Josh Kilmer-Purcell's Blog, page 113

The Chatter

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We've lobbied really hard for Garrison Keillor to give up life in Lake Wobegone and move to Sharon Springs,  but thus far he has not answered our letters or returned our calls.

Sharon Springs has beautiful people and above-average children, too, so on to Plan B.

What is a small town village without a small town paper to keep track of what everyone is doing?

Leila Durkin, proprietor of The Village Hall Gallery, is now editor of our own little paper.

Each month you can check back here for a new issue and follow the lives of the real village people.  If you pay a real visit, you  may even want to submit a story idea of your own!

You may not live in small town, but at least you can pretend.

See below for the September Issue

Help Our Neighbors Recover from Hurricane Flooding

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Most of you have heard about the devastation of several of the Beekman's neighboring villages. Schoharie country, where we reside, was the hardest hit region of the storm. Rivers and creeks turned into raging torrents that demolished homes, farms, and Main Streets.

We were very fortunate and sustained no major damage, but we're asking you to please join us in helping our community recover. Many families and farmers were struggling here before the storm, and face a very difficult road back.

We've identified two relief agencies that we feel will most help our immediate area, and specifically the farming community. Both of these organizations have committed that 100% of funds raised will go directly to local individuals and farms affected.

We'd also like to take a moment to thank the great folks at Lean Cuisine and Johnson & Johnson, advertising clients of Josh's, who have generously donated food and supplies to displaced families.

 

The Capital Region's Online Farmers' Market is collecting funds via Facebook Causes that will go directly to area farmers who have lost buildings, livestock and crops. This storm came close to harvest season, which is the worst possible time for farmers. The flooded crops are a complete loss. To donate, please click here.

 

 

 

The Schoharie County Community Action Program is collecting funds that will go only to our immediate area. We have spoken with them and are very impressed with their efforts. To donate, please send a check to:

Schoharie County Community Action Program

795 East Main Street Suite 5

Cobleskill, New York  12043-1436

Please write "Beekman Boys Flood Relief" in the memo portion of the check.

 

Again, 100% of the funds donated to these two agencies will go directly to our region's neighbors and farmers.

Thank you very much,

Every Living Thing at the Beekman.

 

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Mary and the Storm

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Mary Beekman is a four-year-old ghost who resides in The Beekman Mansion, and considers Brent and Josh her "imaginary friends." Follow Mary Beekman's Diary each week to learn what it's like to be a young child in early 19th century America

We are excited today because we are going to have a new little girl come here to live.  Father and Mother are going to be the guardians for a distant relative of Mother's.  Sarah lived with her family near Boston. Father told us the storm was much worse there than it was here. On the day of the storm, it got cold very quickly.  We ran inside for our winter shawls. This is not the season for snow.  At the beginning of the storm, it rained and then it snowed. There was thunder and lightening and very strong wind.  The wind seemed to blow between any space in our house.  It was never still.   I knew there would not be a rainbow this day.

Father and the boys sat up most of the night.  He feared the roads would be blocked by fallen trees.  There were even parts of fences across the road the next morning and many tree limbs.   A portion of our barn roof blew off.  At least in morning Father was pleased that none of our chimneys had blown down.  We have a very strong house. But we had never seen the likes of this.  The fruit trees were cracking from the weight of the snow and the gusts of wind. You could hear the crack, crack, CRACK from inside the house.  The fruit even blew off the trees.  It was very scary and sad.  I remember all the bees and blossoms of summer when Mother said we would have a lot of apples this year.

Mother's relatives live near Boston.  The steeple of the Old North Church in Boston fell down.  Father met a man in the store and he told Father that some farms there lost all their fowl and livestock. In the harbor, the big vessels were damaged by the wind blowing them against the wharves. I hope the new ribbons for Father's store were not on those ships. That is when Mother and Father decided to have Sarah come and live with us.  Her parents have so many children and have lost much of their farm and crops.  I know Sarah will be lonely.  Perhaps I shall introduce her to Josh and Brent and they can be with her too. I will pick out my prettiest ribbon and give to her.  I hope she brings her dolly.  Your own rag dolly is such a comfort.

*Storm of 1804

Mary and Making Hay

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Mary Beekman is a four-year-old ghost who resides in The Beekman Mansion, and considers Brent and Josh her "imaginary friends." Follow Mary Beekman's Diary each week to learn what it's like to be a young child in early 19th century America

The sun is hot in this early morning.  We have all been moving a bit slowly.  Father says this is good weather for cutting the fields.  Mother and the women who help her, have been heating the big kettles for the wash out of doors.  Their faces are still very pink and glistening from the heat.  Everyone seems a bit cross. Brent and Josh and I are staying out of everyone's path.  No one can really see Josh or Brent anyway, but I am always VERY visible!

The boys will be out in the field with the other farm workers.  The younger boys will begin by using a sickle. It is not too large or heavy.  It has a wooden handle and Josh said he measures it to be 8 inches.  It is made of wrought iron shaped like a "C".  The inside of the "C" is very sharp.  Father always cautions the younger boys to be careful their first day in the field.  A side to side motion is used to cut the crop close to the ground.  It is held in one hand.  When the boys have learned this motion,  the next lesson is taught.  A hay crook is held in their other hand. That is a rod of wood about 2 feet long with a hook at the end.  This is used to separate and hold aside a bunch of the crop so they can swing the sickle to cut the crop without cutting their own hand.  Brent thought this would be difficult to get both hands working in a rhythm necessary to accomplish the task.  I think so too. Josh said it reminded him of an elephant swinging his trunk.  I have never seen an elephant.

The men, who are taller, use a scythe.  That is used with both hands.  The blade is curved  just a bit and is attached to a wooden pole that has been shaped almost like an "S".  That blade is two feet long.  Father has one that is almost 3 feet long. The willow pole is taller than I am.  Josh thought it was about 5 feet in length.  There are two handles on the pole that can be moved so it will better suit each worker.  The worker swings the scythe back and forth and cuts the crop off close to the ground.  It cuts much more than the sickle.  I am certain by the end of the first morning, they will complain of sore shoulders until they grow stronger and more accustomed to the motion.  Josh was watching from the window upstairs and said the image of all the men working their way across the field seemed like a ballet of summer.

I will take them some cinnamon water quite a few times during the day.  The sun is bright and hot in the fields and Mother worries about all the workers.  I am quite happy to help weed the house garden as I watch the workers on the far field.

Cinnamon Water

Like switchel, Cinnamon Water was offered to farmhands who worked under the hot sun of summer. This drink was also used medicinally for patients suffering from a fever.

This receipt will serve four hardworking farmhands.

 

2–3 cloves

4, 3-inch cinnamon sticks

2 cups white sugar OR 2-1/4 cups brown sugar

 

Bring 1 quart water to a boil. Add the cinnamon and cloves, and remove from heat. Cover and let cool. It will look like weak tea.

To make up a pail for one farmhand, take a cup of the cinnamon/clove/water mixture and add to 2 quarts cold water. Dissolve 1/2 cup white sugar OR 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon of brown sugar into the mixture.

 

To make the entire recipe, remove the spices and add 2 gallons of cold water and 2 cups of white sugar OR 2-1/4 cups brown sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved.

 

Serve from a wooden pail with a tin dipper.

Healing Waters

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The Native Americans of the Mohawk Valley were the first to discovery the mystical beauty of Sharon and the healing powers of its mineral springs, using the sulfur-rich waters to heal the skin. (These same waters are used in our Beekman 1802 soaps.)

Sharon Springs is one of the only places in the world with a confluence of three distinct mineral springs (sulfur, magnesium, and chalybeate)-each with a temple built to mark the point at which the waters bubble forth from the earth.

(Images from the Sharon Springs Historical Society, click on any image to start slide show)

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In the late 19th and early 20th century, Sharon Springs was a fashionable spa resort that entertained American presidents like Martin van Buren and Theodore Roosevelt as well as the social elites like the Vanderbilts and Rockefellers.  The sloping streets would swell with as many as 20,000 visitors in the summer and the New York Times would send its correspondents to report on the comings and goings of the wealthy.

But times change like the seasons, and the rich abandoned Sharon Springs for more exotic locations, the Great Depression struck another blow, and the construction of US 20 bypassed the village (even today it's possible to drive right by the turn to go down into the village proper)

Throughout the decades, scarcely a person has driven through the village and dreamed of its possibilities.  We would love to see the next chapter in its history include a revival of its spa heritage and a nod to the rich agricultural traditions of upstate NY.

Good food.  Good bodies.  Good life.

Have you driven through Sharon Springs lately? 

Tell us what you dreamed of.

 

Let's Go to the Hop

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Around the middle of the 19th century, hops was one of the most important agricultural crops in upstate NY and people from urban areas would come to Schoharie County on vacation for the sole purpose of helping with the hop harvest.  No doubt, part of the draw was the fun and frolicking in the evenings that followed a hard day's labor.  (Read more about hops and how local beers are being developed by clicking here.)

In 1890, the following item appeared in a local paper:

"The hop house dance with orchestra on flour barrels, will soon be rife.  Without it hoppicking would be a failure to a goodly percent of pickers.  It's lots of fun for those that like it, and many a girl in a calico dress, to the music of the non-aristocratic mouth organ, without the enchanting influences of lofty surroundings, goes through the various dances with a grace that would do credit to the bespangled and diamond-rigged belles of high society."

A disastrous trifecta of soil depletion, blue mold and the passage of the 18th amendment led to the rapid decline of the hops harvest in Sharon Springs… but not for the need to party.

As part of our annual Harvest Festival, we're adding a Harvest Hop–destined to become a legend.

This year's Hop will be held in the casino building of the historic Clausen Ridge property, which had it's beginnings as a hops farm.

Special musical guests will be the Leftover Cuties (see them perform below)

 

 

With special opening performance from Schoharie's own legend-in-the-making, Owen Nied (click here)

Each female ticket holder will get their own dance card for the evening, so put on your best calico dress and muck boots and get ready.

Click here for ticket information (space is limited to 150 people)

 

 

 

Something Old & Something New

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Josh's grandfather (pictured above) used to own a small grocery in nearby Coxsackie, NY, so an eye for the essential (and the elaborate) runs in the family.

In 1802, William Beekman, one of upstate New York's most successful merchants, built the residence and farm we now call home.  It cost a then princely sum of $10,000.  He built his fortune by offering only the best products in the Mercantile that bore his name.

Our company, Beekman 1802,  was homegrown from our farm in upstate NY and founded on the simple idea of seasonal living—appreciating and making the most of each season as it rolls around.  As we started designing products, we were careful that our items were as useful as they were beautiful and that the craftsmanship—often done within a few mile radius of our farm in upstate New York—would result in a product of heirloom quality—to be passed down from one generation to the next.

At beekman1802.com and at the original Beekman 1802 Mercantile in Sharon Springs, NY, we focus on  those items that we design and produce ourselves, but the world is full of useful items that we use but don't have the time or the skill to create (Not even Brent can do everything!)

This is why Beekman 1802 is partnering with Open Sky to open The Annex.

The Beekman 1802 Annex on OpenSky will be stocked with the very best items for your pantry, home, garden and every part of your body, each item chosen to help you make the most of each season. We will search out these items and we'll even try to get you a good deal on them).  We promise to come up with at least one new item to add to The Annex each and every week.

We'll be paying close attention to the type of products you like, and we'll find more of them!  Additionally, if you've discovered an item that you think should occupy our virtual shelves, drop us a note at Beekman1802Annex@opensky.com.  If you like it, we bet other people will, too.

The Annex will officially open later this fall, but between now and then, if you are at a farmer's market, walking through etsy or staring longingly at something at a craft show or even a fancy boutique, take a picture and send it to us along with any info about the product you can find.  Help other people making great things find a market for their wares.  We want our store to be YOUR store.  We trust you.

 

 

 

Garden-Inspired

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When we were younger, Christmas seemed always to be forever and a day away.  We started counting the days as soon as the last present under the tree was unwrapped.

Silly kids.

Now the day we long for is when the garden is at its peak and the harvest an embarrassment of riches unlike any we knew growing up.  The day is coming.  Soon.

While the garden will always inspire a few culinary masterpieces each year, it can also creativity elsewhere, too.  Who hasn't wished to create a secret kingdom under the pea trellis? Or make hair using the silks from a cob of corn?  Not to mention those great works of folk art fashioned from dried beans (we've got a pair of these in one of our guest rooms).

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The Italian-born artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1527-1593) certainly had a flare for playing with his food, and his whimsical, deranged portraits perfectly fed the Renaissance appetite for the beautiful and bizarre.

See how we play with our food at Beekman 1802.  Click here or here to see how vegetables can be incorporated into table centerpieces.

 

Have you come up with some creative ideas of your own, share them with the rest of us in the comments section below.

Mary and Laundry

 

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Mary Beekman is a four-year-old ghost who resides in The Beekman Mansion, and considers Brent and Josh her "imaginary friends." Follow Mary Beekman's Diary each week to learn what it's like to be a young child in early 19th century America

When it is laundry day, I have to stay far out of the way of the women who are helping Mother. Once a little girl came running in the kitchen to ask a question.  The lady who was stirring the clothes in boiling water was startled and the big kettle tipped.  The little girl was under the spilling water and was burned so badly she expired after two days.  My Mother told me this story. It made me very sad. I bet her mama misses her very much.  That story really frightened Josh and Brent too. We are going to roll the ball down the hallway and stay away from the laundry work.

If our clothes have stains on them, they have to be treated in a certain way.  Mother has it all written down in her journal for housekeeping.  Chalk is used for grease and oil stains. Lemon and onion juice lightens stains.  Alcohol and kerosene removes grass stains.  Milk is used to get rid of urine stains and smells as well as fruit stains.  Human urine is used as a bleaching agent….hog manure also.  Lemon juice and then setting clothes in the sun also bleaches them. When I get bigger, I will start a journal of my own for MY house. I don't think I will write in about the hog manure.

After the clothes are washed and wrung out, they have to dry.  In the summer we all help to lay them on clean grass or bushes or on the line.  In the winter or on rainy days they have to be hung in the attic.  Mother likes it best if they can be put outside.  Later in the day all the clothes are taken off the line and sprinkled with water and folded to be ironed the next day.  Sometimes there is so much that it is evening before it is all in and folded.

A Walk around the Garden

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It's not you, it's me.

I've been a little quiet on "the Social Medias" lately, because, well, because all my spare time has been spent socializing with vegetables. (And the occasional bee and cabbage moth.)  Most everyone knows that the Beekman 1802 Vegetable Garden is my favorite spot in the whole world, and this time of year it's simply irresistable.

Especially this year. It's always chic to complain about the weather, especially in an agricultural community like Sharon Springs. But since I've always been a bit of a contrarian, let me take this moment to compliment Mother Nature. It's been a phenomenal year…at least for vegetables. Nice and hot, with just the right amount of rainstorms. The supportive weather, plus the 42 beehives we installed this year, means that nearly everything we planted is having a banner year. Plus, for whatever reason, we've been free of blights and plagues.

Excuse me a moment while I go knock on a wooden raised bed.

Some of you know that I can be a little bit lazy at times. But I've made my laziness work for me. And for the garden. I daresay we have one of the most efficient organic gardens in the world. Since I can only afford to be a two-day-a-week gardener, I think it's pretty amazing that we keep a 1/4 acre garden that produces more per square foot than should be vegetabley possible.  All without chemicals or plastics. The stone paths between the beds stay fairly weed-free, but I go on a 5 minute hunting spree each Saturday morning with my "Flame Thrower" (worth every penny) to fry any stragglers. The earth between the tomatoes are mulched with a bio-degradable paper mulch, which gets supplemented Sunday morning with sections from the NY Times. (I lay down the papers while the sprinklers are on so that they don't blow away. Plus I get a shower in.) And we fill every space in each bed, even vertically, so that the weeds don't have a chance to take hold.

I don't think there are a lot of jobs left these days that actually result in a product. And even less that result in a product that one truly needs. Most of us, including myself, spend a vast majority of our weekdays filling up papers, taking phone calls, holding meetings, and generally working very hard without being able to hold the result in our hands come Friday afternoon. To date, I've never had to clean under my nails after a conference call. (Although I've often felt like showering.)

So, even though I commit every minute of every summer weekend to the garden, it's worth it. Because it has certainly committed itself back to me.

Take a walk with me around this summer's garden, as it stands at the moment. (Click any picture below to begin the slideshow)

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