On Saturday, October 29th, we will be hosting the 2016 Fall Gathering at our rural Miller farm. We have several local people collaborating to provide a morning of educational exhibitions on various topics that support a self-sufficient lifestyle and back-to-basics living. Activities will include butchering a hog on the farm, firing up the smokehouse where the hams and bacon are smoked, rendering lard, a working still, cider pressing, shelling popcorn, rabbit processing, chuck wagon cooking, rope making and more. There will also be representatives from Hills Feed N More and Sun Solar, along with water purification systems.
In the afternoon various educational presentations will be an offered. Topics include off grid living, raising rabbits for meat and fur, fermenting foods for better health, vermiculture and garden health, pressure canning meats and water bath canning juice, the how and why to raise Elderberries, improving your immune system and treating colds and flu naturally with herbs, and wine making. The presenters are all experienced on their topic and enjoy sharing what they have learned with others wishing to learn. They are volunteering their time to provide presentations. Their generosity helps to make this a free admission day, however donations to offset other costs will be gratefully accepted if you wish to contribute.
Lunch will be available, cooked on site by our chuck wagon cook. Ham and beans, cornbread, peach cobbler and a drink will available for $5.00, while supply lasts. You are also welcome to bring a picnic lunch and enjoy tossing your picnic blanket on a grassy area. Morning activities will begin at 9 a.m., educational presentations will begin at noon and will conclude at 4:30 p.m. You will also need to bring lawn chairs and you are also invited to bring your cameras, notepads, and friends.
The goal for the day is to provide an opportunity to share knowledge and ideas in a variety of aspects of homesteading and back-to basics living. Whether you think of yourself as a homesteader, prepper, farmer, or are simply interested in providing more for your family on your own, there is a lot to be learned during the Gathering. The group is dedicated to providing information to enhance and encourage a back-to-basics lifestyle in our modern world. The event is put on with the help of friends from the SW Missouri Homesteaders on Facebook.
The 2016 Fall Gathering follows a successful Spring Gathering in May. Topic suggestions and arrangement of activities came from feedback from the attendees in May. I will be highlighting the Presenters in posts that can be found during the next couple of weeks. here at Modern Missouri Pioneers.
We have a wonderful group of experts right here in the Southwest Missouri area, that are more than willing to share information and help one another. We are finding more and more interest all the time. Our SW MO Homesteaders group has grown to over 1700, and we expect the Fall Gathering to be attended by even more people than the Spring Gathering, and it was a huge success. The group helping to organize it all is very dedicated to helping to educate others, and the presenters feel the same way.
I will also be posting more information regarding the schedule of presentations very soon. If you are close to us at all, we hope you will choose to bring your family to spend a day with our family. I am looking forward to learning much and teaching a little.