Lehman's Country Life

In 2004, Kristin Lorson was commissioned to design and create a mural that would depict the 50 year history of Lehman’s. Kristin, having a big appreciation of local history, was honored to take on such a unique project. “Gathering all the information in my research took half as long as painting the entire mural!” Kristin said. The total project was a nine month long stint, that Kristin was able to accomplish right in her own family’s dining room. The 4′ x 10′ piece of Luan board she painted was propped up in the busiest room in her home. “Our dining room is like Grande Central Station! There I would be in the middle of everything painting, while my husband, three kids, a dog and a cat, all ran around me. Although it was busy, it was great for me to have a project like that to work on at home. My kids were a lot younger then.”
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I met today with Peter Heath of Amish Country TV to talk about our upcoming Art Festival at Lehman’s on July 12th. Peter makes videos of events of special interest in Amish Country and then shows them on his web site as well as in hotels as a courtesy to people coming into the area. I talked to him about the wide variety of local artists who will be at Lehman’s Local Artisan Festival doing demonstrations in the store. We are fortunate to have a wealth of talented, accomplished artists from the Kidron area who are looking forward to sharing with the people at Lehman’s how they take their raw materials to create their own unique finished product. In this high tech world the value of using your hands to create and the satisfaction of the creative process is to be appreciated more than ever. Many of these crafts and skills have a long rich history which we want to preserve and share. I think you will find this event to be fun, educational and inspiring for all ages. To add to the festive atmosphere there will be special music, food and hands on activities for kids.

To read Artists Profiles of artists participating in this event go to www.kidronarts.com Stop by soon to see the video made from this interview. We will post it on Lehman’s Youtube station as it becomes available!

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With the price of gas so high, you’ve probably seen a few hundred articles on how to save it. The frugal among us have known for years that you don’t gun the engine just so you can slam on the brakes at the next stop light, and you don’t drive unnecessarily, and you don’t drive around with the car (or truck) loaded with things you’re not using or transporting from here to there. That just makes good sense.

But now it’s getting serious. The price of gas keeps… well, I was going to say “crawling,” but it’s more like leaping upwards. This upward bounding might slow down and even stop, (we can dream) but the chance of the price going back down, at least to any appreciable amount, is pretty small.

So… we’re stuck with high and higher gas prices. Is there any reasonable thing we can do to help our fuel budgets? “Reasonable” may be in the eye of the doer, but there are definitely things we can do to cut back how much we’re spending for transportation.

Try these out:
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“Dearest Father, if I may bother you for the briefest of moments, I believe this offensive insect to be a Rhipicephalus Sanguineus and I would be quite appreciative if you would remove it from my person.” At least that’s what she seems to remember saying to me at the time.
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There is a little hunter-gatherer in us all. Before humankind settled down and started to make gardens in settlements we were nomadic hunter-gatherers. And June is really the start of the foraging-for-free-food season.

I tend to think that hay fever is the sophisticate’s response to being alienated from this most ancient of activities. One herbalist told me that if you looked out in the countryside you would probably find something to heal whatever ails you within twenty yards of your doorstep.

Since most people go in for lawns these days you probably won’t prove her right if you live in the suburbs or exurbs. But if you can get out into the country in June, the flowering blossom of the elder may just help your hay fever!

Medical herbalists reckon that tea made from the elder flower, sweetened with some local honey, might just ease your hay fever symptoms. Elder is mildly antihistamine, while the pollen in local honey will help acclimatise your immune system so that it won’t be so irritated by pollen.

The blossoms are creamy umbrellas of tiny flowers and the scent is both sweet and slightly astringent. Wine makers prize the flower heads to make elderflower champagne. I use them to make a syrup that can be diluted with sparkling mineral water to make a refreshing soft drink.

The syrup (which includes some lemon juice) is also useful to add to gooseberry jam or jelly. The combination of elderflower with gooseberry is delightful.

June is also the time to start taking inventory of your preserving equipment. You can recycle jars for storing dried herbs like elderflower and meadowsweet for teas. But for making jams, jellies and pickles you really need to consider getting proper canning jars. You also need a really large preserving pan (or stockpot) and a selection of funnels to fit different sizes of jars or bottles.

While it is fashionable to eat ‘seasonally,’ if you don’t want to incur huge food miles it is well worth taking a leaf from our hunter-gatherer ancestors and storing for the winter months when in our cold northern climates there is a dearth of ‘seasonal’ food available. They are the real mentors for teaching us how to live a low impact lifestyle. So we need to make like the squirrels and get foraging and storing!

Editor’s Note: The information in this article is not professional medical advice. Lehman’s makes no claim to the above information. Consult with your physician or another professional healthcare provider before making decisions about natural therapies and/or remedies.

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Most people don’t realize that the honeybees zooming about in our gardens are some of the most important creatures on the planet. In their search for a meal of nectar and pollen, they play a critical role in helping plants set fruit and reproduce. It’s hard to believe, but an incredible 91% of the estimated 240,000 flowering plant species worldwide, require the help of these pollinators to survive. If there are no insects to pollinate the flowers, there will be no fruit or vegetables and no seed production for the next generation. Despite the important service these pollinators provide, they have been largely ignored and are now threatened by habitat loss, pesticide use and disease. Wild honeybee populations have dropped 25 percent since 1990. A continuing decline in pollinator activity puts most ornamental plants – as well as much of our food supply – into jeopardy. Here are four easy ways you can help – right in your own backyard:
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This is the third of a three-part series on how to live an environmentally responsible lifestyle. Entitled “How to live green,” it will help you make eco-friendly choices that are easy on your budget, as well as Mother Nature.

One of the most attractive benefits of living green is that it will save you money. That’s right – save cash as you save the earth. What could be better than that? Here are tips on how to live a greener life, without ruining all your fun.
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As part of Lehman’s Local Artisan Festival on July 12th, Sue Steiner will be at the store doing a painting demonstration and offering artwork for sale. Sue’s farm animal murals can be seen at Lehman’s in the Buggy Barn as well as in the outside eating area of the cafe. You can have your picture taken by Sue’s most recent mural, Rex and Roy, the life sized team of Amish work horses that was painted this winter. She’ll also have on hand more ‘Rex and Roy’ equine art as well as an assortment of Amish, farm and farm animal art. For more information on Sue go to www.suesteiner.com as well as www.kidronarts.com to read about the other local artists who will be participating in the art festival.

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At Lehman’s Local Artisan Festival on July 12th you will get an opportunity to meet local woodturners Tom Smucker and Bob Schloneger of Can Do Woodworking. They will bring a lathe similar to what you see in the pictures and demonstrate taking a natural log, green and wet, mount it on to the lathe, shape the outside, and hollow out the inside of the bowl. While turning the bowls, Tom or Bob will answer questions from people watching. Another demonstration will be turning a hollow form which is a more difficult level of turning. An example of hollow forms is a vase where a small hole is at the top and the inside is completely hollowed out. Turning these hollow forms is difficult because you cannot see inside the vessel as you cut away the wood. At Can Do Woodworking we teach students of all ages the art of turning bowls and finishing them. You can find more information about our three-day school on our website http://www.candowoodworking.com/ We will have a selection of bowls and hollow forms that may be purchased the day of the festival. To read more artist profiles of local artisans who will be participating in demonstrations at the art festival go to www.kidronarts.com

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