Who was Annetta G. Wright?

Our learning lab is named for a very special and influential local educator and my beloved friend
.
The daughter of Leslie and Cora Wright,  Miss Annetta Garrett Wright who was born right here at 2950 in March of 1920.

A lifelong Harford county educator Miss Wright selflessly gave her talents and passion for education in many facets of our community. She began her career as a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse near Rock State Park, before transferring to Mt.Horeb school closer to her Shawsville home.

In 1950 she was among the first teachers to welcome students to the new North Harford High School where she quickly made her way into a supervisory position. Miss Wright had an uncanny ability to lead in such a way that always put kids first. She remained in such a role until her retirement in 1977.

Annetta never married, and saw teaching as her life works and passion and devoted her life to her endeavors. I once asked if she ever regretted not having a family of her own, and her answer is one that has always moved me. She said that every child in the community was her child and that each baby that was brought up in the neighborhood or within her church she saw as a piece of herself and committed to taking part in their proper rearing.

It is with this vision and mission we proudly name the learning lab in her name, as each individual we encounter we see as an extension of your own families and provide a commitment to seeing them reach their personal best.

 In 2006 Miss Wright passed peacefully in the same room she was born at the glorious age of 86. Upon her passing 2950 became a bequest to the Vaughan family, and it is our honor to continue sharing her love for her community and neighbors here at her home.

I can still hear her stern voice and feel her kind hand in the journey that has been embarked on to launch this learning lab. I rest assured that she will always find a way to reach me and give her famous AGW stamp of approval.

If you'd like to hear more about Miss Wright please click here https://collections.digitalmaryland.org/digital/collection/hclt/id/298/
to hear her 2003 induction as a Harford County Living treasure.


With gratitude to my friend AGW... I'm AVR

The Journey North

Bees and butterflies get all the glory in the pollinator world, but did you know that the Hummingbird is a pollinator too?

The rapid 80 beats per minute hum of the bird's wings give it its iconic name. With iridescent feathers, cheerful chirps, and dazzling dance of color they are a documented garden favorite dating all the way back to Christopher Columbus!

There are over 300 species of Hummingbirds. 

In Maryland, we are preparing to welcome home our Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds who have overwintered in Central Mexico and are now returning home to rear this year's batch of babes. 

Knowing when to be ready for these guys in our family is like preparing for the arrival of a celebrity. Thanks to social media and citizen scientists we now know right about when to expect them within days each year. The website Journey North provides a platform for individuals to report sitings, and when we checked in today they've been spotted 30 minutes from here!!!!! Time to get those feeders out. 

It's true that there are many plants that these beauties can dine one, but when we are conscious and put forth the effort to save one pollinator our efforts support the entire community of pollinators as well! So naturally, we like to provide a little extra food for these guys. Feeders can be elaborate, or a simple  Dollar Tree feeders ( order here)  for $1!!

Red dye are not necessary....let me say that again for the back of the class.... NO RED DYE! 

Although no clear scientific evidence has been found that Red Dye is harmful to our friends ( read more here)  it is suggested that in the quantity that the Hummingbird takes in each day it equates to 17 times the amount of dye the FDA recommends for humans... 

The best and safest recipe for your humming friends is:

1 Cup White Sugar

4 Cups Hot Water

* Allow sugar to dissolve and then cool and fill feeders. 

Once you mix up a batch fill your feeders and wait for the show! 

Feeding Hummingbirds will help occupy my time between yard naps 

until my beautiful Monarchs arrive!

~AVR

My friend Cora

In honor of Mother's Day... 

This is Cora Garrett Wright. She's my friend. We never met, she died in 1956 here at 2950, but we share something pretty special. We are the Mommas of 2950. When the Bluebird came home  4 glorious years ago she was the first baby here in 90+ years. Cora raised 2 earthly babes Melvin and Annetta who I grew up knowing, and her angel babe Anna Mary who lived 4 earthly days. 

She left the gift of her words in 1935 keeping a yearly diary that is a favorite morning coffee read. It makes me feel connected to the past here and makes me realize she was a way better housekeeper than me! Through this I also got to know here in a different way as the pages traverse I watched a mother raise her children, while loosing her own. 

She left me other gifts as well. The pock marks on the kitchen wall where here cook stove scorched it and the tiny cut out in the pantry door so that it could swing past the cook-stove foot. 

The bluebells that pop up every spring at the first warm snap near the spot where she had her garden gate. 

And the stained glass window that overlooks the high fields where she grew her tomatoes for market. 

Over a 100 years have passed since her babes traversed these hills and valleys, and there are days as I am weeding, or tending the chickens that my mind wanders to my friend Cora. It is a goal of mine to make this a place she is still proud of, and it is  a honor to share the blood sweat and tears of motherhood in the same beautiful patch of dirt as my  friend.

To the mother's of blood and the mother's of choice we rejoice in you this Mother's Day!
~AVR

So let's spill the beans on... beans...
Beans are a great tool in your home canned arsenal! They can be added to soups, chili, or even made as a side.
Why not just leave them dry AVR? Hydrate them when you need them? Well friends because AVR doesn't always remember 18 hours prior to dinner to hydrate beans. Also, farm life sometimes means lunch time can go from us 4 to 10 in a matter of minutes.

Dried beans are also cheap cheap. I shop for dry goods at an Amish grocery. Rehydration and canning brings the cost to 38 cents a pint! Not to shabby! And best of all I can beans maybe twice a year and I'm set!

Black beans, kidney beans, pintos, limas, great northerns, and chick peas (ok maybe not a bean but he lives with the beans on the shelf so...) all are in the pantry here.


Here's how it goes.
You're going to need to soak your beans 18 to 24 hours in clean cold water. If they suck it all up you'll need to top it off.

After they've reached the time frame rinse thoroughly and then put back in the pot with clean cool water.

This water you'll bring to a boil for 30 min. You want the beans to be firm still kinda crisp. If you boil to long you get paste ewwww.

As they boil they foam. It's what Mammaw called "mung". Scoop that off and discard.

Load up the jars adding a bit of canners salt. Regular salt is not a canners friend it makes the water murky.

Process for the recommended time for your canner. Yep kids this is something you need to pressure can! It's a low acid item so you need the heat and pressure to correctly seal the jars and lids.

Now you've got a ready supply of easy to access beans for your bean needs.
2 favorite ways to enjoy are black bean hummis.
-1 can black beans
-juice of a lime
-cumin
-salt and pepper
-splash of oil

Pop in the blender and mix well. Spread in soft taco shells with cheese and make like a cheese ques- a-dill-a ( it's late and auto correct isn't helping)

Beans beans...
~AVR

World's Okayest Teacher

For those who don't know my whole story I was raised and still live on my families dairy farm in Maryland.

I homestead pretty hard, but my "real job" is as a special educator for our local school district. 12 years.. and counting!

I feed my chickens in a skirt before I face a day of IEPs and behavioral protocols. 

I'm often met with the impression that because I make my own applesauce, butcher deer in my kitchen, live without a dryer or microwave, and drive an over 10 year old car with no air that I'm some dumb country bumpkin.

I have an Associate's , Bachelor's , 2 Master's degrees and... this week... I begin my candidacy to 

become Dr. AVR !

It will be a 2+ year journey. It will be for my ladies and in spite of them with the new academic responsibility!  BUT...  Homestead Engineer and I chose this lifestyle to show them real living, and with real living comes real opportunities! 

I feel a humble and empowered responsibility in this day and age as a girl momma to be a role model to my gals and lead my family. Self sufficiency and self reliance come from muddy boots, calloused hands, and a strong mind. 

I'll need my tribe, my village, love, light, laughter and coffee ALL the coffee to burn the candle at both ends and in the middle, but know we'll see this through! 

Because I never set out to be 

And I've finally perfected Strawberry Jam.. so it's time to embark on a new adventure.. and I'll need those peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to dine on while we stretch farther to pay for college ;) 

LOVE AND #2 PENCILS 

AVR♡

Fair Time

Fair time came and went... the summer is in full swing and after the fair the days get lazy and slip away one steamy sunset after another!

We've baked in support of our local fire houses. Taking home accolades, bragging rights, and reasons to love friendly competition among sisters as these placings are sure to come up at Thanksgiving, Christmas, in casual phone calls.. "Remember your 2ND PLACE brownies?" 

But, most importantly it connects us on a deeper level as a family. For these 9 days each summer we test our limits, our patience, and strengthen our bonds with each other and our communities. Watching the ladies grow as show women, exhibitors, and members of this special rural way of life is by far my favorite way to waste my summer days. 

 Sure there are ribbons
"Momma this is from the QUEEN she's over there... see Bread Bread we won!"

We did win!

But this... this is really why...

Everyone in this shot showed up for MY kid...
 to watch her grin ear to ear and poke a pig with a stick on a weeknight!

THIS is what the fair is about! It's about community, and family, and an overwhelming pride in your name, your homestead, and what you have created together...

THIS is the tribe...

 who loves my ladies fiercely!

They are family of blood, and family of choice.

Bankers, teachers, rock climbers, nurses, entrepreneurs, Great Grandparents, Yogis, military servicemen, cousins, colleagues...

This is what my ladies are winning... and maybe it takes a pig to get that, or a loaf of bread RKR bakes that's probably inedible ( but we exhibited it anyway!)

and for that we are blessed beyond a championship drive!

To My Tribe with Love!

The  Proud Momma of Exhibitor #920

Can It Forward

 
The first time I remember canning I was 8. It was corn relish as we cleaned out the garden at the end of the season. From my mom I learned that canning is part religion, part superstition, part "because that's what Mammaw did," and all Don't blow yourself up!

 Last year I started to journal my "accomplishments" in canning... and tonight took pause to reorganize my shelves check for spoiled jars and inventory.

 We've eaten a lot of good shit in the past 7 months!

 For my Birthday Homestead Engineer bought me a Presto canner JUST LIKE MY MOMS! And.. I've been learning the art, the voodoo, and the glorious hissssss all winter.

 My ladies will be the 5th recorded generation to can in this family, and I now know why mom insisted we'd blow up of we stayed in the kitchen. The women needed space and it's hotter than HELL canning in late August!

 But it's beautiful to see all those jars...

And I love nothing more than the dinner conversation "These tomatoes are from Andrew and the eggs are from your Ducks and our bread turned out Soooo good!"

It's almost time to plow the garden which means I'll probably have way more than these to snap in 2017. Cause even though we're all grown momma still plants "a few."

In love, light, and preservation 

♡AVR