What is a Typical Day Like?

Each day can roughly be divided into a few sections; generally, we do the same types of activities at the same time of day.

 

9:00-9:15am	Apprentices arrive, sign in, finish getting dressed
9:15-9:45am	We all walk out to the farm site and get it prepared for visitors: all water vessels are emptied and refilled, dishes are unpacked and put on shelves, etc.
9:45-10:00am	Our daily review of the "family story" and rules, safety guidelines, and proper 18th century vocabulary
10:00am	The farm site opens to the public
10:00-12:00	Half of the Apprentices work with the farmer around the tobacco house, and half with the farm wife around the farm house. Tobacco house chores could include: hilling & planting tobacco, hoeing weeds, herding geese or turkeys, splitting wood, using the draw knife to make wooden tools. Farm house chores could include: helping to make dinner, planting, hoeing & weeding in the garden, splitting wood, sewing or knitting (only if it is raining).
12:30pm		Dinner is ready roughly between 12:00 and 1:00. Whenever it is prepared, the family gathers to eat the meal, often at the outdoor table. We still have visitors come while we are eating; the meal is part of the interpretation!
1:00pm	After dinner we all wash the dishes using 2 wooden buckets full of water, liquid soap, and scrubbers made from gourds we grow in the garden. (Today they are called "luffas")
	After dish-washing, an Apprentice takes the "pig bucket" full of food scraps to the pigs. All Apprentices get a half an hour as a break. (This is a good time to go to the bathroom, or play a game outside, or sit an talk-- about 18th century things, of course!)
2:00-4:15pm	The Apprentices switch: the half that worked with the farmer in the morning now work with the farm wife, and vice versa. Chores are similar, except that there is no cooking in the afternoon.
4:30pm	The farm site closes to the public; we put everything away and walk back to the office.
5:00pm	Apprentices are picked up at the farm office.

What Chores Will I Do?

Apprentices do many chores! They are vital to keeping the farm running. Ask any Apprentice what the most typical chore is, and the answer is likely to be, "Weeding!" There is a lot of weeding to do, in almost every season. However, there are many other tasks that take up an Apprentice's day. Here are some photographs to give you an idea:

 

weed	cook	work with tools like the draw knife
tie tobacco into hands	shoo chickens out of the house	help sell goods at the Market Fairs
harvest crops	churn butter	wash dishes
weed	rest from weeding	weed some more!

What Will I Eat as an Apprentice?

The food we cook on the Farm Site varies a bit with the season. We eat corn with nearly every meal, and we tell the public that we also eat ham just as often. (Most of our meals are vegetarian-friendly, since so many of our staff and volunteers do not eat meat.) Here is a photograph and description of a typical meal:

 

Fried Pork Sometimes we cook pork separately for those who wish to eat it. Johnny Cakes One of our staple foods; these round cakes are made from corn meal, salt and water, and are fried in butter or lard. Cheese We often each have a slice of cheese.

Wooden Bowl Everyone eats out of a wooden bowl. Vegetables Boiled Into Mush Another staple! The vegetables vary with the season, but are often potatoes, pumpkins, or turnips. Spoon We eat with pewter spoons.

What Animals Will I Interact With?

We have a number of animals on the farm. The larger ones (cows, pigs) are kept contained in split-rail pens. The smaller ones (chickens, turkeys, geese) are allowed to roam free, under the watchful eye of a staff member or Apprentice.

There is not much we have to "do" to the animals during the course of the day; for the most part, they take care of themselves. Here are the few animal-related chores that Apprentices may be asked to do:

• Feed the cows (by dropping feed over the fence; it does not involve going into the pasture)
• Feed scraps to the pigs (again, dropping over the fence)
• Herd geese or turkeys (sometimes they go wandering and have to be fetched back; they respond fairly well to sticks used as guidance)
• Help herd the birds back into their coops at the end of the day