Be-an Corny!

Lend me your ears!!!

Grill-master Wyatt Whiteman, his daughter Indiana, and our neighbor Sally O'Shaughnessy served up a delicious, nutritious heap of roasted sweet corn at Saturday's 20th anniversary Cornwall Ag Fair. Brent Prindle donated the corn, Margaret Hopkins and Rhonda Jaacks represented Motherhouse Market, and Alicia North made some herbal, corny comfort packs with whole corn "stuffing." Debra brought out the grain mill and corned some passing children into preparing ground grain to feed her chickens. Wyatt dreamed up this crowd drawing picture-taking fun placard and Debra & Zjeke Hermann painted it!





Just to

YO GAtta Try Yoga!

The days are getting shorter and we are approaching the darker time of year. Join us Monday mornings at 10:30 to breathe in the light to nourish body and soul while finding peace and relaxation with yoga guide, Angelina Tan. Contact Debra@Motherhouse.us or 860 672 0229 for location.

Angelina has studied yoga in the tradition of Sri Krishnamarcharya since 1999 when she discovered yoga in her rehabilitation from a horseback riding accident. She has studied with Dr. Dolphi Wertenbaker in New York and Vedic Chanting with Sonia Nelson in New Mexico. She continues her studies in yoga therapy, philosophy and Vedic chanting with A. G. Mohan and Indra Mohan in Chennai, India.

Svastha Yoga class. The meaning of the word “Svastha” in Sanskrit refers to the state of physical and mental well-being. The practice of yoga incorporates working with the breath in movement to move to a place of stillness and quiet. With each posture, students learn to coordinate movement with breath. There will also be a period of conscious breathing (pranayama). The practice is design to give participants an experience of using breath and sound in postures and developing an awareness of breath in daily life.

Please bring a mat or, a small rug. The session is open to all levels. Suggested contribution is $15.

C 4F C

Cornwall's Food, Fiber, Forestry Farm Camp offered 9 local kids and 4 of their mothers a unique day camp experience this past August 15th through 19th. Motherhouse founder, Debra Tyler, designed it in association with local farmers: Tom Levine whose Longmeadow Farm explored the origins and preparation of "Eggs and Bacon", Jonathan Kirschner of Stonewall Vegetables who led us in harvesting vegetables for "Stone Soup,"  Local Farm's Debra Tyler who taught the campers to milk cows, churn butter, grind wheat berries and dried corn for a take home basket of "Bread & Butter," Tal Hadani-Pease orchestrated a "Wool Thing" Fiber Day including carding and spinning wool with a visit from Debbi Elias of Country Quilt Llamas; and logger Jay Wolfe who gave a walking tour of a backyard woodlot with "Forest Treats." The camp was underwritten by a generous donation from Pine Forest Camp owner, Mickey Black. Visit: Farm Camp 2011 for a slide show of some of our activities.

Honoring Our Foremothers

Gathering for four Wednesday evenings in August,
we shared stories of our
school principals,
mothers,
grandmothers,
and other women who we admire
and in some way,
who have made a difference
in our lives.

We brought in photos,
made drawings and collages,
and wrote cinquain poetry
and letters of appreciation.
We reproduced our work on 5X5 inch card stock,
and bound the pages with artists tape
into accordion books.

We are already
thinking ahead
to who we'll honor this winter
in our next book-making series
and hope you'll join us!

UnCANny!

Once again, Can-Do Wyatt Whiteman has demystified home canning, while orchestrating an opportunity to enjoy the pleasure of working as a group to put food by. New this year, was making salsa. We learned not to touch our lips or eyes while cutting peppers and that one person's cool may be an other's hot. Click Can Can and scroll down to see more detailed canning reports of the past.

Our Eggs-Perience

Some of us came because our parents brought us.
Some of us came because we felt that as meat eaters, we should be able to take a life for our food.
Some of us came in support of our partners.
Some of us came to share our homesteading skills.
Some of us came to learn about housing options for, and care of laying hens.
Some of us came because we want to raise meat birds and wanted to see how our children would handle their harvest.
Some of us came because we raise laying hens and want to be prepared for the day they get old or injured.
Some of us came to bridge our suburban childhood to our partner's farm background.
Some of us came because as vegetarians we feel we must be fully responsible for any meat we eat.
ALL of us came to a deeper appreciation of our own lives, forged close bonds with each other, and went home richer in many ways besides the delicious bird we had prepared for a future meal.

TEAMWORK with Oxen

Local Farm team Jigger and Jolly and their devoted teamster Chuck met with participants to share the basics of training and driving oxen. Highlights included working in the woods, and hauling hay.
Click this link for a video of Jigger and Jolly in action: jigger & jolly. The first part is of their April Earth Day community service project, cleaning the roadsides of Popple Swamp Road. That's followed by the May 14 Old Style Life Skills Series Day of "Teamwork with Oxen" held at Local Farm by Chuck Duncan.