Champoeg State Park

The Champoeg garden in July.

So...do you come here often?

Champoeg State Park is a cool place.   We first visited in May, when the bluebirds that the park is famous for were everywhere courting.  There were volunteers in their huge 1860s historical garden busily finishing the planting.  Everything is perennial or grown from seeds saved from the previous year. Their heirloom seeds are available for purchase.  You know if you buy them that every variety is well adapted to the local climate.  And as you might imagine, in the 1860s they preferred to grow plants that had culinary or medicinal value. Jasper was completely fascinated with the garden.

Amongst the cow parsnips by the creek in May.

We returned again in July, to find the garden lush and growing.  Jasper was really excited to see the living plants that so many foods come from.  He spent more than an hour running around the garden taking pictures of every kind of plant.

This weekend, we came back for the Champoeg Pioneer Farmstead Day.  There were all kinds of historic demonstrations, all aimed at allowing children to participate.  At first, Jasper was unhappy to see so many people in his beloved garden, and he just wanted to putter around in it.  But he was thrilled when he discovered that he was going to be able to operate a machine that strips the kernels off corn cobs, and grind his own flour from wheat berries.  Kids were welcome to help a blacksmith by operating the bellows, and saw through a log with a big hand saw.  They were giving away delicious lemonade, and serving it authentically in butcher paper folded into cups.  Inside he was fascinated to see spinning wheels in action, and a weaver at a loom.  This was probably the best living history demonstration we've seen, because of the number of different skills they were demonstrating, the level of knowledge the demonstrators had, and the level of participation kids were given.  Even for kids that aren't particularly interested in history, this annual event is hard to resist.   More about Champoeg here:  http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_113.php

Grinding Wheat.

Making fried green tomatoes in a fire pit.

Love Lies Bleeding, or Amaranth

Artichokes blooming.