The Ozark Folk Center (
www.ozarkfolkcenter.com ) is a part of the Arkansas State Parks System, and is located in Mountain View, Arkansas.
The center is home to more than 20 craft artisans, who are all independent business folks, who make their living selling the items they create by hand.
There are many amusing photo opportunities, in the park---including this one where two visitors can put their faces inside the openings, and take on the body of a mule.
One of the craftsman in the village is shown at his old fashioned, foot and arm powered printing machine. I am quite familiar with this piece of equipment, because my parents had one of them in their school supply business in Harrison, Arkansas, during the 1960's. They hired a young man named Sam Brown to be their printer, and my sister also knew how to work the machine. As a pre-teen, I was strictly forbidden from operating it, however, as my parents apparently were concerned I would either tear up the machine, or mash a finger off during the pressing and rolling process. (Apparently, they had reason for concern, as I am told that when I was a youngster, I tried sticking my fingers between the rollers of the wringers used to squeeze out excess water from freshly washed clothes, before they were hung on the clothesline to dry!)
Another shop in the craft village is the Fiber Arts Shop, which has every kind of loom imaginable. I am also familiar with a loom like the one shown in this photo, as my great grandmother had one of these, and made numerous rugs, table runners, and pillow tops, that I am still using to this very day. She was the widow of a Civil War veteran, so the rug and matching pillow cover she made, when she learned her granddaughter was pregnant with me, are treasured items ! I have written about these vintage rugs in previous blogs, which can be accessed in the archives.
Another type of fiber art that you can observe being created at the folk center, is that which is being made, from the raw wool of a sheep, by using a spinning wheel. If you make arrangements in advance, you might also be able to see the actual "sheep shearing" event!
Throughout the Craft Village, you will see examples of how early settlers in the Ozarks managed to survive on the "less than ideal" growing conditions of the mountains. Whatever crops they were able to preserve in jars, or store in crates, would be kept in a "root cellar", where there would be less temperature fluctuation than the farmer would find in a free-standing storage shed. These cellars sometimes also doubled as storm cellars, when a tornado was spotted.
The Heritage Herb Garden is a favorite of many visitors, and is also one of the places where an organization I am a part of, the Arkansas Master Naturalists (
www.ArkansasMasterNaturalists.org ) does volunteer work on Wednesdays, during the months the park is open. You can go to the Master Naturalist website to learn more about being a volunteer for the Ozark Folk Center, as well as a myriad of additional service opportunities.
It is a fascinating thing to see a craftsman take natural straw, and turn it into a functional item, such as a broom. And while he is working, he can keep up a steady conversation with spectators, to answer questions, or teach them the intricacies of weaving together different colors of straw to create a pleasing pattern.
In yet another example of a craft I observed by grandparents and parents doing, the lady in the Leather Shop, keeps the tap-tap-tap of her special hammer going, as she explains to visitors the techniques she is using to "hand tool" a design on leather. I still have a leather wallet made by a family member, that has their name intricately spelled out on it---all made by doing exactly what is shown in this photo.
Since my parents had a school supply store, they were in the business of selling new school furniture, as one room schools closed down to form "consolidated school districts", like we are familiar with today. In the process of doing these sales, they would occasionally take as "trade-ins" wooden desks like the one shown in this photo. I always enjoyed "playing school" with these old desks, and imagining what it would have been like to attend school where all the ages were together in one small room!
There is also a Basket Shop, and as in previous paragraphs, this too was familiar to me, as our family had a "gizzard" basket made by one of our ancestors, and I still have a basket made by my Aunt Helen (although she actually made hers during a college course she was taking to meet graduation requirements).
The anvil shown in this picture, along with the furnace, should be a clue that the village also has a Blacksmith Shop.
I had the good fortune to meet the pretty lady pictured below, (with her official Ozark Folk Center work apron), named Jeannette Larson. Jeanette is a familiar and welcoming face at the Ozark Folk Center, and is also the lady pictured earlier in the blog at the spinning wheel.
I had the opportunity to attend a cheese making course she was giving at the Ozark Folk Center.
The event took place in a classroom, adjacent to the Performing Arts Auditorium, and had the essential items Jeanette needed for her demonstration. The photo shows her using two hot plates, to heat the milk, which proves a regular stove is not a requirement!
Part of the dairy products used were cows milk, and part of them were goat's milk, fresh from Jeanette's very own goat herd! You can learn more about the items produced by her family at their website
www.havencroftfarm.com
Some of the cheese she made on this particular Saturday used vinegar (shown here) as the starter for the enzymatic process that would change the liquid milk into cheese.
Class size is limited for these special Saturday events, so be sure to create a "shortcut" on your Internet device that will take you to the site where you can see what is available, as they fill up quickly. See
www.ozarkfolkcenter.ticketleap.com to find out what classes, workshops, and concerts are to be held in the future.
This
photo shows some of the "store bought" ingredients that Jeanette used to begin a different kind of cheese from that made using vinegar.
I have a new visual aid for the term "cheese cloth", because that is what Jeanette used to strain the product coming off the hot plate, that was on its way to being a delicious cheese.
This photo shows Jeanette holding up the cheesecloth, with the product inside, letting as much of the liquid drain off as possible.
I cannot see this picture without thinking of the nursery rhyme, about the little lady who sat "eating her curds and whey"!
Our teacher demonstrated how Farmers Cheese could be grilled, on both sides, to perfection. She said some stores call it "Grilling Cheese"
I learned that Farmers Cheese is made using vinegar, and that it tastes great when grilled!
There were several resources available for the classmembers to peruse, and many of them are for sale in the park gift shop.
The wooden device shown in this photo lets the cheese continue to drain, assisted by gravity, and its own weight.
This photo shows the start of the "pressing" process, as even more moisture is pressed out of the cheese.
The reader may wonder, "Why are there photos of figs in a blog about cheese-making?" The answer is, Jeanette Larson might never have moved to Arkansas, and started her work at the Ozark Folk Center, if it were not for figs, such as these. That is because, one of the factors that influenced her move to the Mountain View area, was finding out that fig trees could grow here! (Several times in the
Bible, figs are mentioned. In fact there is a reference to one of those verses in the famous musical,
Hamilton---"Every man shall sit under his own vine and fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the LORD Almighty has spoken."---according to the verse Micah 4:4. That Scripture is included in the musical because it is a quote from George Washington's Farewell Address, that was dictated to his secretary, Alexander Hamilton. )
These slices of figs were made even tastier, with a bit of goat cheese spread on top!
Getting to sample the cheese was
delightful!
After seeing what fun it is to learn how to make cheese, are you ready to go back to school yet? Jeanette said the one thing she wanted readers of the this article to learn was that "cheese making is not hard"!! Give it a try, and it will give you "MILES OF SMILES"!! tricia
