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Arts & Entertainment

"Homegrown: Food Roots, Culture and Community" Festival

Food can do more than nourish our bodies. What we eat, and how we eat, can also contribute to our sense of personal identity and satisfy our desire for a sense of place and community. At this Second Saturday Festival, we’ll use Wyck’s own food traditions and farm as a launching pad to explore how and why food matters to us—beyond physical nourishment.

Featuring:

African American-Jewish culinary historian and author Michael W. Twitty makes a stop at Wyck on his national Southern Discomfort tour, documenting his family history through his ancestors’ culinary experiences and visiting places of cultural memory related to slavery and the development of Southern cuisine.

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David Siller, farmer, naturalist and primitive skills practitioner, uses his extensive knowledge of plant life in the natural environment to harvest wild and wonderful food from the woods of the Delaware Valley for local restaurants and direct sale. Take a tour with David and discover what unknown edible treasures lurk in Wyck’s (and possibly your own) backyard.

"To Prepare, Present and Consume: Food Ceramics at Wyck" —Considering the intersection of function and decoration with personal identity, this illustrated talk by Wyck’s Curator, Laura C. Keim, will highlight food storage, preparation and presentation wares from Wyck’s collection, with a special focus on some of the outstanding early 19th-century services. The talk will be followed by a food-themed tour in the house with time dedicated to examining the details of some of these wares up close.

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"Please Eat the Roses!"—Taste food and drinks created with rose petals, including Rose Jelly, Rose Pepper, and Sparkling Roseade.  Elizabeth Belk, Wyck’s Horticulturist, will share recipes and explain how to make your own rose delicacies at home.

"A Taste of Hannah Haines Receipts: A Manuscript Receipt Book in the Wyck Collections"—Food historian and historical interpreter Susan McLellan Plaisted will discuss and demonstrate the preparation of fascinating late 18th-century recipes, or "receipts," found in Wyck’s archive of over 100,000 Wistar-Haines family papers. Samples, too!

"Lacto fermentation" is food preservation at its simplest, a way to turn, for example, an abundant cabbage harvest into half a year’s worth of sauerkraut without our usual packaging, processing and refrigeration. Yogi and fermented foods enthusiast Dawn Reid will have samples of garlic dill pickles, senposai kimchi, spicy napa cabbage kimchi, radish pickles—all made with Germantown-grown produce!—and will chat about her inspiration from Sandor Katz and his classic book Wild Fermentation.

The Wyck Home Farm, now in its 6th season in its current form, is home to a wide variety of vegetable and fruit crops, a mixture of historic heirlooms and modern hybrids, all grown organically in the heart of Germantown, as well as a small flock of heritage-breed laying hens. Tour the farm and talk to Emma Morrow, Wyck’s Farm Manager, about urban agriculture and its place in our community, then and now. Wyck produce, fresh herbs and cut flowers will be available for purchase in the marketplace.

Additional Participants and Activities:

  • Amanda Staples and Matt McFarland, the innovative team behind Wyck’s neighbor, the Germantown Kitchen Garden
  • Beer connoisseur and home brewer Scott Wikander of Mount Airy’s Malt House
  • A variety of crafts and other activities for kids guided by Christina Moresi, Wyck’s Youth Education Coordinator
  • Music by Chana Rothman, Philadelphia-based singer/songwriter, music educator, and community gatherer, and friends
  • Outdoor dance performances by the Blind Faith Project Dance Company, headed by Daniela Galdi of Northern Liberties’ Trullo Pilates
  • Refreshments (non-alcoholic) from Capogiro Gelato Artisans, Earth Bread & Brewery, GeeChee Girl Rice Cafe, and other vendors

Also: Check out the Dog Days of Summer Festival, featuring music, activities and barbeque(!), at Germantown Mennonite Historic Trust, just across the street from Wyck at 6133 Germantown Avenue.

Wyck’s 2012 Second Saturday Festival Series is made possible by a generous grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. Through grant making, policy development, and research, IMLS helps communities and individuals thrive through broad public access to knowledge, cultural heritage, and lifelong learning.

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