Winterberry Farm Primitives Garden Blog: Work! Work! Work!

Winterberry Farm Primitives

This blog is now devoted to gardening with native plants with a focus on those species native to the east coast of the United States. With an MS in Agricultural Science from the University of Delaware and my love of native plants, I hope to help folks see the beauty and necessity of using native plants in your garden instead of exotic plants. Did you know that our native song birds and native insects are disappearing as our local environments continue to change?

For those who come to this page to see my 'Winterberry Farm Primitives' blog can now be found at http://winterberryfarmprimitivesshopblog.blogspot.com/ where I will post new additions to my online antiques shop at http://www.winterberryfarmprimitives.com/ and discuss various subjects about primitive antiques.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Work! Work! Work!

Whew! What a L-O-N-G couple of weeks! Harvesting plants, weighing them, measuring them, getting the fresh and dry weights of the roots and rhizomes and then copying and measuring each individual leaf from 100 sample plants! The work is still going on but I am taking a break to talk about my favorite subject (besides plants!). A few weeks ago I told you about the 'new' little crock bench that we found in Virginia. Well, I have been working hard to fill it up (Ha! Ha!).

At first I thought that I would want old canning crocks in it but then I got an email from Susie at Country Presence to announce one of her updates and I bought a little giraffe that looks very old. What a great idea! I decided to fill the crock bench with old and not-so-old toys! The little giraffe looks so much better than I thought it would and it sits proudly on top of the crock bench that will hold my newest collection. I have added some bobble toys, a few putz animals (which at one time were sometimes used as quiet, or Sunday, toys for children), a 19th century German pip-squeak rooster in the hen house and a 19th century German horse pull toy.

I plan to continue to add German antique toys to my collection and place them in the crock bench along with some 'new' toys that I may find. Since I live close to Pennsylvania, a great source for old German toys, I will concentrate on this type of antique toy. My hubby collects Chein toys from the early part of the 20th century and has started a great collection, buying most of his toys from ebay.

Wherever you live, you can start your own collections and put your antique and vintage cupboards and benches to use. If you have started your own collection after buying that strange little (or big) thing that you just had to have but didn't know why - send me a picture and I can put your story in my blog. What a great way to give others wonderful ideas about decorating in a country primitive style! Just email me at winterberryfarmprimitives@live.com with your story and I will use it in an upcoming post!
Until next time - try to stay cool and remember - Fall is on its way!