Time for the Fair

Who doesn’t love a trip to the Fair? Well, here in New England it is time for the harvest fairs. Just this last weekend we went to one of our favorite harvest fairs, the Garlic and Arts Festival in Orange MA. It was a two day event that includes local musicians, artisans, farmers, seminars, and of course tons and tons of amazing food to eat. This year we went both days since there were things going on both days that we wanted to attend and we are glad we did. On the first day we were introduced to a wonderful 17-year old Irish fiddler who put on an amazing show. Her group’s name was ‘Zoe and the Fiddleheads’ and I am hear to tell you that she could really make a name for herself in the future. We also had a very informative conversation with a man that told us how to make a solar oven for less than $10.00 using nothing but a couple cardboard boxes, some foil, crumpled up newspaper, and a glass/plastic top. We had tried our hand at a solar cooker earlier in the summer and although it worked it didn’t get that hot. Once we put this design to the test we will post pictures and how it works.

Having done a lot of looking around on the first day, we didn’t think we would spend much time there on the second day, but boy were we wrong. We started out taking a wonderful 4-mile hike through a nearby forest lead by one of the volunteers. It was amazingly informative and just a beautiful trail that we will have to come back and do again at some time. And if the day couldn’t have gotten any better we then went on small nature walk that told us all about the history of the American chestnut tree and the blight and how they once ruled the forests of America. It was a truly inspiring and educational lecture, so much so that we are now thinking of joining a project to try and re-grow the chestnut forests of old. If we can get joined up with this project, we will be growing young chestnut trees from seedlings and tracking their progress (much like we did during Project Sequoia), but this time our progress would need to send into a science center which is running the project. There will be more to come on that for sure. And if all of that weren’t enough fun, we able to learn all about garlic, get some garlic cloves to plant, and just have some garlic ice cream (and yes it was good!). If you get a chance next year, I would encourage everyone that could go to get out to the festival next year.

So, why not head out to a local fair this weekend. For those of you in Massachusetts here are a couple in upcoming weekends that we know are wonderful:

Bolton Fair – Sept 23 and 24 in Lancaster MA
Ferncol Fair – Sept 29 and 30 in Templeton MA (email me for directions and more information)

As always, this is life according to Troy.