GARDEN NEWS
Our garden grew beautifully this summer; the Jerusalem artichoke was well over 10 feet tall! The Coreopsis [tickseed] produced many lovely yellow flowers, prompting us to think that next year we should use them as colonists would have - to create a dye! It was gratifying to see so many bees and butterflies visiting our garden. We know this is something that Native Americans and colonists would not have worried about, but today, we need to think about our pollinator friends. The garden is resting for the winter, but we expect it to come back better than ever in the spring. We will harvest some of the Jerusalem artichoke for a project with the Middle School as part of our outreach to the schools.
ARCHITECTURAL PRESERVATION STUDIO UPDATE
All this summer and fall, APS was busy doing research on many aspects of the Bush Lyon Homestead. They visited the site multiple times and did extensive document research in various New York archives. They pried up a few floor tiles for a better look at the original floors, drilled a few wood samples to test the dates of the wood used in the beams, and took extensive scans of the walls. We can’t wait to read the final report, which we understand has been given to the Village (we are just waiting for the Village to give it final approval for public release).
ONGOING HOMESTEAD WORK
Many people have been working on going through the spaces of the Homestead, the big and small, the dark and dusty, and even the downright scary. We’ve found some trash (creepy child mannequins that are perhaps part of the local legend that the house is haunted) and some treasure, including old Port Chester High School yearbooks, beautiful photos, World War II ration books, and antique clothing. We’ve been especially excited to have some Port Chester High School students helping us with our archiving mission; we hope that seeing history “discovered” in front of their eyes will inspire them to pursue it in the future!
BEAUTIFYING THE HOMESTEAD, ENGAGING OUR SCHOOLS
As part of our work to make the plants more historically accurate and also beautiful, we got permission from the Village of Port Chester Parks Commission to plant 250 spring-blooming crocus bulbs in front of the Homestead. Happily, we got assistance from over 25 students from Port Chester High School. Students broke up into groups, so everyone got a chance to plant some. We are very grateful for their cheerful engagement and were excited to give them a brief tour after their hard work. While many people think that colonists would not have “had time” for pretty plants, it is clear that human beings have always wanted to have beautiful things in their lives. Crocuses are originally from the Middle East, but the Dutch - better known for their great love of tulips at this time - loved flowers of many kinds. According to the University of California Center for Landscape and Urban Horticulture, “The first crocus in the Netherlands came from corms brought back from the Roman Empire in the 1560s … By 1620, new garden varieties had been developed, such as the cream-colored crocus similar to varieties still on the market today.” We have discovered that colonists in Pennsylvania started growing crocus bulbs for saffron in the early 1700s. Saffron, the world’s most expensive spice, comes from the flower stamens in fall blooming crocus bulbs - if you have crocuses, they are probably spring-blooming, so don’t go out and eat yours! Used in many dishes from cultures all over the world, growing saffron might be an interesting community project. We will keep you updated on all our research and planting efforts. Due to a shipping error, we ended up with some extra crocus bulbs. We were happy to share them with the Village of Port Chester Beautification Commission, who planted them at the Port Chester-Rye Brook Library and other places. We also got to do a planting project with about 100 Port Chester Middle School students, including some special education students. Students planted bulbs on the hill facing the main entrance of the school so when the bulbs come up in the spring, they can feel a deep sense of satisfaction for making a difference in everyone’s school experience. Everyone needs flowers in the dark days of early March!