Josh Kilmer-Purcell's Blog, page 38

Part the Earth

c. 1955
Photographic negative. Per image envelope: Horses on the Farm. Burlington Flats to Augusta and West Winfield. Apple Blossoms. Burlington Flats is located in Otsego County, NY; the town of Augusta is located in Oneida County, NY; and the village of West Winfield is located in Herkimer County, NY. Image shows a team of work horses pulling a stone roller (?) in a plowed field. A man carries a large stone toward the farm equipment.

 

Last year, we were named to the Board of Trustees of the Farmers��� Museum in Cooperstown, NY.�� The mission of the museum is to cultivate an understanding of the rural heritage that has shaped our land, communities and American culture.

One of our favorite collections of the museum is the vast photo archive.

Plowline: Images of Rural New York is a collecting initiative. The Farmers��� Museum, with the generous support of the Gipson Family, is actively assembling original photography that documents changes in agricultural practice, rural life and farming families in New York State from the 19th century through the present.

Each week on Beekman 1802 we���ll highlight a photo from the collection that not only depicts where WE come from but where we ALL come from.

 

To learn more about the museum or plan a visit on your next trip to Sharon Springs, click here

Five Beautiful Things

 

The Embroidered Soul

Peruvian artist Ana Teresa Barboza uses embroidery not to decorate or embellish, but to evoke a visceral and emotional response. Using thread and clothing fragments in unexpected ways in her artwork leads the viewer to look closer, to understand texture and to ask questions about the forms it is layered upon: plants whose tendrils extend beyond the canvas into three-dimensional arrangements, animals whose poses of gentility or aggression appear exaggerated by the caress of intricately layered thread, and bodies whose wounds appear to bleed. “By using embroidery, which is a traditionally feminine language, the images acquire new meaning as they produce a marked dissonance between image and technique,” she says. Click here to see more of her work.

 

The Chatter for May

 

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?

Nancy Pfau, the town historian, 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 May 2015 Issue

 

 

The Good -grammer Project

 

Beekman 1802 has always been about recognizing and supporting artisans–blacksmiths, ceramicists, weavers.�� You show us someone who is creating something from nothing, and we are instantly smitten.

We manage all of our own social media ourselves, so we freely admit that we were a little late to the game in creating our Instagram account (click here to see), but now we use it to catalog anything that inspires us throughout the day.�� It could be something on the farm, something we are cooking, or something we are designing (and quite often our dog or the goats!)

What we love about Instagram is all the people who don’t necessarily call themselves artists or photographers in real life, but nonetheless do some pretty spectacular things with their phone camera and their imagination.�� It’s like arts + crafts in the digital age.

So we decided to start the Good -grammer Project.�� (“grammer” referring to someone who is particularly skilled at using Instagram)

Here is how it works:

We send one grammer a surprise box of items from Beekman 1802 and then see what that inspires them to create.�� If you like what you see, follow that artisan’s account!���� We’ll be adding a new artisan about once month.

 

Artisan:�� Edoardo Morera�� (follow his Instagram feed here:�� emorera13)

 

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Do you know someone who uses their Instagram account in a creative way, tell us about them in the comments section below.�� They might be our next featured artist!

 

 

Five Beautiful Things

 

The Flower House

Stories like this one fill me with inspiration. American designer Lisa Waud decided to buy two abandoned homes in Detroit for $500 each with the intention of deconstructing them to use the land as an urban flower garden. Rather than unceremoniously raze the buildings to the ground, however, she employed the help of flower designers from around the country to fill the homes with flowers ��� every room, top to bottom ��� to create an exhibit that will give the houses one last hoorah before they are torn down, foreshadowing the eventual flower gardens that will replace these structures. As Lisa says in this video teaser for the project: ���This house was once home to newlyweds. The floorboards held a child���s first steps, a Christmas dinner, a spouse���s death. This house was once a home and it will blossom again.��� Below are five photos from the first home that was given Lisa���s floral treatment. The next home will be finished this coming October. Click here to read more about the project and subscribe to the newsletter for updates.

 

 

 

10 Signature Salad Dressings!

 

During the gardening season we can make a salad out of almost anything fresh from the garden.�� Most vegetables are perfectly tasty and crisp when freshly harvested, and during hot summer days a meal that requires little or no cooking and dirties a minimal number of dishes suits us just fine.

Make your dressing du jour ahead of time.�� Each of these will keep just fine for a week or more when refrigerated.

 

The Beekman Basic

4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

the juice and grated zest of half a lemon

�� teaspoon of salt

�� teaspoon of freshly cracked pepper

 

Sesame-Honey

2 tablespoons of sesame oil

1 tablespoon of honey

juice of �� a lemon

�� teaspoon of sherry

 

Garlic Mustard

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard

salt and pepper to taste

 

Hot Butter Dressing (will require re-heating if made ahead)

5 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted

�� teaspoon of sea salt

�� teaspoon of freshly ground pepper

 

Mustard Dressing

1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard

1 teaspoon of Colman���s English

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

juice of 1 lemon

4 tablespoons of sunflower oil

 

Lemon Dressing

Juice of 2 lemons and the zest of one

1 tablespoon of mascarpone cheese

1 teaspoon of Tabasco

1 garlic clove, chopped

5 tablespoons of olive oil

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon Colman���s English

2 teaspoons sugar

salt and pepper

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Sweet and Sour Dressing

1 shallot, finely chopped

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 egg yolk

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon superfine sugar

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

 

Lime-Pepper Vinaigrette

�� cup fresh lime juice

2 teaspoons of honey

1 teaspoon of Herbs de Provence

�� teaspoon of coarse pepper

�� teaspoon of lime zest

�� cup of sunflower oil

salt to taste

 

Warm Bacon Dressing

Renderings from 6 slices of bacon

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 tablespoons of minced shallots

1 teaspoon honey

�� cup red wine vinegar

 

Homestyle Ranch

�� cup mayonnaise

�� cup buttermilk

�� cup chopped fresh tarragon

1 tablespoon of chopped scallion

1 tablespoon of fresh parsley

2 teaspoons of chopped garlic

2 teaspoons of freshly squeeze lemon juice

�� teaspoon of dried oregano

 

 

For summer entertaining we often have guests pick their own bowl of salad while enjoying a cocktail or glass of wine.

For the Birds

 

A Chicken for Every Yard

Chickens make wonderful pets, and our friend Melissa Caughey (author of the award-winning blog Tilly���s Nest) provides all the information kids need to raise healthy chickens and have tons of fun doing it. It takes less than 20 minutes a day to care for a flock and is a great learning opportunity.�� Caughey shares her advice in an engaging way so that kids understand what it means to keep chickens and what kind of housing, food, equipment, and care the chickens will need to thrive. She also includes ideas for lots of creative activities sure to spark enthusiasm and imagination, such as speaking chicken, creating a veggie pi��ata for the flock, and making a chicken fort in the backyard. She even offers ten egg-centric recipes that kids will love to make and eat, including French toast, egg drop soup, and Mexican egg pizza.

 

A Kid's Guide to Keeping Chickens: Best Breeds, Creating a Home, Care and Handling, Outdoor Fun, Crafts and TreatsGet a copy of this book easily on Amazon by clicking here

 

Forest Bathing

 

 

INTO the WOODS

In the Japanese language there���s a word, Shinrin-yoku. It means “forest bathing” The idea being that spending time in the forest and natural areas is good preventative medicine, since it lowers stress, which causes or exacerbates some of our most intractable health issues. ��It���s not just magic, it���s science. Trees and plants naturally produce allelochemic substances known as��phytoncides, which are kind of like pheromones for plants. Their job is to help ward off pesky insects and slow the growth of fungi and bacteria. These phytochemicals are scientifically proven to��lower blood pressure, relieve stress��and��boost the growth of cancer-fighting white blood cells.

At Beekman 1802 we forage for mushrooms, wild leeks, milk weed and burdock root—foraged ingredients that make magic on our dinner table.

So this summer, head into the woods. You���ll find more than a fairy tale.

 

 

For everything you need to get the most out of every season, visit Beekman 1802 Mercantile online click here

 

 

 

 

 

Five Beautiful Things

 

Northern Exposure

Artist and photographer Andreas Lie is inspired by the landscape and wildlife of his surroundings in Bergen, a coastal community in Norway, nestled between seven mountains. What is particularly unique about his work is its double-exposure effect, blending the landscape photography with the figures in his work to achieve a layered look that is virtually seamless, tying the mysticism of forest lore to the animals that dwell in it. The tips of snow-capped pines become the fur on a wayward wolf. The shadows of mountains and valleys accentuate the curve of a bear’s back. Visit his website to see more of his work.

 

 

 

 

Spring Mercantile

We re-design the flagship Beekman 1802 Mercantile in Sharon Springs with a new theme 5 times year (once for each season of the year and for holidays).

Since many of you living in all parts of the world can’t make it to Sharon Springs each season, we always like to give you a little virtual tour.

Our theme for Spring 2015 is ‘Sow the Seeds of a Good Life’

 

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For information on anything you see here, please visit the online Mercantile or give us a call at 518.284.6039