Back at Waterloo Farm Museum Cabin: An Agricultural History Lesson for our Grandson

We're back at the Waterloo Farm Museum Cabin.

It was mid-September,  and this day was originally supposed to be a basic gardening day,  but it turned into becoming so much more  (thankfully).  Charlotte and Norm came along,  and then Patty & I brought along our eldest grandchild,  Ben,  who was nearly 11 years old  (he turned 11 just two weeks after).  We were thrilled to bring him along---we originally hoped to bring our three oldest grandkids,  for our son and his wife had just had their sixth child only about a month earlier,  so we thought we could keep some of the kids busy.  However,  granddaughter Addy didn't want to come along,  and grandson Liam did but he hurt his neck kinda bad,  so we all felt it was best for him to stay home to be on the safe side.  He's just fine now.

But Ben did come along,  and,  well,  what you are about to read here is how that day went.

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September 13 was a toppermost of the poppermost  kind of day at the Waterloo cabin;  for the first time,  we brought one of our grandchildren to a living history event - our eldest grandson Ben.  

Ben - and all of our grandkids - call me Papa and my wife,  Nonna.  Nonna is Italian for grandmother.  I chose to have my grandchildren call me Papa rather than Nonno  (Italian for grandfather)  or grandpa for a couple of reasons---"Nonno"  is pronounced  " no no"  and I didn't like that.  It's too negative for my tastes.  And grandpa is too,  shall we say,  old sounding.  Papa,  which is bcoming more and more popular for grandfather is very suitable for me.

So we're Papa and Nonna.

Anyhow,  our grandson Ben had such a wonderful experience at his first time participating in living history.  Unfortunately,  we had no period colonial clothes for him to wear;  he is 11 as of this publishing date and growing like a weed.  We don't want to spend the money  (or take the time to make an outfit)  for something he may only wear a few times  (though he did wear one of my cocked hats!).

But Ben certainly had a blast:

1)  helping his Nonna in the kitchen garden,  and even picking a pumpkin I planted this past spring

2)  helping me separate the wheat from the chaff by way of threshing with flails

3)  winnowing,  which also helps separate the wheat from the chaff

4)  grinding the wheat berries into flour by using a quern

5)  making and then baking bread on the hearth with Charlotte ---  he absolutely loved being at the hearth!!

First things first:
we had to get a fire going.
Unfortunately,  neither Norm or I could get a spark to ignite the charred paper
with the flint and steel.
This will have to be worked on...

I've not done this before,  and I have watched those who have done this,  and even for them it can be trying.  So,  sadly,  to get a fire in the hearth,  we resorted to the modern method of using a match.

I know...Booo!

Ben first shoveled out the ashes from the previous user.

Now to let it burn down to glowing coals and embers.

Ben is pretty used to working with fire,  for his father  (my son)  has taught him not only how to build a bonfire,  but also to chop wood and kindling as well as cooking over the fire and the modern gas stove.

While awaiting for the coals,  and with Charlotte inside the cabin,  Ben and I went out to the kitchen garden,  and joined his Nonna. 

Ben was taught to garden by his father.
So now he's going out to help his Nonna in the kitchen garden.

One of my wife's biggest joys in coming out to the Waterloo Cabin is to work in the kitchen garden.

Whoop!
She spots a pumpkin!

Our grandson with his Nonna~

And then he saw the pumpkins.

We planted these pumpkins this past May,  and now they were pretty much
ready for picking.  They could actually use another couple weeks, 
but I let Ben pick one anyhow...one that was very close to being ready.

He enjoyed that we,  his Papa and Nonna,  planted and grew them.

And I loved that he got to pick the first one of the year!

We have over a dozen pumpkins planted here in the garden,  but the one he chose looked to be the most ready for picking.

Next up,  using the flail to hit the wheat to separate the wheat from the chaff.  

The ladies,  Charlotte and Patty,  are here on the cabin porch peeling and cutting
up apples for a hearth-baked pie,  while our minister joins us for the day's activities. 
You can see Ben there,  carrying a flail,  ready for this next chore.

So,  as I did a few weeks earlier,  I wrapped the wheat in canvas,  and brought it out onto the grass.

Then we both went at it~~~~

This was such a wonderful moment for me,  and I think also for my grandson,  as well,  for here we are threshing wheat together in the same manner as was done in the 18th century - using flails. 

I mean,  what nearly 11 year old boy wouldn’t love to  “whop”  (as he called it)  something with a stick,  in this case,  “whopping wheat with a flail?” 

Ben did a fine job in his living-in-the-past activity.
Of course,  I gave him a history lesson as we did the chore.
After all,  he is  home schooled!

In our modern age,  there's not too many kids his age who can say they've threshed
wheat with a flail.

At one point we stopped and I removed the top wheat to show him what was underneath,  That's when he saw the  "wheat berries,"  otherwise known as the wheat grain.  That's when he understood.

But there's more period chores coming up,  for we have wheat that needs to be winnowed!

Winnowing wheat grain is a post-threshing process that separates the heavier grain from the lighter chaff  (husk)  and straw using wind.  Or,  for us,  due to the lack of wind,  we blew into the basket.

Here is my wife giving winnowing a try.
Traditionally,  farmers would toss the threshed wheat into the air on a breezy day, 
allowing the wind to carry away the light chaff while the heavier grain fell to
the ground or into a container below,  such as the winnowing basket.
Even though there was not much of a breeze,  there was enough to carry some of the chaff away.

I first saw winnowing being done many years ago at Greenfield Village.  In fact,  I give Greenfield Village the credit for captivating my attention - piquing my interest,  so to speak - in historical agriculture,  for they have shown farm life of the past;  mostly the Victorian period at Firestone Farm,  but also many times at the colonial Daggett House.

I winnowed as well.

Both threshing and winnowing are  "sequential agricultural processes"  to separate grain from its stalk and chaff. 

I showed him the purpose in this chore and how by doing it we separated the wheat grain from its stalks and husks by beating the bundles of grain,  causing the seeds to loosen and fall out.  It was then we gathered the threshed grain and further separated the wheat from the chaff and straw through winnowing,  where after being put into a winnowing basket it's tossed into the air for the wind to carry away the lighter chaff then the heavier grain was caught again to be repeated.

Winnowing!
Ben---learning by doing.

Of course, after that we ground the grain, also known as wheat berries, into flour for baking.

Looks like some period clothing for my grandson might not be too far off.

This was awesome.

I love the fall!

Patty grabbed the ears  (heads/tops)  of wheat that had fallen out of the canvas tarp.

The cabin kitchen garden is giving up its yield:
I see beets,  turnips,  carrots,  lima beans,  parsnips,  green beans,  and a tomato.
Okay,  so there's not enough to survive on,  but then,  we don't actually live at the cabin.

Given that we are not able to travel to the cabin to work in the garden as often as we'd like,  I'm pretty proud of what we do accomplish here.

According to my own research,  "Quern history spans millennia,  from Neolithic times to the more efficient Iron Age rotary querns.  These hand-operated stone tools were crucial for grinding grain into flour,  a process necessary for making grains nutritionally accessible.  

Querns were a common household item in ancient societies and continued to be used in some parts of the world even after the introduction of mechanized mills." 

Norm watches as Ben spins the top stone,  grinfing the grain into flour.

 In the 18th century,  querns were still in use,  primarily in rural homes and for grinding small quantities of grain and other ingredients like spices for home consumption,  as seen in household inventories and historical records from that period.  While larger,  industrial milling technology was replacing querns for commercial use,  the hand-powered,  domestic rotary quern remained a common household item.  

Ben grew up with a father  (my son,  Tommy)  who loved to bake and cook.  Tommy got that passion from not only his mother,  but from his uncles and from hearing stories of his grandfather and great grandfather.  So to do such chores/crafts as what we did on this day was right up Ben's interests.

And as he turned the quern and saw the flour coming out of the sides,  he began to understand more about food history.

I also took a turn at the quern.

I am very happy and excited to own such an item you see here,  for it really help us experience our historical research.
And you can see the flour we were making!  Also,  by putting the flour back into the center hole can make it finer with each passing.

There is a bear skin at the cabin,  and Ben tried it on!

Ben was preparing the bread dough for making our family bread.  We did not use
the flour made from the quern,  for we still had more threshing to do.  Plus the
dough needed to rise.  Again,  if we lived there perhaps it would be different.  By
the way,  I am still making flour with the wheat my friend Theresa harvest by using
my quern.  If things go right,  I plan to have enough dough for a future cabin visit.

Ben worked on his bread loaf.
Yes,  he knows how to make and bake homemade bread.
He learned from his father  (my son),  who learned from his aunt and uncles 
(my siblings),  who learned from my dad,  who learned from his dad.
Whew!
A family history in food!

Where do I fit in all of this?
I don't,  unless eating counts.  As a young'un I never had an interest in cooking,  though I love to eat!  And also I am loving experiencing how to prepare it historically.  So,  yeah,  the cooking gene bi-passed me and went directly to my son.  And now to his son.  And,  for the most part,  the bread is pretty much the same as my grandfather's.

Charlotte treated us to not one but two 18th century apple treats!

I keep reading that apple pie is not American,  that it's British.
Well,  duh!  England is considered the Mother Country of the colonies  (who did we
fight to gain Independence from,  right?),  therefore the Mother Country of the
United States.  Most of our food traditions in America,  whether Italian,  Arabic, 
Russian,  Polish,  German,  Mexican,  Asian,  and so on,  has its roots in other
countries or by other races.
Silly people...

Cut into strips to cover the apples.

Apple pie came to the American colonies with European settlers very early on and became a staple during the 18th and even the 19th centuries.

Charlotte also made an apple crisp~

The apple pie was so delicious!

Just like most of us,  Ben enjoys watching the fire in the hearth burn.
To be honest,  I'm not sure how often he's been able to actually be around an actual
 fireplace.  I do know this was his first time cooking in one.

There's Ben's bread in Nonna's brand new Dutch oven!

Ben's bread turned out perfect!
And he very much enjoyed baking it!

Charlotte took over the hearth like the pro she is!

Charlotte,  who has been cooking on the hearth for five years now,  passes on her knowledge to the next generation.

Norm portrays our minister.  When modern visitors come a-calling,  he will explain
that in the 18th century,  Protestant ministers did not wear the modern clerical collar
but instead wore  "preaching bands,"  two strips of white cloth tied at the throat. 
The two bands are said to represent the Old and New Testaments. 

The Waterloo souvenir store was open,  so Norm purchased a basket.  I kidded him about coming to the cabin to get tithes.

Ben went down to the river to fetch two pails of water.
Okay...he didn't really,  but he did try to balance the two pails by way of a yoke
and did find it rather difficult to do.

Nonna and Ben listened for dinosaurs.

Okay,  not really,  but the sandhill cranes,  which are plentiful in these parts,  sure do sound like the velociraptors in the first Jurassic Park movie.

And then I looked up information about them and found out that:

"Sandhill Crane calls have been compared to the sounds of the velociraptors in the movie Jurassic Park,  and while the comparison is popular,  the actual sounds used for the velociraptors were primarily a mix of tortoises mating, along with sounds from African cranes,  horses,  geese,  and dolphins,  not Sandhill Cranes.  Sandhill Cranes are themselves considered ancient creatures,  with a fossil record dating back millions of years,  giving them a prehistoric appearance and sound." 

Bet you didn't think we were going to talk a bit about dinosaurs,  did ya?  lol

Though I have yet to see these birds,  I must admit,  they do smake the sounds heard in the movie.

Here is the chicken stew that Charlotte made.
You know,  I don't believe I've ever had a bad meal at the cabin.
That's my wife a-waiting to eat~~~

Right out of 250 years ago.
Norm bless'd our meal with a grace.

Nonna and Papa with their grandson!
So proud!

Patty & I

Our group photo for this visit..
And there is my grandson Ben holding the winnowing basket. 
I really am proud of him.

My grandson didn't want to leave - and he definitely wants to go back!

This was pretty cool~~~!!!~~~this is a great way to give a history lesson.

Thanks to Charlotte & Norm for all they did today to help make it a great success!

These cabin excursions began mostly as a way to experience 18th century Colonial American life.  And I/we are experiencing it,  though not necessarily in ways expected,  for it has become much more of an agricultural experience than any of us may have originally thought.  Oh,  it's not like we didn't know of the high amount of agriculture at that time,  but I believe it just sort of hit us in ways unexpected.  At least it did for me.  But then,  in 18th century Colonial America,  approximately 90% of the population were farmers.  This high percentage reflects the predominantly rural nature of the colonies,  where agriculture was the primary source of livelihood for most people.  And,  most colonial farms were geared towards subsistence agriculture,  meaning they primarily produced what was needed for the family's survival,  rather than for large-scale commercial sale. 

That's what we represent:  18th century subsistence agriculture.

I must say that my two favorite blog posts that I've written involves agriculture:

Marchin' Through the Ruins of Time - Ancient Farming & Daily Life Practices from the B.C. Era Through the Early A.D. Period  (click HERE)

and 

A Year on a Colonial Farm:  Living By the Seasons  (click HERE)

The other thing we've experienced  (and continue to experience)  are ancient holidays  (or holydays)  that are either no longer celebrated or have changed from its original meaning,  such as Candlemas,  Rogation Sunday  (I have not written about Rogation Sunday as a sole subject---thinking about doing so in 2026,  though click HERE to read of our Rogation Sunday celebration),  and,  as you just read in today's post,  Lammas Day.

How about our previous colonial life cabin excursions?  Look in the descriptions here,  which denotes some of our Candlemas,  Rogation Sundays,  and Lammas Days celebrations  (remember - each year listed here we are representing 250 years earlier:

2020 = 1770

2021 = 1771

2022 = 1772

2023 = 1773

2024 = 1774

and now

2025 = 1775

~To read about our 2020 autumn excursion - our first time at the cabin - click HERE

~To read about our 2021 wintertime excursion at the cabin - click HERE

~To read about our 2021 springtime excursion at the cabin - click HERE

~To read about our 2021 summertime excursion at the cabin - click HERE

~To read about our 2021 summer harvesting of the flax at the cabin - click HERE

~To read about our 2021 autumn excursion - click HERE

~To read about our 2022 winter excursion at the cabin - please click HERE

~To read about our 2022 spring excursion at the cabin - please click HERE

~To read about our 2022 summer excursion at the cabin - please click HERE

~To read about our 2022 autumn excursion at the cabin  (Pioneer Day) - please click HERE

~To read about our 2023 winter excursion at the cabin  (Candlemas) - please click HERE

~To read about our 2023 spring excursion at the cabin  (Rogation Sunday) - please click HERE

~To read about our 2023 late spring at the cabin - click HERE

~To read about the 2023 early summer - please click HERE

~To read about the 2023 summer  (Lammas Day) - please click HERE

~To read about the 2023 autumn Pioneer Day - please click HERE

~To read about our 2023 Thanksgiving harvest celebration - please click HERE

~To read about our 2024 Winter experience at the cabin - please click HERE

~To read about our 2024 spring excursion at the cabin - please click HERE

~To read about our 2024 late spring with just Patty & I - click HERE 

~To read about our 2024 summer  (Lammas Day) - please click HERE

~To read about our 2024 mid-and-late-summer - please click HERE

~To read about our 2024 mid-September - click HERE

~To read about our 2024 autumn Pioneer Day Celebration - please click HERE

~To read about our 2024 Thanksgiving Harvest - please click HERE

~To read about our 2024 Christmas at the Farm Cabin presentation - please click HERE

~To read about our 2025 winter & Candlemas Day - please click HERE

~To read about our 2025 spring/early May Rogation Sunday excursion - please click HERE

~To read about our 2025 Memorial Day/Late May visit,  please click HERE

~To read about our 2025 (Lammas Day)  Celebration,  please click HERE

Including today's post,  that makes 30 days spent in the good old colony days!

Again,  I simply cannot thank enough those special folk at the Waterloo Farm Museum for their allowance for us to have such experiences.

We are so honored.  And grateful.

I am also honored to visit the past with my cabin cohorts of  Patty  (who just happens to be my wife),  Norm,  Jackie,  Larissa,  and Charlotte  (and sometimes a few others here and there),  for,  without them,  none of this would even happen.

Brian,  Chad,  Arlene...and others from Waterloo - past and present - my heartfelt thank you.

It's pretty amazing how rooted in agriculture and in traditional ways our colonial cabin living history group has become.  But there is a strong reason behind that,  and,  yes,  it has everything to do with history,  for I first read about  "pioneer and colonial living in my history books.  Then I saw much of the activities live and in color while visiting Greenfield Village over the past 43 years.   Then,  finally,  since around 2009 / 2010 I have found myself actively taking part in such period crafts and chores.  Now my grandson...

This has been a wonderful experience for all involved,  and I pray it continues...

Until next time,  see you in time.

time-travel