National Farmer’s Market Week

Rain or Shine (since 1922), photo by paulh192.

This week (August 2-8, 2009) is National Farmer’s Market Week. I hope you get a chance to get out and buy some fresh and local food. There are markets all across the state and you can learn about them through the Michigan Farmer’s Market Map on Absolute Michigan.

Be sure to check this photo from the Fulton Street Farmers Market in Grand Rapids out bigger and also have a look at markets from all over the state in the farmer’s market slideshow from the Absolute Michigan group on Flickr!

Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park

Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, photo by kmaz.

Be sure to check this out bigger or in Konrad’s Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park set (slideshow).

I’m thinking this waterfall might be Manabezho Falls. For more on this amazing state park, check out Porcupine Mounties on Michigan in Pictures, this cool article from Summit Post on visiting and enjoying the Porkies and the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park site.

More of the same (and much more of the different) in the Michigan Waterfalls group on Flickr!

Farming in Michigan in the 1880s

Antrim County Farm, 1889, photo courtesy Seeking Michigan

The good folks at Seeking Michigan dug this gem for me and it’s one of those that you just have to check out bigger.

Teaching Michigan History is just one of many of great online features from the apparently soon-to-disappear Michigan Department of History, Arts & Libraries. Read about how this freaks out historians that this incredible cultural resource is being scrapped to save 2 million dollars and see Facebook for efforts to save HAL. They published this cool Excerpt from Charles Estep’s Farm Diary, August 1884 that gives a look at the difficult life of a farmer at the turn of the century in Michigan. It begins:

Nineteenth century farmers often kept hand-written diaries of their farming activities: planting, raising and harvesting crops. The following is an August 1884 excerpt from Charles Estep’s “Farm Diary 1883-1886.” His farm on Musgrove Highway later became the Fred Bulling Farm in Sebewa Township, Ionia County, Michigan. Today, farmers often keep track of their crops on computers. Historians and scientists use diaries and computer print-outs to study farming practices and trends over time.

Since I have no idea how long these materials will stay online if HAL is dissolved, here’s a few excerpts from the excerpt:

Friday, August 1st, 1884. Perry cut some oats yesterday. He came over this morning. I went out and found they were too green and got him to wait until next week. I worked in the corn a little and bound up some oats.

Tuesday, 5th. A little showery this forenoon. I handled over some manure. Perry helped me part of the forenoon. Afternoon he cut and I bound oats.

Friday, 8th. Perry finished cradling the oats today. I went to Portland to take my teeth to have them fixed over. They are worse than ever they were. He is going to reset them again. Ella Estep rode out to Father’s with me.

Friday, 15th. I did but little today. I finished the oat stack, marked out a headland, set a stump on fire and the fire ran all over the piece. In the afternoon my head ached, so I did not work.

Tuesday, 19th. Today I plowed and picked up stone. I am plowing my oat stubble. The weather is very warm and very dry.

Thursday, 21st. I went down home and helped thresh part of the day. The rest I picked stone and plowed. Father and Bion had 971 bushels of wheat.

Friday, 22nd. I picked up a load of stone and plowed today.

Saturday, 23rd. Foe was sick all night last night. After breakfast I went down and got Mrs. VanHouten to come and see her. She said we had better send for a doctor right away, so I went down home and started Bion after the doctor and got Mother. Then I went and got Mrs. D. Leak. In the meantime Mrs. Olry came. Dr. Smith came at two o’clock. At about four o’clock our baby was born, a bouncing healthy boy of 8 and 3/4 pounds. Foe was very sick, indeed. Mother stays all night.

Thursday, 28th. I was down to Mr. Ralstons and borrowed a baby crib. I borrowed a drag down home. I went out and dragged a while. It commenced to rain too hard to work most of the time. I went and got Mrs. D. Leak to come and dress the baby.

Click to read more entries.

Calm Before The Storm

Calm Before The Storm, photo by Anapko.

Check this photo out bigger. It’s part of Anapko’s Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore set (slideshow).

Check Michigan in Pictures for many more photos from the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and also see this Pictured Rocks slideshow Absolute Michigan pool.

flight patterns

vimeo.com/5676816, photo by Charlie McC.

Charlie has put together a really cool look at an iconic summer sight: bugs, lights and their flight patterns.

matt’s running dock dive

matt’s running dock dive, photo by Latitude 45.

This summer has been cooler than usual, so as a Public Service Announcement, Michigan in Pictures and Latitude45 Productions with generous support from Walloon Lake present this handy infomercial on Dock Diving.

Check it out bigger in Martin’s slideshow.