Our last stop for the buildings was the barn. Since the motto for the day was "Waste not, want not" we also talked about how they did this on the family farm. This first machine you would put the dried out corn husks in to get all the kernels off.
This machine was a sorter. It sorted the corn into small, med, and large bins. The small kernels were used to feed the animals as there teeth are usually smaller anyway. The med kernels were for making food for the family, and the large ones were for planting crops for the next season.
This was a mill for making corn meal. The one on the left is a crank and the one on the right is for milling by hand.
Though they don't use this it is a working cider machine. You put the apples in the top container and crank the wheel and a bucket placed in the wooden slats of the bottom catches the juices :)
This was a roping station where they had little fake cattle heads on the fence for the kids to practice throwing lassos at. Needless to say the boys LOVED this area!
And a slice of true work on a farm. They explained how one of the kids jobs, first thing in the morning, was to clean the animal stalls out and put down fresh hay.
Last but NOT least, we made rope!
Top: You attatch twine to the hooks. Bottom: you turn the crank to twist and tighten the twine creating a rope.
A bucket is at the other end acting as part of a pully.
Finished product :)
So as you can see we had a GREAT time!!!
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1 comment:
My grandfather had a rope-making machine. My grandmother kept it, even after he died and she remarried, and she showed me and my sister how it worked once. My dad used to talk about how he and his brothers had to have their "chorin'" done by breakfast. They loved visiting their grandfather (my great-grandfather) because when he made the rounds around his pasture, he'd have drinks (i.e. beer or pop) hidden down in the well to keep them cool, and he'd bring them up and share. This guy also harnessed buffalo and had them pull a cart ;)
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