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Harvest: A time of food, festivals and fun
Harvest
A time of food, festivals and fun
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Written by MATTHEW WEDD
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR THE CONOCOCHEAGUE INSTITUTE MERCERSBURG, PA.
This time of year is one of the most magical in our rural agriculture community, as months of hard work are rewarded with crops and fruits. Even if you only have a small fruit tree in your apartment, nature’s bounty gives you the joy of the freshest food imaginable.
Harvest is the season of crop gathering, but also of festivity. Its name is derived from the old Anglo-Saxon haerfest (“autumn”), and the haerfest season preceded the English autumn and American fall.
Throughout history, haerfest has been a time of festivals, fun and celebration. The Romans had Ludi Cereales in honor of the harvest and agriculture goddess Ceres, who gave us the name for cereal today. The Druids of Northern Europe celebrated their harvest on Nov. 1, and in Old English traditions, Aug. 1 was celebrated as Lammas Day. The word “Lammas” comes from an Old English phrase that translates to “loaf mass.” Early Christian church services featured a blessing of the first loaves of the season.
With all the work that goes into making a harvest (months of planting, toil and care) a successful harvest is a thing to celebrate. After all, a bad harvest could mean your doom! Though plans need to be made for winter preservation, there is suddenly an abundance of wheat, corn, apples and more. By thanking the gods (or nature) for what was provided, people also showed humility and gratefulness for what they received.
At The Conococheague Institute, we plan our colonial garden to yield year-round, so we have something constantly growing for our educational programs (and for cooking in the cabin): radishes in the spring, cucumbers in the summer and lots of turnips in the autumn. With dozens of varieties of heritage apple trees, a successful harvest enables us to eat apples straight from the tree, bake them into pies or make apple cider from their juice. Drunk straight away, the juice is an extremely refreshing beverage, but when made into hard alcoholic cider, you have a sweet drink that is a source of vitamins that help you stay healthy throughout the cold winter. Preparing for winter is a part of the harvest season. Pickling cucumbers and preserving fruits in jams was all part of a year-round process of life.
The greatest source at CI for how to make things historically accurate are 18th-century cookbooks. Hannah Glasse’s “Art of Cookery” is free to read online and serves as an inspiration for roast meats, pies, pickles, desserts and more. Many historic recipes can be intimidating, with strange terms and ingredients, yet some are no different from recipes today.
To try something historic that would make a novel party treat, follow Glasse’s “To Candy any Sort of Flowers.” To paraphrase: Combine some treble-refined sugar with water and melt it over heat until it boils. Strain it and heat it again until it draws in hairs. Put in the flowers and set them in cups or glasses. When the mixture has hardened, break it into lumps and lay them to dry in the sun on a dish, where it will look like sugar candy.
Cider, treats and harvest games will be offered Sept. 17 with the Harvest Faire and Fall Frolic Fundraiser at The Conococheague Institute. This two-part event will give visitors a view into 18th-century festival traditions during the day (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) as a fun, family-friendly event. Craftsmen demonstrating skills such as carpentry, brewing, textiles, apothecary, agriculture and more will re-create the atmosphere of artisans at a colonial harvest faire while the community gathers to bring in the harvest. There would be a shilling to be made, deals to be haggled and lots of friends gathered to impress. A competition race for a brand-new hat or ribbon would help competitors show off for those present. Perhaps giving that ribbon to a beloved could mean a future romance.
Games of all sorts will be played in and around our re-created colonial tavern. Sit down for a game of whist, try bowling, cricket, races – even a cheese rolling!
The Fall Frolic Fundraiser from 5 to 9 p.m. is a ticketed event full of fundraising activities to support the future of CI’s immersive and educational programming.
Tickets include great food, one sample drink (additional drinks will be sold by Gearhouse Brewery), live music from Cormorant’s Fancy, the fun and festivities of auctions, raffles and prizes, all to benefit the colonial community at The Conococheague Institute.
Gearhouse Brewery has taken a page from the history book and re-created an authentic historic ale for ticket holders to try. The tastebuds of the 18th century were a little different from those of today, so there will be plenty of quality modern craft beers to purchase, in addition to the historic sampler. Taverns were a place of community celebration in the 18th century, and games, food, drink and song will all be part of the evening fundraiser. Be sure to buy tickets for the raffles and 50/50s, and bid in the haberdasher auction, where you could leave with a tricorn hat.
