Summer Fun Ideas

Trilobite Tail

I recently had the opportunity to go to take my kids on some day-trips in Western NY State.

We took a day-trip to the Penn Dixie Paleontological and Outdoor Education Center. It located in Hamburg, NY and it is a place where the public can come and dig for fossils. Trilobites, corals, brachiopods, and more. I was looking for trilobites and I wasn't disappointed. While I didn't find a complete one, I did find plenty of trilobite heads and tails - they molted in segments so these are common finds. We found a plethora of various corals and other fossils. It's a fun place to take all those budding young scientists at heart. (See two of my finds, a trilobite tail and head to the right.)

Trilobite Head

We also took a day-trip to Ithaca. While in Ithaca we visited the Museum of the Earth, Cornell Plantations, and Robert H. Treman State Park. A wander through the Mueum of the Earth teaches you about the wondrously fantastical myriad lifeforms, such as the trilobite, that once were teeming in the ancient world before the dawn of man and how over the successive periods of the world it changed. In some cases, that life evolved and its descendants may even still live on Earth. But in so many others, they ceased to be anyplace except in our fossil records. Makes you more deeply appreciate the history of our Earth.

Amaranth in the Herb Garden

Cornell Plantations features acres of gardens, an arboretum, and multiple natural areas. The gardens and other areas are beautiful.  I feel much can be learned about plants by seeing them living and growing. If you are interested in learning more about plants, visit some place like the Plantations. Many plants are labeled as to what they are. With some gardens like the Robison York State Herb Garden also at the Plantations, you also get information about how the plants were used. Take yourself on an herb class for the minor price of parking at the Plantations. (See the picture of amaranth to the right. Did you know that amaranth was a native grain valued in Central & South America? You would if you visited this garden and read the signs!)

Finally, we ended up at Robert H. Treman State Park to play and to swim in a stream-fed pool beneath a waterfall. Very unique experiences - all of them.

Did I pay much for these days of memories, learning, and fun? No, not at all! Outside of gasoline, our Penn Dixie trip cost us less than $20. Our Ithaca trip, less than $30.  We packed our own lunches, snacks, and drinks to take with us - a huge savings if you are looking for lower cost trips. And even gasoline wasn't all that much to figure on since my car gets at least 35 mpg on trips like these.

All this got me to thinking....Our own area has many attractions that make for a very inexpensive and fun day trip. How about a wonderful day mixing and matching some of these family fun attractions within a few minutes of Ganondagan? Any costs of visiting noted. Some places have memberships that offer free admission or may have specific events that vary in cost. Check the sites by clicking on their name for more details.

Inside the Longhouse

Ganondagan

• Tour the longhouse, hike the trails, see the Visitors Center, see our medicinal and vegetable gardens, picnic, take pictures, and shop at the gift shop. 
• Longhouse tours are $3 adults and $2 children. 
• Access to the trails, Visitors Center, gift shop and grounds are free.

Ontario County Historical Society

• Learn about the history of the area. Of note, a copy of the Pickering or Canandaigua Treaty is kept at the Ontario County Historical Society. 
• Admission - Free.

In the Schoolhouse

 Granger Homestead

• Tour the house, grounds, buildings, and carriage museum. 
• Adults $6 and children $2. 
• Carriage rides available for an extra fee.

Victor Historical Society (Valentown Museum)

• Valentown Museum contains thousands of artifacts, objects & heirlooms that represent the local 19th century history of the Victor area. Located across from Eastview Mall. 
• Adults $5, students $3.

Sonnenberg Mansion & Gardens

Sonnenberg Gardens & Mansion State Historic Park

• Beautiful as well as historic gardens and mansion. Tour them all including the Japanese Garden with its very uncommon tea house. (See about the tea house restoration project here.) 
• Adults $10, Students $5, and children 12 and under free.

Victor Hiking Trails

• Oodles of well-maintained trails to hike. Some connect to the trails at Ganondagan. 
• All free access.

Canandaigua City Pier

Kershaw Park

• Stroll along the shore of Canandaigua Lake or take a dip in the lake to cool off. While here, walk over to the City Pier for fishing and to get a view of Squaw Island.  
• Access to the swimming beach is Adults $3 and children $2. 
• Access to the rest of the Park and City Pier is free.

Wizard of Clay

• See master potters in their workshop create handmade pieces. Shop the retail store and visit the nature trails. 
• Free except for your purchases.

Apples at the Apple Farm

The Apple Farm

• Almost in sight of Ganondagan, this is a family run farm where you can pick apples, buy baked goods, drink cider, and when in season, enjoy tractor rides and more. 
• Free except for your purchases.

Powder Mills Park & Fish Hatchery

• Trails and fish hatchery access is free. 
• Suggest a couple of bucks in quarters for lots of squeals and giggles as the hatchery fish gobble up the fish food you can get from quarter-fed vending machines. 

I hope you visit us and some of our other local attractions soon!

-kim

Can you help out?

From Dave Goldman, chair of Ganondagan's League of the 7th Generation Committee:

In our 2 year existence our committee has become known for our signature mission of reducing the amount of landfill destined waste generated during our annual NA Dance & Music Festival. This has been accomplished through the hard work & dedication of volunteers. 

As a matter of fact, in our effort to move our success to a higher level, we have replaced the previous out-of-the-area composting company, thus saving expensive transportation costs, with a local company to take food waste & cooking oil and turn it into biofuel. Also food in the volunteer/ performers food area will be served on compostable plates, bowls & cups  and compostable utensils.

This year, however, this mission may be in jeopardy due to the reduced response for volunteers.

I'm appealing to you to step forward and help us by participating in our continued success. Shifts are only 2 1/2 hours from 9:30am to 6:30pm each day. Please, if you can help for 1 or more shifts, please step forward.

Thank you,

Dave Goldman

[Last year's composting and recycling efforts cut waste going to the landfill by 86% over 2009's festival figures. Please help Dave's committee do that well or better this year! Contact the the Seventh Generation Committee at 7thgeneration@ganondagan.org or the Volunteer Coordinator at volunteer@ganondagan.org if you can help. Nay:weh from us and from Mother Earth!]

Fun & Games

Hawk Feather at Barnes Creek Gully (Canandaigua, NY)

Did you know that we added a "Fun & Games" page to our website a few months ago?

We have puzzles, coloring pages, and computer wallpaper currently available. We are always adding new things to the page. Just today I added another set of computer wallpaper files for download. The set includes a variety of sizes so you can choose which wallpaper image best suits your computer screen.

This set of wallpapers are of a hawk feather I found on a hike. Hawks have always been a special animal for me and I'm sure for many of you too. I hope you enjoy!

After you check out the "Fun & Games" page, let us know what you think. Did you like it? Anything that you would like to see more of? Find the fun & games page at:

http://www.ganondagan.org/fun.html

-kim

What are you picking today?

Maybe I would have found the joys of growing, harvesting, and preserving my own food myself. But perhaps not. Who's to say now? I was, however, introduced to it young by my parents. Both my parents grew up on farms so picking wild berries, having large vegetable gardens, and preserving food was just something you did. And after a death in the family, my family along with other relatives ran my grandparents' dairy farm for some number of years. My farm days started when I was in those gloriously fun neither-kid-nor-adult tween-years. I ended up spending my summers playing on the farm, helping to bring in hay, feeding ducks and geese, throwing green plums at siblings, and so many other experiences that have become very rare in our urbanized America.

Summer Berries

Summer was always a time for wild berries and luscious tomatoes still warm from the sun. Our favorite wild berries were the wild black raspberry (aka "black caps").  The black raspberries grew every where poison ivy grew and where the mosquitos were the most blood-sucking vicious - going berry-picking was always quite an experience! I knew I had to pick 2 quarts so my mom could make jam with them. Oh, and was that jam good!  If I picked more than 2 quarts (which was always the goal in my book), we could have the surplus washed, sprinkled with sugar, and drizzled over french vanilla ice cream - no finer dessert was ever devised by man!

Now I have kids of my own. I teach them to pick berries, some wild and some we grow. All the berries in the picture above we have been picking over the past week. If you don't recognize them all they are (starting at the left and going clockwise) mulberries, strawberries, black raspberries, and juneberries. They are so very tasty, all of them! The kids, my husband, and I have all been picking berries. Some just to munch, some for other purposes like the strawberry jam I made. I'll make some cherry preserves and raspberry jam soon. Mmmmm, they all taste like summer sun when the snow flies.

I urge you to grow and/or pick some food today. If you have young people in your life, share it with them. And if you don't have your own food plants like raspberries or strawberries or a vegetable garden, there are so many U-picks that you can visit for not only for the wonderful food but for the unforgettable memories.  I urge you to also try your hand at making some jam. It is the easiest of all canning to do. Occasionally you get a soft-set, but there are few other failures if you follow the instructions. It is so very easy and so very good.

If jams are not your thing, salsa is another simple thing to make with the summer bounty you can find in your own veggie garden or at the farmers' market. New to canning? If that is the case, I urge you to pick up a copy of the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving. It is the quintessential book of canning and preserving. Have your kids help you pick the tomatoes or even cut the tomatoes. I helped my mom peel and cut oodles of stuff for canning and I still remember it all these many years later. They are good, fond memories that are always warm and comforting to look back on.

I've included some book links below for wild food field guides and cookbooks plus the Ball Blue Book. Check them out. May your summer be fruitful and full of memories!

-kim


       
     
     

Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving
Native Harvests: American Indian Wild Foods and Recipes
Stalking The Wild Asparagus
Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not So Wild) Places
Enduring Harvests: Native American Foods and Festivals for Every Season
A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants: Eastern and central North America (Peterson Field Guide)

Are you a good host?

Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) Caterpillar

This tuesday, June 21st at 1:16pm EDT, is the Summer Solstice. Solstices and equinoxes are special times. Just as four cardinal direction points tell us where we are physically heading across the land, the solstices and equinoxes mark the season and help us to know the direction we are taking in our yearly trip around the sun.  (See last year's summer solstice article for more on that yearly trip.)

While the sun itself and the bounty of fresh produce always evokes the picture of summer time in my mind, there is another thing that speaks equally of summer to me. It is the butterfly. Oh to be sure if you read mythology and symbolism references, they will speak of the butterfly symbolizing the soul and rebirth. I live in a land where freezing temperatures (or near enough to!) are pretty common for half the year. The butterfly seen mostly in the warm and sunny days of summer is a symbol of summer in my book.

While in the vegetable garden last night, I happened to have the opportunity to take the picture above. It is of the Black Swallowtail caterpillar. He was happily munching through my parsley patch. Do I begrudge him some parsley? Not at all! The swallowtail butterflies (I get both the black and yellow ones at my house) are far too special to see. The price of some parsley to see the adults or even the painted caterpillars is more than worth it. Besides munching parsley, these caterpillars also love other members of the carrot family. I'm sure the bounty of wild carrot here also brings them in. This butterfly, like all the others you know, have specific host plants. Host plants are the plants that are used as a site for the butterfly to lay eggs and also as a food source for the emerging caterpillar. So key to having these beautiful summer visitors is having the right host plants at your place.

So be a good host and invite the right plants to share your space with you this summer season. Butterflies are sure to follow. You can learn more about the Black Swallowtail here or about North America's butterflies (including regional checklists and host plant information for each species) here.

Happy Solstice,

-kim

People come from far and wide to visit Ganondagan

A couple of yesterday's visitors came all the way from Montana!  So nice talking with you, Jim and Carol.

~Tonia

Come Join Us in the Gardens!

Invitation from our Gardening Committee chair, Tonia Loran-Galban:

Garden planting date has tentatively been set for Tuesday May 31st at 1:30pm meet at the garden with hoe in hand. Planting should take about 30-45 minutes, roughly. Come on over and introduce yourself. Note - Rain Date is June 1st.

If you cannot make the planting date but are interested in weeding (it is surprisingly low maintenance) please email me gardens@ganondagan.org and I will email you a map of the garden. Or if I'm on site, I will show you where to weed.

~Tonia

Update on May 31:
Dear Garden Friends- With temperatures going up to 90 to day, we thought it would be better to do the planting tomorrow morning at 7:30am.  We know this is a late change, so let us know if you can make it tomorrow! ~Tonia and Ronnie



About Gardening at Ganondagan:
It's a terrific way to get out and enjoy the sunshine, fresh air, and the feel of the rich, dark earth in your fingers. It doesn't matter if you are an experienced gardener or not, everyone is welcome to join in! Come and learn traditional Haudenosaunee ways of gardening - perhaps you will learn something for your own gardens!

Keep your eye on this blog for any changes to the planting date due to weather. Nya:weh! And see you in the gardens!

-kim

2011 Three Sisters Garden: