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Tag: country life

Pennsbury Garden Features Rope Hops Wall

Posted on by Pennsbury Manor

A new feature in the garden this year was our rope hops walls. These large structures were created to support 12 new hops plants, which in the future will be used in our beer brewing demonstrations.

Our staff gardener Mike and his volunteers spent time this summer working on building two walls to grow the hops that will be used in our beer brewing program. The walls are each 12 ft high and 21 ft wide, with six plants at the base protected by stacked firewood boxes. We’ve been watching over the past month as the hops slowly creep up and the gardeners wrap new tendrils around the ropes, encouraging them to spread out and up the wall. This fall when the hops are matured, the entire frame can be taken down and the vines easily harvested. 

It seems like craft beer brewing is all the rage these days, but it’s definitely not anything new!  Beer brewing had long been a common activity in the home when colonists began arriving in Pennsylvania. For those who could afford a higher quality beverage, professional breweries quickly sprang into action, making Philadelphia a beer-brewing center in the New World. William Penn was known to purchase up to 20 barrels of beer a month from renowned brewer Henry Badcock and ship them up the Delaware to his country estate, Pennsbury Manor. 

But for those who preferred to save their money, home brewing was easy and inexpensive. The two ingredients you need for a basic brew – barley and hops – could be grown in your Kitchen Garden. In fact, brewing your own beer would guarantee a ready supply of fresh yeast for baking in the kitchen. The brewing process involves bursts of activity followed by long periods of waiting, so it could be done in between other work in the kitchen. 

Pennsbury Manor features beer brewing demonstrations throughout the year; check the calendar of events for the upcoming program and stop out and savor the aroma.

 

  

 

 

 By Hannah Howard, Volunteer & Special Project Coordinator

Peaches and peppers and squash… oh my!

Posted on by Pennsbury Manor

“The gardiner is brisk at work. The Peach-Trees are much broken down with the weight of Fruit this Year.”

The patched fence provides protection for Pennsbury's crops and a sunny spot to grow.

William Penn’s steward James Harrison reported this good news in October of 1686, but the same could be said of the fall harvest in 2012!  Indian blood peaches, radishes, red and yellow cayenne peppers, squash, gourds, and culinary and medicinal herbs have all thrived this year in Penn’s kitchen garden.

According to Pennsbury’s gardener Mike Johnson, this is due in part to the recent restructuring of the garden’s fences. While Penn’s original garden covered about two acres of his estate, the smaller area has allowed the garden staff to protect the plants from pests and to interpret seventeenth and eighteenth-century garden activities more effectively for visitors.

One of the several varieties of gourds currently growing in Pennsbury Manor's 17th-century kitchen garden.

You may be asking yourself, “What happens to all those fruits and vegetables?” Just as in Penn’s time, nothing goes to waste!  Harvested crops will be used in cooking demonstrations, educational programs, and seed-saving for future planting.

Let’s follow the path of the dipping gourd, which has yielded a particularly plentiful harvest this year. From the garden, the dipping gourds will make their way into storage to dry until next summer. At that time, our summer campers will remove the seeds and return them to the gardener so they can be planted. Once the seeds are removed, each gourd will be fashioned into a ladle-like tool used for watering plants. In a time when metal watering cans were expensive, being able to grow one’s own irrigation tools was certainly a favorable alternative. 

Dried gourds make excellent dippers for the cistern. Gourds and thumb-pots are favorite 17th-century tools kids can use as they water the garden’s many plants.

 

2012 was also a “hot” year for red and yellow cayenne peppers. Growing cayenne peppers has given the garden staff an opportunity to interpret contradicting horticultural ideas, as not everyone on the estate would have eaten them.  African slaves living at Pennsbury had their own culinary culture and probably would have cultivated cayenne peppers as a food source. However, the Penn family and Pennsylvania’s other English residents would have considered them to be primarily ornamental plants with some medicinal and culinary value. For example, cayenne pepper and other spices would have been added to hot chocolate for an exotic burst of spicy flavor.

The fall harvest is well under way and will continue for the next few weeks. On your next visit to Pennsbury, take a walk through the garden and reflect on the efforts of our gardeners, past and present. They cultivated food for the table, medicine for those who were sick, and even tools for future growing seasons. Autumn is the perfect time to celebrate their achievements!

By Danielle Lehr, Volunteer and Intern

The Country Life: It’s Harvest Time… Right?

Posted on by Pennsbury Manor

When many people think of the harvest, they think of autumn. But another important time for gathering crops, not to be forgotten, takes place in the heat of the summer!

In an age where food wasn’t from the local supermarket, but from the land people lived on, it was important to use the soil to the best of its ability.  With ground-breaking techniques (no pun intended!) of the time, farmers were able to work the land to provide maximum yield from the beginnings of spring, to the eve’s of winter.

The Corn Harvest (August), Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1565

One important crop of colonial Pennsylvania was wheat.  Of three varieties grown, winter and summer wheat were able to be harvested around the month of June, if weather had been good.  Governor Penn even reports “they may sow eight acres; half with summer wheat and half with oats,” referring to successful agriculture production in his colony.  Other summer crops include rye, hemp, barley, oats and flax.  

In smaller kitchen gardens, more customized techniques could be applied to each plant being grown. Here at Pennsbury Manor we have a reconstruction of William Penn’s own kitchen garden. It was intended for raising vegetables, herbs, and anything else that could be found useful in the estates kitchen. Structures like “hot beds” were created to begin the germination of seeds in late winter. This wooden framework was filled with manure, and topped with a layer of soil; this bed could become as hot as 100°F in the coldest of winter. Once mature enough, they can be moved to garden beds.

A view of the cold frames and hotbed at Pennsbury Manor.

Similar to the hot bed, the cold frame was a structure used to protect fragile herbs.  This structure was enclosed with spare glass, matting or canvas. One would also find raised beds. This state of the art invention allowed planters to control the fertility of their soil and manage it accordingly.

With innovations such as these, the kitchen garden would be able to adapt to the seasons and continuously provide for the estate. In a time like Penn’s, it was always important to put time to its best use, even in the heat of the summer!

By Ray Tarasiewicz, Intern

The Country Life: Growing our Clothes

Posted on by Pennsbury Manor

As the summer heat drags on, we turn our focus to an important crop we’ve been growing in the Kitchen Garden: flax. This reed-like plant has been used for thousands of years to create a light-weight, durable fabric called linen, which was a staple textile for common folk and aristocrats alike. 

Flax plants starting to grow in the hot beds at Pennsbury, 2011

Linen production in the Delaware River Valley began primarily in Swedish settlements as farmers began cultivating flax. By the time William Penn held the proprietorship of the colony, local leaders were urging settlers to increase growth of this fiber crop.

The harvest of the flax begins in late July. Farmers would pull the crop from the ground and tie them into small bundles in which they would be laid out to dry for several days. Next step would be to pull the fibers apart with a tool referred to as a “ripple comb.” During this stage, the seeds would be removed and could either be used for planting or sent to an oil mill for pressing.   

Flax-breaker

Following this, the separated fibers would be wetted and laid out to soften. After separating them again, they would begin a process known as “hackling” or “hatchling.”  Workers would draw fibers through a board with fixed steel teeth, providing fibers for grades of linen varying from rough working clothes to finer table clothes and sheets. 

Combs for "hackling" the linen fibers

Flax was not initially a popular crop because of its need for fertile soil and the time-consuming, strenuous process of harvesting.  However, flax became more profitable up into the mid-1700s as a major export of the region. Soon, with the rise of cotton in the 1800’s, linen production would nearly cease to exist.  

Bolts of modern linen from Pennsbury's clothing program

On an estate such as Pennsbury Manor, linens of all kinds would be common, from the roughest weave to the finest bleached linen. Visitors can see evidence of it’s colonial role all around, from the tools of flax harvest found in the kitchen house to the linen press kept in Penn’s Great Hall to store his expensive investment.  Linen was one of the key fabics of its time, and continues its popularity today!

By Ray Tarasiewicz, Intern

 

William’s World: We’re So Cheesy

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Aelbert Cyup, "The Dairy Maid," 1650s

We’ve recently been discussing just how important dairying was, first as a career for the idyllic milkmaids and as a country business that was transported into towns (resulting in a more convenient, but poorer quality product).  As those articles mentioned, there were a number of ways to prepare milk to be turned into various food resources. Today, cheese is a highly popular product (and a great way to preserve milk long-term), but it wasn’t always so fashionable!

Volunteer interpreters Susan PLaisted and Joan Healy prepare to drain the whey from cheese curds at Pennsbury Manor.

A large amount of milk went into cheese making. Although dairy did take its role at the table of the 15th and 16th-century elite in a number of forms (of which the five most common were cream, curds, milk, buttermilk, and whey), the one seen at their table least was cheese.  Cheese evolved from being a resource associated with poverty to being a sought-after staple for all social classes.

The main change that occurred in favor of cheese took place in the 1650’s when cheese became the primary reliance of the English army’s soldiers in Ireland. Also used to feed servants or humbler guests, it was found on ships because it lasted without deterioration, and thus it was a good option to send with both sailors and troops.

The whey is allowed to drain from the cheese curds, then the bundle is poured into a cheesemold and wrapped with a linen cloth. Cheese needs to be rotated and maintained regularly while being cured, or the liquid will settle on one side and will turn bad.

Further support for the consumption of dairy in the form of cheese came about as Englishmen saw cheese savored at the tables of high-ranking society members abroad. Initially startling the English elite, especially if served toasted and not cold, cheese eventually took hold at their table. This was especially so as the milk industry boomed and the different counties of England began refining the cheese making process to produce various types include what would be most similar to that of a sharp cheddar today. And, although the outcome was surely delicious, the process behind cheese making is less appealing.

Calve's stomach, which was required every spring for cheese-making.

Firstly, “a suckling calf’s stomach- bag was the usual source of rennet” (rennet-a dried extract made from the stomach lining of a ruminant, used to curdle milk).  As a result cheese was made during the spring when a single calf could be sacrificed for the sake of cheese making and milk would be abundant. In conjunction, the process of cheese making was something simple that could be done at the home if you owned a household cow. Likewise, there was no need for special expensive equipment and the milk could be processed quickly.  The resulting cheese making industry soon grew too and frequented the spring with the annual cheese making processes.

Flrois Claesz van Dijck, "Still-Life with Fruit, Nuts, and Cheese," 1613

 

 

 

By Mary Barbagallo, Intern

Photographs by Hannah Howard, Volunteer Coordinator

 

 

  

Sources

Food and Drink in Britain – C. Anne Wilson, the Anchor Press Ltd., 1973, Great Britain

Food in Early Modern England – Phases, Fads, Fashions 1500-1760 – Joan Thirsk, Continuum Books, 2007, New York, NY

The American Heritage Dictionary, Second College Edition – Houghton Mifflin, 1985, Boston, MA

William’s World: Hi-Ho the Dairy-O!

Posted on by Pennsbury Manor

“My cow is a commonwealth to me… for she allows myself, my wife and son for to banquet ourselves withal.” 
~  Food in Early Modern England

A while back, we posted a Springtime Ode to the Milkmaid.  Well it’s time to recognize the popularity of the product she was selling! 

From early 17th century England, well into the mid 18th century, the uses for milk can best be described as abundant!   However, in the early 1600’s it may have been hard to foresee the leaps in popularity this common resource would make. Although it was consumed, in one form or another, by all classes, it was most common among the poor until the mid 17th Century, especially in the form of cheese and butter.  It was only used amongst the upper classes for the occasional eccentricity, such as the Earl of Rutland in 1602 who was rumored as preferring to bathe in milk! 

Medieval Depiction of Dairying; Joan Thisk's Food in Early Modern England

Nevertheless, the notion of the beneficial properties of milk consumption came about when it was noted of “the fair complexions and good health of those who drank milk…”  In addition, it was thought to be the source of farmers’ and servants’ ability to complete hard labor day in and day out. Often consuming the leftovers such as whey (leftover liquid from cheese-making) or buttermilk (the byproduct of butter-making), the poor found ways of making even the lowest products of the dairying process ready for consumption with a few additions such as breadcrumbs, sugar, or spices. The availability of dairying changed, however; as milk climbed in popularity amongst the elite and dairy farmers took up commercial pig-keeping, the leftover dairy that once was disappeared.  Another reason for the diminishing availability of milk was due to the enclosure of what was public grazing area during the late Tudor period (late 1500’s, early 1600’s).

Marcellus Laroon's "Merry Milk Maid" - late 17th century

Furthermore, as the city populations began to grow (specifically in England) and keeping a cow became more inconvenient, as previously described, dairy shops took the place of local farms and milkmaids hawking their product in the streets took the place of individual household cows (Clarification: Just so nobody asks the question… no, I am NOT referring to milkmaids as cows!).  These maids would spend the day carrying pails of milk on yolks, and sometimes driving the cows themselves through the streets to be milked at your door. This option was to bring the milk in from the surrounding countryside, although the milk lost its warmth on the way into town, whereas on-the-spot milking ensured its warmth and freshness.  

As a result of these “new” practices, cows became town animals kept in town dairies. Oftentimes the result equaled poor-tasting and poor-quality milk.  This was the result of an improper diet; the feed given to town cows often consisted of bean shells, cabbage leaves and brewers’ grain, as opposed to the preferred natural pasture grass of the countryside. Moreover, the “town milk” was of poor quality due to the processing before it was sold. Usually diluted with water, it was skimmed of all cream before it made its way into any market. It was also guaranteed to be contaminated with whatever found its way into the pails as it was carried through the busy English streets. Thus, the safest, best quality milk came straight from the country-bred cow, and this was what was desired, not only to be enjoyed as a glass of milk, but also for the dairying processes to turn the drink into proper fare.

 

~ Written by Mary Barbagallo, Intern

Further Reading:

Food and Drink in Britain – C. Anne Wilson, the Anchor Press Ltd., 1973, Great Britain

 Food in Early Modern England – Phases, Fads, Fashions 1500-1760 – Joan Thirsk, Continuum Books, 2007, New York, NY

 

 

Confessions of a Costumier: Dressing the Laborers

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About a month has passed since our 17th-Century Fashion Show, and we had such an amazing time!  A HUGE thank-you goes out to our lovely volunteer models (L-R) Mike Thomforde, Maggie Brosz, Joe Long, Valerie Long, Steve Ringel, Melissa Dill, Ron Matlack, and Judith Kirby.  Don’t they look great??

I finally have some time to begin sharing what was discussed during the program.  We covered so much about the evolution of clothes in the 17th century, but what I want to highlight most is the diversity in society.  I previously posted a teaser of these various styles, and it’s an important step in the evolution of our living history programs.  Fashions changed not just for the aristocracy, but all the lower classes as well.  A colorful range of people would have lived and worked in colonial Pennsylvania, and we strongly believe all those people should be represented at Pennsbury Manor.  This includes showing the variations in their wardrobe!

So today we begin with the lower class of residents at Pennsbury: the Laborers.  Whether you were plowing the field, tending the kitchen garden, or churning butter in the dairy, your clothes needed to be practical.  Below you see Mike and Maggie modeling appropriate ensembles.  Compare them with the 17th-century drawings by Marcellus Laroon, which depict the poor street cryers in late 17th-century London.

Outdoor laborers would have needed to dress for the weather and conditions required of their jobs.  While they might have a better set of clothes for Sundays or special occasions, out in the fields their attire had to be sturdy and comfortable.  Mike is modeling a shirt, coat, and breeches which are all linen and obviously too big to be made for him specifically.  He could have received hand-me-downs or bought clothes secondhand from a street cryer or ready-made from a store.  His monmouth cap was a universal style worn by land laborers and sailors alike for centuries.  If performing a dirtier job, he would don an apron like the one seen below on the vinegar-seller.  

Just like Mike, Maggie is dressed to tackle the hard jobs all laboring women would face depending on the season.  She might spend her days washing clothes, tending the Kitchen Garden and animals, brewing beer, or preparing meals at the hearth.  The older style of short gown, rather than the more recent mantua style (seen in a previous post), would have been safer for working around fires and less cumbersome when laboring in the garden or stable.  Her apron is made of a spare piece of rough linen and kerchief tucked into her bodice and out of the way.  The only sign of fashion is the striped linen petticoat.  

**You might be wondering why our models don’t have any shoes on in these pictures?  That’s because we haven’t been able to afford any.  We are fundraising to purchase reproduction shoes, because an interpreter in sneakers ruins the whole atmosphere created by historical dress, am I right?  To help out, you can visit our official website www.pennsburymanor.org and click the “Donate Now” button at the bottom.**

 

Written by Hannah Howard, Volunteer Coordinator

The Country Life: Beating the Winter Cold

Posted on by Pennsbury Manor

Although the Penn family did not reside at Pennsbury in the dead of winter, the estate was certainly not dead; the staff worked to ensure the smooth running of Penn’s summer home in all seasons. Colonial gardeners were no exception, cultivating techniques to battle the cold and prepare for spring. As colonials tired of pickled and salted foods during the winter months, they longed for fresh produce. The hot bed, an important part of the colonial kitchen garden, allowed colonists to begin growing vegetables before spring thawed the ground.

 

16th-century engraving of a gardener working on his raised garden beds (“The Gardener’s Labyrinth,” Thomas Hill).  Raised bed allowed gardeners to adjust the composition of the soil, adding or lessening acidity depending on the plant being cultivated.  Hot beds were a variation on the standard raised bed frame.

 

In Pennsbury’s garden, the hotbed is located opposite the riverside next to the cold frames. A brick and wood structure, the hotbed protects seedlings from the bitter cold and provides the perfect environment for out-of-season growth. Colonial gardeners would have layered soil over fresh manure from the barn to create the heat source. Once the manure cooled to about seventy degrees Fahrenheit, the bed was ready for seeds. Straw placed on top provided additional protection from the elements. If prepared properly, the hotbed could retain its heat for several weeks.

Although its main purpose was to jumpstart vegetables in the cold weather, colonial gardeners would have used the hotbed year round to grow a variety of plants. We still use the hotbed for this purpose at Pennsbury (see below). For example, last summer, the gardeners used the hotbed to provide a space for growing flax. The hotbed gave us the perfect place to monitor the young flax plants and ensure they would be mature enough for the fall harvest.

 

A hotbed at Pennsbury Manor, 2011

 

Colonists were not able to simply walk into the supermarket and pick up fruits and vegetables during the winter like we can, but they were not completely helpless. They wasted no resources, and that includes time. While they could not beat Mother Nature’s icy grip on their gardens, they could manipulate the temperature of their own growing environment, the hotbed.

 

**Come to Pennsbury Manor’s Gardening Sunday on May 27 and see what’s starting to sprout in the Kitchen Garden!**

 

Written by Danielle Lehr, 2011 Intern

Edited by Hannah Howard

William’s World: Ode to the Springtime Milkmaid!

Posted on by Pennsbury Manor
 

The Milkmaid, Jan Vermeer, 1657-8

I really don’t like to milk cows.  I can’t stand to churn butter.  I know this is a shocking admission from a so-called history geek, but it’s true.  So each spring I breathe a grateful sigh of relief that I can buy my milk and butter in containers at the grocery store!

I wonder how the milk-maids of Pennsbury Manor felt about these chores in the 1680s.  We don’t know their names, but we know they were here and that they were making butter:  in 1684, William Penn suggested that James Harrison’s wife, Ann, supervise the maids in the dairy;  the 1687 inventory includes churns and other butter-making equipment as well as 6 cows; there is strong evidence that a cow pen existed near the stable.  We also know, given the exhausting nature of their work, that dairy maids had to be strong and sturdy to pump away at that churn!

"The Merry Milk Maid," Marcellus Laroon, late 17th-century.

Dairy products were an important part of the diet of people in Penn’s time with butter in particular being used liberally in many recipes.  Butter was also preserved in crocks for later use, and even used as a preservative itself as it could create an airtight seal on crocks.  And of course it could be sold at market, usually by the women who made the butter.  Although buttermilk (the liquid resulting from butter production) could be turned into curds and whey for the household, “the best use of buttermilk for the able housewife is charitably to bestow it on the poor neighbours, whose wants do daily cry out for sustenance.” (Gervase Markham, The English Housewife, 1615)  Who wouldn’t want to do this after being promised that “she shall find the profit thereof in a divine place?”  Heaven for buttermilk?  What a deal!

May was the peak of butter production.  Housewives were advised to breed their cows to calve between March and April when the grass is nearly or at its richest.  The resulting milk made the best butter.  Later on in the year as the grass passed its prime (July), butter production was replaced by cheese-making – another lucrative product for households. 

engraved frontispiece of "Dictionarium Domesticum," Nathan Bailey, 1736

By 1701, the dairying equipment had disappeared from the inventory of Pennsbury Manor.  William Penn’s account books have numerous entries for purchases of butter from local young women.  Was butter not produced at Pennsbury any longer?  Or did the demands of the Penn family and guests exceed production on the site?  I am inclined to believe the latter as Penn still desired a dairy and a milk house.  Making butter was an integral chore of an estate; it would be highly unlikely that there was no dairying at all taking place.

Pennsbury will have a milking cow demonstration on April 29, and a dairying demonstration on June 17.  Both programs will take place between 1:00-4:00.  Don’t look for me to be milking or churning! 

 By Mary Ellyn Kunz, Museum Educator and Former Milkmaid

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