Category: Past Workshops

WORKSHOP ON HOW TO PRESERVE GARDEN BOUNTY

You don’t have to give away or waste excess produce from your garden.
Instead, learn how to preserve it at a workshop sponsored by the Austerlitz
Historical Society. Linda (Earley) Tripp, Cornell Cooperative Extension
Educator, will lead a demonstration on freezing fruits, vegetables and fruit
spreads on Saturday, August 20 from 9:30 to 11 am at Old Austerlitz Village.
The fee is $15 per person.

Freezing maintains the natural color, fresh flavor and nutrition of most
foods better than any other known method of preservation. It is also one of
the simplest and least time-consuming ways to preserve foods.

Participants in this workshop will learn the specific steps – including
blanching, wrapping and setting correct freezer temperatures–for freezing
fresh food for long-term storage. They’ll also learn the difference between
product quality and product safety as related to freezing, thawing and
refreezing.

The demonstration and discussion will cover fruits, vegetables, and freezer
jams. Basic instruction materials will be handed out, with other resources
available for purchase. To register, call the Austerlitz Historical Society
at (518) 392-0062. If you have to leave a message, be sure to include your
phone number and email address for a response.

The Austerlitz Historical Society is an all-volunteer, not-for-profit
organization dedicated to preserving the history of the area. It’s 8-acre
site is located on Route 22, 1 mile south of the intersection with Route
203.

How about Hypertufa? Does it sound like a fancy dessert, a drink?

Neither a dessert nor drink it is something unique in the making, namely making a special planter or trough.

Making your own receptacle for some of your garden plantings as a focus in the garden, or as a welcome display at your home entrance can be a new and different way to express your creativity. Hypertufa pots are made from a mixture of Portland cement, sand and vermiculite. Formed by using a mold, with room for your own design touches, the pot or trough will need time to cure where it is made, after which you take it home.

Join a group who will engage in this hypertufa workshop on Sat. June 25th at Old Austerlitz from 2 to 5 with Instructors, Connie Mondel and Donna Peterson. There is room for ten people. The fee is $25.00.

If interested please call to reserve a place. The Austerlitz Historical Society phone # is 392-0062. The instructors will call you ahead of time with directions to the grounds at Old Austerlitz as well as provide suggestions for work clothes, apron, gloves, etc.

FREE and open to the public

Plans are coming together for the Saturday, June 11th Free Plein Air Paint Out. What is a “Plein Air Paint Out” you ask? Great question.

Plein Air is a French expression which means “in the open air”, and is particularly used to describe the act of painting outdoors. Artists have long painted outdoors, but in the mid-19th century working in natural light became particularly important to the Barbizon school and Impressionism. The popularity of painting en plein air increased in the 1870s with the introduction of paints in tubes (resembling modern toothpaste tubes) From Wikipedia

The charming grounds of Old Austerlitz will be open to artists who wish to paint in a group. The fun will start at 9:30 with coffee and breakfast treats. Plan to bring, your easel, brushes, paints, a sketch book, a camera, bug spray and sun hat. Registration and distribution of supplies to those who need them will follow. Barbara Willner and Fran Heaney will be available with suggestions about where to paint on the property and general ideas. It should be an enjoyable experience.

Paintings and drawings done that day will be on exhibit in the Harvey House later in the summer.

Lunch and drinks will be available for a modest price supplied by the Austerlitz Historical Society

To sign up contact Dorothy Bakker at [email protected] or call the Society at 518-392-0062

A series of workshops with hands-on instruction in making elegant holiday centerpieces will be held just after Thanksgiving weekend. Co-sponsored by the Austerlitz Historical Society the workshop will be held at the Spencertown Academy. The workshops will include both morning and evening sessions. Morning workshops start at 10 am and continue until noon on Monday, November 29 and Wednesday, December 1. The evening sessions are from 7 to 9 pm on Tuesday, November 30 and Thursday, December 2.

Admission is free and open to the public. Participants who want to take a centerpiece home with them, however, will be asked to pay for the materials used. All other centerpieces will be displayed at Spencertown Academy’s Holiday Gift Shop. To reserve a space at one of these workshops, call 392-3693. Questions about the workshop can be directed to the Historical Society at 518-392-0062 or by email to [email protected].

Last chance to register for this Saturday’s workshop on Freezing and Preserving Fruits. Saturday June 5th 9:30am to 11:00am. Linda Early, Cornell Cooperative Extension Educator, 4H Youth Development Nutrition and Health, will guide a hands-on demonstration for making Strawberry Rhubarb Jam at the Morey-Devereaux House at Old Austerlitz Village. Space is limited to 10 participants. The fee will be $15.00 payable at the workshop. Those who attend will take home jam and factual materials about other forms of preserving foods, including methods of pickling and canning foods. Reserve a space by calling AHS at 392-0062. This workshop is part of our continuing series of “Odd Saturdays Events”.