
I also ordered a heartnut and a butternut tree. I have four hazelnuts, but wanted to broaden the selection of nuts and I am loving the idea that heartnuts only grow to about 20' tall. I also got a nut catcher tool to pick them up. (Wishful thinking; I know I'll need to wait a number of years before it will be used for picking up nuts.) I guess it will also pick up things like fallen apples and pears, so it should get some use before then. In the interim, maybe I'll see if Middlebury College has any butternut trees!
It has been a while si de I attend a fun fair like this one. Thank you for the motivation to look for one :)
Which fair were you at? Lamoille County Field Days happens in July, and is rather small compared to what you show. I'd love to visit wherever it is you were!
I always learn something from you! We're saying goodbye to summer, as well. We just harvested our pumpkins and squash and are clearing out garden spaces for next year... lining up winter projects to keep us occupied through the 5 months of snow that's coming. You know the drill.
Also, that duck slide is hilarious!
Wonderful article, thanks for sharing the history. As long as I'm being thankful, your words regarding the original goings on at a country fair make me wonder about why we celebrate Thanksgiving so many days after the harvest. Thanksgiving should be celebrated now, like Canada does, it just makes more sense. Anyway, I am double thankful because I have Canadian relatives and get to celebrate twice! Thanks again for sharing your knowledge and time.