We went to a local farm last weekend that processes sorghum. It was a pleasant day outside with a lot of things to see. We were only there for a little over an hour but that seemed to be plenty of time to look around. There were actors dressed in period clothing showing us the various skills each one had. The first one we stopped at was a woodworker's shop. He wrote each of the children's names on a piece of wood and then sliced a shaving off for them to keep. It wrapped nicely around their wrists. I thought that was very creative. Then we moved on to where some workers were cooking beans which they did in an enormous cauldron over an open fire pit. They let the children stir the beans that they slowly cooked this way. We didn't try them but they smelled great. It made me want to try cooking beans over a fire. They had someone shave ice to make icee's that they added a sugar flavoring with color to. The ice (in the 1800's) originally came from the lake (not very hygienic)! There were young ladies churning butter while another woman was showing how to work a telegraph. They even had our two oldest try their hand at sending one. Here they let the children put a stalk of sorghum into their machine that presses the juices. They later boil the juices down to make the finished product which you could buy for $4 a quart which were obviously modern prices. There was an area where they displayed their goods that they made throughout the season. Here there was a cider press that our son is very curiously examining. They gave us a sample of cider as well.
Sounds like you all had a fun and educational time. I'm sure using the lake water wasn't as bad as it sounds, the level of pollution that we have now is what makes lake water bad (imho). Of course if people were bathing in it, before they made the cold treats... well, uhm, yeah, that would be pretty nasty, LOL. Great pictures, thanks for sharing!
I'm a Christian home-school mom of five children ages 9 and under.
I feel very blessed to have a wonderful husband and five beautiful children.
For our 3rd and 4th graders I use Rod and Staff, Sequential Spelling, Saxon Math, and Math-U-See. For our Kindergartner we use My Father's World curricula.
Then we moved on to where some workers were cooking beans which they did in an enormous cauldron over an open fire pit. They let the children stir the beans that they slowly cooked this way. We didn't try them but they smelled great. It made me want to try cooking beans over a fire. 
They had someone shave ice to make icee's that they added a sugar flavoring with color to. The ice (in the 1800's) originally came from the lake (not very hygienic)! There were young ladies churning butter while another woman was showing how to work a telegraph. They even had our two oldest try their hand at sending one. 
Here they let the children put a stalk of sorghum into their machine that presses the juices. They later boil the juices down to make the finished product which you could buy for $4 a quart which were obviously modern prices. 
There was an area where they displayed their goods that they made throughout the season. Here there was a cider press that our son is very curiously examining. They gave us a sample of cider as well. 
Posted by Mama Fish 
Oct. 5, 2009 - <em>Untitled Comment</em>
Edited by theJfamily on Oct. 5, 2009 at 4:51 PM