Afton…now and then

Afton…now and then, photo by smartee_martee.

Marty writes:

21 September 2008; Afton, Michigan.

The postcard is postmarked Sept 2, 1920.

Patrick O’Connor opened a lumber camp in Ellis Township in 1887. Ellisville was the name given to its first post office in 1905. It was asked to be renamed Afton, for that it was thought to resemble Afton in Scotland because of the Pigeon River flowing nearby. It was officially Afton on Feb. 12, 1906.

This photo is part of Marty’s amazing Overnight Photo Trip September 2008 (slideshow). He drove nearly 2000 miles through northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula, chronicling small towns, hamlets and crossings.

Traverse City: Cherry (Festival) Capital of the World

Traverse City Cherry Capital Postcard, photo by Seeking Michigan.

The annual National Cherry Festival kicks off on July 4th, 2009. The first festival was held in 1926 and it has grown into an $26 million dollar powerhouse. Many of the concerts and events are free, and in addition to a number of parades, there’s music (headlined by Kenny Wayne Shepherd), food & wine tasting and an air show.

Check it out bigger and also in their Tourism set (slideshow).

I think the woman above barely missed the cut for this amazing travelogue from the 1940s.

up on the rooftop

up on the rooftop, photo by n.elle.

Be sure to check this out background bigalicious and in Nicole’s rural exploring set (slideshow).

future hopefuls: Michigan Christmas Trees

future hopefuls, photo by yodraws.

As might be expected, the Michigan Christmas Tree Association is not a fan of fake trees, pointing to hazardous chemicals and such and noting that:

• Real Christmas trees help filter dust and smog from the air and help stop soil erosion.
• Christmas trees on a farm produce oxygen – a necessary component of life for people.
• Real Christmas trees provide a comfortable habitat for a wide variety of wildlife.
• After the holidays, Christmas trees can be recycled and used for purpose including bird feeders/shelters, fuel chips and mulch. Fake trees end up in a landfill.

I read somewhere that live Christmas trees or decorating a tree outside are the absolute best choice. Anyway, check that link above for all kinds of Michigan tree dealers and info including also see Absolute Michigan keyword Christmas tree for more links and articles.

Yo writes that on this cold and snowy Saturday, they found a tree in record time that was short and sweet with tiny little pine cones. See it bigger in her Somewhere in Michigan slideshow!

If you feel like a visit to the Christmas tree farm or lot is a chore, check out The Christmas Tree Ships for a look at how things were “back in the day”.

Pre-Jack-O-Lanterns-Sun-Kist

Pre-Jack-O-Lanterns-Sun-Kist, photo by mdprovost.

Wikipedia’s pumpkin entry says:

The word pumpkin originates from the word pepon, which is Greek for “large melon.” The French adapted this word to pompon, which the British changed to pompion and later American colonists changed that to the word we use today, “pumpkin.” The origin of pumpkins is not known, although pumpkins are thought to have originated in North America.

…Pumpkins are commonly carved into decorative lanterns called jack-o’-lanterns for the Halloween season in North America. Throughout Britain and Ireland, there is a long tradition of carving lanterns from vegetables, particularly the turnip, mangelwurzel, or swede. Not until 1837, however, does jack-o’-lantern appear as a term for a carved vegetable lantern, and the carved lantern does not become associated specifically with Halloween until 1866.

You can read more about Michigan pumpkins from Absolute Michigan and also view a pumpkin slideshow from the Absolute Michigan pool!

Click for more fall wallpaper on Michigan in Pictures!

Michigan is Wine Country

Wine Country, photo by smiles7

Last night I had dinner with a writer from England who is exploring vineyards in Leelanau by bicycle for a story. He was asking me some questions about how Michigan ranks nationally in grape & wine production. I didn’t have all the answers, but fortunately there’s the great Michigan Wines web site from the Michigan Grape & Wine Council.

From their fast facts page, I learned that Michigan has about 1,800 acres of wine vineyards, making Michigan the eighth largest in wine grape producer in the nation (if our juice grapes are factored in, we’re 4th largest). We’ve increased our vineyard area over 60% in the last 10 years. Michigan is 13th in wine production with 56 commercial wineries that produce over 425,000 cases of wine annually. The state’s wineries are also popular tourist destinations, attracting more than 800,000 visitors annually.

Most of Michigan’s quality wine grapes grow within 25 miles of Lake Michigan. Here, the “lake effect” protects the vines with snow in winter, retards bud break in spring helping avoid frost damage, and extends the growing season by up to four weeks.

Michigan has four federally approved viticultural areas (AVAs). In the northwest part of the state, near Traverse City, lie the Leelanau Peninsula and the Old Mission Peninsula. This area has a growing season averaging 145 days and an average heat accumulation of 2,350 growing degree days; 51% of Michigan’s wine grapes grow here. In the southwest part of the state lie the Lake Michigan Shore and Fennville appellations, where 45% of Michigan’s wine grapes are grown. This area has a growing season averaging 160 days and an average heat accumulation of 2,750 growing degree days.

You’ll also want to check out their history page for the very interesting story of Michigan’s winemaking history. Here’s the vineyard slideshow from the Absolute Michigan pool and you can get lots more features and links for Michigan wines from Absolute Michigan.

through the viewfinder and up the apple tree

Untitled, photo by Jenny Murray.

Speaking of Through the Viewfinder (aka TTV) (which we were the day before yesterday) here’s one of Jenny’s.

She has many (many) more in her great ttv set (slideshow).

Gagetown – Michigan’s Thumb Octagon Barn

Gagetown – Michigan’s Thumb Octagon Barn, photo by coloneljohnbritt

John writes that this enormous, eight-sided barn in Gagetown is an agricultural museum open to the public during the warmer months.

Check out thumboctagonbarn.org for details including the answer to a question: Why an octagon barn?

Besides the fact that Mr. Purdy (the owner of the barn) was taken up by the uniqueness of this shape of barn, it was during this period that the agricultural community was promoting an octagon or round barn as the building of the future for agriculture. It was felt that this shape of building would be handier to work out of and that it would replace three or four buildings on the farm, i.e. hog house, horse barn, grainery, etc.).

At this same time Sears Roebuck & Co. listed a number of different sized octagon barn packages in their catalogue. You could order a barn “kit” and it was loaded on a flat car in Chicago and shipped all over the country.

It is obvious that if an octagon barn was the building of the future for agriculture there would have been more of them dotting our landscape. In talking to men who worked on the Purdy Farm as boys, they said that it was not as handy to work in and it was a more costly building to build.

Their photos page has some neat images including a photo of the Purdy Farm and barn from 1924.

Late July Corn

Late July Corn, photo by n.weaver.

Hastings … and all over Michigan.

Check out the Michigan Farmer’s Market map on Absolute Michigan and have a couple ears for dinner soon – it’s wonderful!

McClellan School in Mason County

McClellan School.jpg, photo by smartee_martee.

This photo of the McClellan School in Mason County (near Custer, Michigan) is on of two photos (so far) in Marty’s Mason County set. The other one is a cool old photo of the Pere Marquette Station in Freesoil that I probably would have featured if I didn’t need to see some color so badly!

Summer is a good time to tune into Marty’s photostream as there are a lot of new photos of farms, old homesteads and other forgotten and abandoned structures popping in every week. buckshot.jones writes:

“It is what us folks in Michigan, at least us Detroiters call, “Going Up North.” Most people in MIchigan have a special affinity for the countryside in Northern Michigan. If you you’ve never been, well then you may never know. Here’s my solution. Take a tour of Smartee Martee’s photostream. Click on the sets and read the descriptions of the places he’s been. Then find a set you really like, mine is Osceola County, and watch the slide show. It isn’t quite the same as being there, but damn close. This is the heart and soul of rural Michigan captured on film.”

My own favorite is his massive Broken Souls set (slideshow).