The National Colonial Farm imagines a fictional family—the Boltons—to reveal the realities of life for non-wealthy landowners and enslaved people in early America. How like a winter hath my absence been From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year! What freezings have I felt, what dark days seen! What old December’s bareness everywhere! - William Shakespeare The spring equinox is just days away, purple crocuses have emerged as small pools of color among the brown landscape, a

–written by Heather Leach, Agriculture Education Manager As the temperature drops, I find myself spending more and more time in the kitchen. Sure a lot of that time is spent eating (my pants can attest to that), but I also enjoy cooking during the winter too. What the season lacks in abundant fresh ingredients, it makes up for in hearty and comforting storage crops – and the chance to crack open the array of colorful jarred veggies that I canned over the summer. I can easily

Some days my job I hate And I feel second rate On days when the frigid cold Makes my young body old Frozen hoses, iced up tanks, extra hay All conspire to add hours to my day Meetings cause me to sputter And pain makes me mutter And on top of extra hours of work Mother Nature becomes a jerk I find the old hog dying Beside where she is lying A wall of ice I must erect So that no emotions I detect It keeps me from coming undone For Death’s lieutenant I become As a