By Jeff Sovelove
Morris County’s annual Winter’s Day on the Farm at the Fosterfields Historical Living Farm in Morris Township delighted children and adults over the weekend.
Sponsored by Whole Foods, the day featured typical 1800s farm chores such as cutting wood, maple sugar tapping, and hauling ice to the ice house.
The children also got to try milking the farm’s “cow,” Woodie; drilling and cutting wood; as well as ice cutting, all typical chores of the era.
There were sewing demonstrations, cooking on the farm’s wood-fired stove, and arts and crafts — not to mention the cookies and apple cider.
Some of the teenagers have been coming to Fosterfields since they were toddlers, helping to carry on farming traditions passed down from generation to generation — proof that Fosterfields truly is living history.
Slideshow photos by Jeff Sovelove
It is so neat that Morristown has community activities like this “Winter’s Day on the Farm” at Fosterfields which are especially geared to giving young people the opportunity to experience life as it was lived by our ancestors of not so very long ago. Of course with all the electronic devices we are blessed to have nowadays, cutting ice blocks must seem absolutely ancient. How delightful that our children get an opportunity to find out about the many challenges that life in the late 19th and early 20th centuries had. Cudos to the Fosterfields Historical Farm for providing this great service.