Homestead Heritage
Monday, December 11, 2006 by Kristen
Ok, I promised a post regarding our Thanksgiving weekend trip, so here it is! I'll start with trying to explain the place which we visited (not an easy task). :P First of all, it is called Homestead Heritage. Basically, it is a large group of believers (around 800 people) that live as a community and "live off of the land", so to speak. Actually, they live in a manner similar to that of the Amish, I suppose; however, they do not believe that modern appliances and technologies are wrong (in fact, I believe that most of them have modern ovens, stoves, etc.), they just choose to live a "homesteading" life. They grow and mill their own wheat, forge tools, make rope, raise cattle, grow and cook much of their own food, make soap, furniture, pottery, clothing, etc., and sell to each other (and outsiders) so that everyone doesn't have to be skilled in everything. In addition, they have a wonderful music ministry. Their choirs and orchestras are phenomenal! For the special Thanksgiving fair that we went to, they have a large tent set up where they perform several times during the weekend. The other special activities during the fair ranged from special soap-making, pottery, furniture making, and wood-working classes to blacksmithing, rope-making, plowing (with horses), apple-cider making, harnessing, and sheep dog demonstrations. They also had hayrides, as well as a petting zoo area for children (or adults ;) ). And I haven't even mentioned the delicious food that they serve! All whole wheat and "home-grown" (or "home-raised", for the meat :P), too!
Well, I think that I have done about the best that I can in describing the community without going into too much detail. ;) (You can visit their website here; also see this page on their site) Anyway, here are the pictures!
^Soap-making demonstration^
^A pottery demonstration
(sorry about the darkness; the lighting in the building was not very good :S)
^Freshly made pottery (no gloss or paint)^
^The finished product :D^
A blacksmithing demonstration
^Ryan with a sailboat that he made in one of the classes^
Grandma (squinting into the sun) chatting
during a lunch break
Here's adorable little Jordan! (the son of the other family
that came with us) Playing in the dirt for half an hour
was the most fun he had all weekend! ;) lol
Becca and Dana (Jordan's older sister) :D...
Aren't they so cute?
And here is a video of the sheep dog demonstration! The only camera
that I had was our little digital one that happens to take short videos as well, so the footage isn't that great (plus I had people elbow-to-elbow on either side of me :P), but you can get the basic idea of the demonstration.
Many blessings!
Well, I think that I have done about the best that I can in describing the community without going into too much detail. ;) (You can visit their website here; also see this page on their site) Anyway, here are the pictures!
^Soap-making demonstration^
^A pottery demonstration(sorry about the darkness; the lighting in the building was not very good :S)
^Freshly made pottery (no gloss or paint)^
^The finished product :D^
A blacksmithing demonstration
^Ryan with a sailboat that he made in one of the classes^Grandma (squinting into the sun) chattingduring a lunch break
Here's adorable little Jordan! (the son of the other familythat came with us) Playing in the dirt for half an hour
was the most fun he had all weekend! ;) lol
Becca and Dana (Jordan's older sister) :D...Aren't they so cute?
And here is a video of the sheep dog demonstration! The only camera
that I had was our little digital one that happens to take short videos as well, so the footage isn't that great (plus I had people elbow-to-elbow on either side of me :P), but you can get the basic idea of the demonstration.
Many blessings!
