En Bauerei mache aus Buschland (Digital Download)
On March 3, 2012, Alan Keyser gave a talk at Muddy Creek Farm Library, Farmersville [Ephrata], Penna. on the subject of how the early American settlers cleared forests to make farms. This talk was one of many that Mr. Keyser gave over the years on the subject of Pennsylvania German folklife at a monthly meeting of the "Katzebuckel Schul" held at the library. This informal school still meets monthly and is conducted entirely in Pennsylvania Dutch.
In this talk, En Bauerei mache aus Buschland (Making a Farm from Forest Land) provided here, Mr. Keyser covers many aspects of how the early Pennsylvania German settlers made farms from forests. Topics include site selection, clearing the forests, including removing the stumps and roots, plows used in newly cleared land, building worm fences, the first houses the settlers built, and planting orchards and gardens.
Mr. Keyser is one of the foremost living researchers and teachers of Pennsylvania Dutch folklife and the author of the critically acclaimed How We Ate, published by the Schwenkfelder Library and Heritage Center.
This digital download is provided as a 24-page PDF, including 12+ pages of Pennsylvania German text with between-the-line English translation and illustrations and a separate 9-page appendix containing an English-only translation with illustrations, with an accompanying 30-minute audio recording of the talk given in Pennsylvania Dutch.
Butch Reigart, transcriber, translator, and editor.
For a sample of the audio, please click below:
Please note that the two files are about 40 megabytes total. We recommend backing them up to a personal computer.
- Manufacturer: Kreuz Creek Center