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Celebrating the
Changing Seasons
with Children
One of the
wonderful things about the Chapel Hill - Carrboro - Hillsborough - Raleigh, NC
area is the celebration of the changing seasons through the many family-oriented
Festivals throughout the year. To find Festivals and Events throughout the
year, visit the
CHillKids.com Festivals Guide
for Chapel Hill - Durham - Raleigh.
In addition to the festivals listed
in our Festivals
& Events Guide, we have highlighted below just a few international festivals
that local groups celebrate. We include ideas to begin your own tradition
to celebrate these international festivals with your children.
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Michaelmas - The Feast of St. George
(Slaying the Dragon)
Michaelmas is celebrated annually in the early Fall (end of September)
at the Emerson Waldorf School. The school children and their teachers,
parents & siblings participate in a lovely ceremony culminating in a dragon
emerging from the woods across the field (the dragon is made each year by
the older EWS students), and St. Michael arriving on horseback to
symbolically slay the (hand-made, life-size puppet) dragon. Then the
students, teachers and families join hands in a spiraling circle in a
beautiful dance. Traditionally at the end of the ceremony there is a
giant home-made dragon made of bread for all to share.
CELEBRATE MICHAELMAS AT HOME WITH YOUR CHILDREN
- Make Dragon Bread!
One lovely idea for celebrating Michaelmas is to make bread with your
children. Gather all of the ingredients in small bowls, then tell
the story of St. George and the Dragon as the children help to mix in
each of the ingredients. Give a portion of the dough to each child
to fashion their own dragon out of the bread; bake the bread and enjoy!
St. Lucia Day:
St. Lucia day is a charming Swedish/Scandinavian tradition that is a
lovely addition to the holiday season. On the morning of December
13, Scandinavian families celebrate Saint Lucia Day with special food
and celebrations in the home. The parents stay snuggled in their
beds, while the children make them breakfast, serving coffee and St.
Lucia buns or coffee cake. The eldest daughter of the family
dresses up as Saint Lucia, the Queen of Light, and she wears a white
dress (like an angel dress) with a red sash for a belt. wreath of
greenery in her hair. (Traditionally the wreath had white candles
-- now the candles are usually battery-powered.) Younger sisters
wear white robes with a crown of silver tinsel; the brothers wear white
robes and cone-shaped hats decorated with stars. The eldest
daughter then proceeds with the other kids to serve the parents coffee
and St. Lucia buns in bed. The children sing a traditional St
Lucia song as they slowly proceed to the parents' bedroom. Find farmers' markets, family farms, and other sources of sustainably grown food
throughout the US by clicking on the map
.
Organic Consumers Association -
www.organicconsumers.org: Campaigns for food safety, organic
agriculture, fair trade, and sustainability.
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Ayrshire Farm - Bill Dow
602 Friendly Pooch Lane, Pittsboro, NC 27312
(919) 548-4196
Five-acre farm in Pittsboro grows all organic produce, plants, and
fruit-bearing trees: apple trees, blueberries, flowers, vegetables
and herbs, including sage, rosemary, thyme, mint, asparagus, lettuce,
tomatoes, tomatillos, sunflowers and arugula, among others. Also
sells value-added goods and firewood. Blueberry picking available;
call to check for availability first. Visit Ayrshire Farm at the Carrboro
Farmers' Market!
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Beausol Gardens - Harry LeBlanc
139 Beausol Lane, Pittsboro, NC 27312
(919) 545-0217
Beausol Gardens is a small family-owned and operated farm selling mixed vegetables and cut flowers direct.
The farms strives to be sustainable and is transitioning to biodynamic methods in addition to the organic practices
they have since their founding in 1997. They select heirloom and open pollinated varieties whenever
possible. Offerings include tomatoes, ripe peppers, lettuce, snap peas, snap beans, edamame, greens and roots.
Beausol Gardens sells at Durham Farmers Market. |
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Blueberry Hill (owned and grown by
the Human Kindness Foundation)
Located 11 miles outside of Hillsborough. (Take 86N through
Hillsborough, and continue North on HWY 86 for @ 11 miles past the
intersection of 86N and the Hwy 70 Bypass in Hillsborough. You will
see "Pope's Tires" on your right. Continue 100 yards and
take a right at the Blueberry Sign into the driveway for Blueberry Hill.
Park and pick from the berry patch on the left.)
Beginning in mid-July (around the
15th - 17th), the Blueberry Hill blueberry patch will have an
abundance of wonderful, delicious, organic blueberries. Pick the
berries (picking buckets are in the kiosk stand), then weigh them and pay
for them at the kiosk stand (honor system). $1 a pound!! What
a great deal for certified organic blueberries, and a great cause as well.
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Celebrity Goat Dairy - Fleming & Brit Pfann
www.celebritydairy.com/
144 Celebrity Dairy Way, Siler City, NC 27344
Celebrity Goat raises goats and offers goat cheese, dairy, meat, value added goods,
and gourmet dinners (on the 3rd Sunday each month.) From the website:
"The Inn at Celebrity Dairy welcomes you to the peace and comfort of an old home-place, and the purposeful life of a 300 acre working dairy in rural Chatham County. A community gathering place for over a century, Celebrity Dairy now extends its warm welcome and informal comfort to guests year-round.
Share our homemade pleasures: a book or game from the library, watching free range chickens scratching in the yard, or deer grazing at dusk. Wake refreshed to join the farm crew for a breakfast of (naturally) chèvre accompanying omelets or home-baked pastry, and seasonal fruits and preserves from our neighbor's gardens.
Just a few steps from the Inn you'll find the "Goat Hilton" - home to the Celebrity Goat Dairy herd of 100 Alpine and Saanen goats. Here is the heart of our low impact, sustainable agriculture farm - scene of spring kidding, twice daily milking, and the production of award-winning farmstead goat cheese.
Join us for a quiet evening, a gourmet Sunday dinner [third Sunday of each
month; RSVP], or let us host your meeting, retreat, or family celebration."
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Elysian Fields Farm
www.elysianfarm.com
5925 Oakley Road, Cedar Grove, NC 27231
(919) 732-8980
Community Supported
Agriculture in the Triangle Area! From
the website: "Elysian Farm is a community-supported agriculture (CSA) farm. A CSA program markets its produce, fruits, herbs and flowers directly to the local community, while allowing for the community to directly support a local farm. Members purchase a share from the farm prior to the growing season. The farm then supplies the families or individuals with fresh seasonably grown produce once a week, each week, for the length of the growing season. The weekly distribution consists of a wide variety of crops, which varies depending on what is in season as well as individual crop success.
Elysian Fields Farm is entering its fifth year of production in northern Orange County. The farm is individually run with the aid of seasonal interns and local labor. All produce is grown using only natural and sustainable methods. Members are encouraged to visit the farm and walk amongst its vast acreage, wooded and open alike, with pond and wildlife. Also, stop by the Carrboro farmers' market to visit the farm's stand this season and say hello!"
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Frog Pond Farm - Larry Bohs
5001 Murphy School Road, Durham, NC 27705
(919) 382-9890
Selling blueberries and blackberries this summer at the farm. Please call for dates and times. |
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Graham Family Farm - Dan Graham
3460-1/2 Silk Hope-Gum Springs Road, Pittsboro, NC 27312
(919) 542-5973
Graham Family Farm sells oriental vegetables, vegetables, fruits, berries & Christmas trees, cedar chests, shoe racks, clothes hangers & picnic tables. |
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Harland's Creek Farm - Judith Lessler
97 Plantation Drive, Pittsboro, NC 27312
(919) 542-4607
Harland's Creek Farm sells produce, herbs, and flowers at the Durham Farmer's Market and through a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).
They also raise goats. To subscribe please see the subscription tab at
www.harlands-creek-farm.com. Subscriptions can be picked up at the Durham Farmers Market on Saturdays or at Harland's Creek Farm from Thursday afternoon through Sunday.
Flower subscriptions are also available. |
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Herndon Hills Farm - Nancy Herndon
7110 Massey Chapel Hill Road, Durham, NC 27713
(919) 544-3313
This 200-year-old family farm is an oasis of green in rapidly developing south Durham.
Herndon Hills Farm grows blueberries, blackberries and muscadine grapes.
They are open July-October; Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Call (919) 544-3313 for hours.
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Nu Horizons Farm Country Market - Susan & Leigh Loraine
975 Pittsboro Goldston Road, Pittsboro, NC 27312
(919) 542-4007
Pasture raised beef, pork, lamb, and chicken raised without antibiotic, hormone, steroid and animal byproduct. Additional products are: free range brown eggs, homemade breads, pies, cookies, fresh pasta and pasta sauces, as well as, jams, jellies and assorted canned goods. Visit
www.nuhorizonsfarm.com for a complete listing of all
the Nu Horizons products. The Nu Horizons Market is open Wednesday – Saturday 10-6.
Farmers Markets: Carrboro, Cary, Southern Village, Fearrington Village and RTI.
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Olive Farms - Kathryn & Bruce Olive
5821 Mt. Sinai Rd., Durham, NC 27705
(919 960-9794
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Perry-winkle Farm - Cathy Jones and
Michael Perry
1061 White Cross Road, Chapel Hill, NC 27516
Perry-winkle Farm grows a diverse variety of crops 'throughout the entire growing season starting with lettuce, greens, broccoli, garlic and other cool-season crops in the spring. Summer's bountiful harvests include peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, beans, potatoes, squashes, cucumbers, herbs, and a wide range of annual cut flowers. The fall crops mirror those grown in the spring.'
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Sunnybrooke Farm - Rebecca & Tripp Tucker
10901 NC Hwy 92, (Chatham Co.) Bear Creek, NC 27207
(919) 837-2550
Goat farm.
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Sustenance Farm - Harvey & Nancy Harman
1108 Callicut Road, Bear Creek, NC (Chatham County) 27705
(919) 837-5805
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Wu Wei Farm & Gardens - Laura & Tom Vanderbeck
1510 Chicken Bridge Road, Pittsboro, NC 27312
(919) 545-2160
(Open as posted) produce, cut flowers, & herbs as available, please call. |
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| Local
Community Gardens (Note: We do not have info as to
whether these local community gardens are organic or conventional.)
Volunteers for Youth Community Garden -
Carrboro, NC (919) 967-4511.
Anothoth Community Garden at Cedar Grove
United Methodist Church - (919) 732-8405
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click here
Learning Tower
Learning Tower
Kids' Kitchen Step Stool is the perfect platform for kids helping out in the
kitchen!
click here
click here
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