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Harvest Time: Antidote to the Starving Time
Harvest Day at Shirley Plantation |
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| October 25 is Harvest Day at Shirley Plantation. Visit a genuine working 400- year-old Southern plantation, where stories of plentiful harvests and progressive farming methods come straight from original Shirley farm journals dating back to the early 1800s. Farming was the primary occupation and the first economic engine of the New World, as new settlers struggled to survive in their primitive surroundings. |
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| Plantations such as Shirley had to provide food for the family, servants, and visitors, with everything coming from the plantation itself. Abundant food stocks were necessary, so better farming methods constantly evolved at Shirley, especially under the leadership of Hill Carter, Shirley Plantation entrepreneur, owner, and farmer in the mid-1800s. Visitors will learn how food was produced and processed in colonial days and how it made it all the way from “dirt to dishes” to produce a bountiful supply of food for the long winter ahead. Demonstrations will be given of food preservation, preparation, and cooking. Visit the Smoke House to see pork in the smoking process. Learn the role of other outbuildings in food processing and storage. Of special interest will be the blacksmithing demonstration, where a real blacksmith will show how cooking utensils were made. Learn how harvests at Shirley resulted in the elegant dinners with a plentiful abundance of food for which Shirley Plantation was famous in the 18th and 19th centuries. Harvest tours on October 25 will be from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Shirley is open for regular guided tours year round from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., seven days a week. The Hill Carter family operates the plantation as America’s oldest family-owned business (1638). Original portraits and historic furnishings are part of the tour in the Great House. Guests are also invited to visit the Dovecote, Icehouse, Granary and other outbuildings, as well as the beautiful grounds on the banks of the James River. The plantation is situated on Scenic Route 5, between Williamsburg and Richmond. Regular admission to Shirley Plantation is $11.00 for adults and $7.50 for youths 6-18; with discounts for active-duty military, seniors, and AAA members. For more information call 1-800-232-1613. |
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