Everything from bowls to candlesticks to staircase parts and fountain pens can be made on the lathe.  Lathe turning is a popular hobby for young and old(er), and it was historically a popular pastime of nobility.  Work with Bruce Gill, Executive Director of Harriton House, on Saturdays March 17 & 24, 2012, to learn about the lathe and tools.  Get a lesson in sharpening (which might even come in handy around Thanksgiving - turkeys as well as wood need sharp tools!).  Come and be introduced to the pleasures of creating your personal pen, candlestick,  baby rattle, or spinning top (take THAT home to your grandchildren and see what happens!). This is a cooperative program with Main Line School Night.   For further information contact Harriton by e-mail at Info@HarritonHouse.org or by old fashioned telephone at 610 525 0201. Fee charged and registration is through Main Line School Night at www.MainLineSchoolNight.org. 

Beekeeping for Beginners is a cooperative program of Harriton House and Main Line School Night scheduled for Saturday, April 14, 2012.  Learn about the importance of the honeybee to our landscape.  Dress up in a beesuit and participate in the installation of package bees in the apiary at historic Harriton. Taste the differences in various honeys and savor the taste of Harriton's award winning honey. You will attend a meeting of the Harriton Beekeepers group, where you can meet and rub elbows with local beekeepers from the age of 11 to 89.   Coffee, donuts, and lots of good information provided!  Contact Harriton by e-mail at Info@HarritonHouse.org or by old fashioned telephone at 610 525 0201 for further information.  Fee charged, registration is through Main Line School Night at www.MainLineSchoolNight.org.

Become a Gardener in our community garden at Harriton.  If you do not have enough sun or space at home, take a plot here at Harriton. Grow a little bit for your table,  grow a little bit for a food cupboard, or just have fun teaching your children that their food does not really come from the supermarket!    Our large garden  is located where food has been grown for over 300 years at Harriton.  You can be part of that continuum.  The garden is not a re-created 18th century kitchen garden, sitting as idle as a flower arrangement or unused land, but we do ask that gardeners grow something which was grown in the garden here which we might sell at the Harriton Farm Stand at our annual September Plantation Fair.  Join us:  it is fun, it is educational, it is socially responsible, and it tastes good!  Do initially contact us by e-mail - or better yet just pick up the old fashioned telephone and dial, or press, 610 525 0201 - to talk about your participation.

The Annual Meeting and lecture is open to the Membership of the Harriton Association and the public on a "space available" basis (NOTE: RESERVATIONS REQUIRED).  The 2012 Annual Meeting will be held Sunday afternoon, April 29, 2012 beginning at 4:30 PM in the Education Center at Harriton House.   This year's annual meeting speaker is Barbara Melera, President of the D. Landreth Seed company. Founded in 1784 in Philadelphia, Landreth Seed is the oldest seed house in America. Charles Thomson bought seeds from the company for his garden at Harriton in the 1790's. The Landreth website has information on and supplies heirloom seeds and plants. Please visit them at: www.landrethseeds.com

Beginning Blacksmithing will be offered at Harriton House on Saturdays as a cooperative program with Main Line School Night. The Introductory class is scheduled for Saturdays April 28th & May 5th, 2012, and the continuing beginner's class is scheduled for June 2th & 9th. Come and work with master blacksmith Stephen Sears, of Sears IronWorks in Ottsville, PA. You will learn about tools and fire and coal and metals. There will be a reference library of books and forged iron objects to see and handle. You will get hands-on experience in shaping small items of forged iron (steel actually), and you will go home with the product of your labor and instruction. Younger, older, or somewhere in the middle, or whether you think you have large biceps or small ones, you can participate. For further information contact Harriton by e-mail at Info@HarritonHouse.org or by old fashioned telephone at 610 525 0201. Fee charged and registration is through Main Line School Night at www.MainLineSchoolNight.org.
 

Come to the third annual Epicurean Extravaganza at the historic City Tavern in Philadelphia on Wednesday, May 16th, 2012, from 6-8PM. This major fund raising food event is being prepared for Harriton by internationally known chef Walter Staib, who is the proprietor of the City Tavern.  Chef Staib is an author and the television personality who hosts the Emmy-winning series entitled A Taste of History on PBS, in which historic Harriton has been featured.  This event is by invitation or by interest.  The menu and registration information are found in the red document link beneath the "Add to Cart" button herebelow.  For reservations or further information please telephone Harriton House at 610-525-0201.  You may register and pay by credit card by simply clicking the cart button or register on-line by e-mail at HarritonHouse@aol.com ( an invoice for your tickets will be forwarded immediately).  This is a full buffet dinner event complete with beverages. A portion of your ticket price is a tax-deductible contribution to the Harriton Association for the continued operations of historic Harriton House in Bryn Mawr.  Save the date to come and graze the cuisine which was enjoyed by the founders of our nation! 

Sponsors of this event include:  Chef Staib and The City Tavern,   Arader Tree Service, Beaumont at Bryn Mawr, Logan Capital Management, Hannah-McGlone & Co,  Laurel Hill/West Laurel Hill Cemetery Company & Bringhurst Funeral Home, and Stanley Merves (list incomplete)

ticket reservations

Thomson Sponsor (2 tickets/ $880. tax deductible) $1,000.00 Jefferson Patron (1 ticket/$440 tax deductible) $500.00 Epicure (1 ticket/$190 tax deductible) $250.00 Gourmet (1 ticket/$65 tax deductible) $125.00

Come and eat very special Guernsey ice cream at an old fashioned ice cream social on Sunday afternoon, June 17, 2011, 4:00 PM.  SPECIAL TREAT for Father's Day:  Father's (or any reasonable facsimilie thereof) eat ice cream for free that afternoon.  RESERVATIONS REQUIRED!  See and meet the "Guernsey Girls",  Guernsey cows from the last 100% Guernsey herd in Pennsylvania which will be visiting historic Harriton for the week.  The ice cream to be served is Yoder's Ice Cream, made in Lancaster County  from rich Guernsey milk and cream.   Don't miss it!  $5.00 per person, $15.00 for families (Dad's eat free!)

From 1909 until almost 1930, Harriton was known as the Harriton Guernsey Dairy. This farm, which provided rich milk and cream to the neighborhood, was  an active and important participant in a flourishing dairy industry in southeastern Pennsylvania. Today  we are familiar with concerns about our food supply and the debates over pesticides, growth hormones, and unpronouncable chemical names listed as ingredients in what we eat.  This is not the first time that the American public has become aware of  what is in our food.  You may remember reading Upton Sinclair's The Jungle when you were in high school.  The growth and quality of Pennsylvania's modern dairy industry is directly related to similar concerns for milk at the turn of the 20th century, and the Harriton Guernsey Dairy  was part of that evolution. We will explore through programs and an exhibit the early 20th century dairies in and near Lower Merion Township, including herd types, estates, and a collection of embossed milk bottles from 35 dairies - only one of which still sells milk today (can you guess which one?).  We will have programs for children,  a trip to a dairy farm, Guernsey cows visiting the Harriton park ,  a small exhibit of old milk bottles and dairy equipment,and the ice-cream social.  Reservations required - phone 610 525 0201   

Harriton "Apprenticeships" are arranged in cooperation with the Township of Lower Merion Recreation Department for boys and girls aged 11-14.  The program allows today's youngsters to feed sheep, harness and drive a horse, be a blacksmith, work with traditional tools, and learn about antique houses and furniture.  Warning -- although we do have a picnic and make ice cream on our last day, there is some work involved during the program!   

Our summer camp in the 2012 season will be run June 18th - 22nd & July 2nd - 6th,  9:30am to 2:00pm (Call or write for further information). There is an additional week from June 25th -  29th for children of members of the Harriton Association. 

There are also two weeks of August camp programming in cooperation with Riverbend Refuge in Gladwyne (August 13th - 17th and 20th -24th).  Please register with Riverbend (610 527 5234) for these programs which are held at historic Harriton.

Honeybees are kept in the Harriton Park, and our annual public beekeeping program will be held on  Saturday July, 28th, 2012, 11 am- 1pm - weather permitting.  Adults and children can try on beesuits, visit the hives, and help extract honey.  (raindate the following Saturday). This annual  beekeeping program and honey harvest is co-sponsored by The Harriton Association and Riverbend Environmental Education Center in Gladwyne. This is a free event and open to the public --- BUT RESERVATIONS are absolutely necessary.  This is a family event; children are welcome.  Riverbend nature educators will have special activities for little ones. Please call or write for reservations and information. See photos from last year's beekeeping event.

The 2012 Harriton Plantation Fair  scheduled for Saturday, September 29th, 10AM to 4PM (rain or shine).This major event in Lower Merion Township features crafts, antiques, sheep herding, pony rides, historic house tours, childrens' games, muskets and soldiers, blacksmiths, stone carvers, cabinetmakers, spinners, weavers, Bluegrass music and Colonial songs, Hawks (a new addition!), and much more.  There are also the Harriton Attic Treasures Booth, which is the best flea market on the Main Line, the Harriton Farm stand featuring flowers and organic produce from the Harriton garden, and a Silent Auction, all of which help to assure Harriton's continued operation as an historic site.   Visit our Photo Gallery for views of past Harriton Fairs, and see our promotional partners at www.mainlineneighbors.com.

Beginning Blacksmithing will be offered at Harriton House on Saturdays as a cooperative program with Main Line School Night. Introductory class is scheduled for Saturdays, October 13th &  20th, 2012.  Come and work with  master blacksmith  Stephen Sears, of Sears IronWorks in Ottsville, PA. You will learn about tools and fire and coal and metals. There will be a reference library of books and forged iron objects to see and handle. You will get hands-on experience in shaping small items of forged iron (steel actually), and you will go home with the product of your labor and instruction. Younger, older, or somewhere in the middle, or whether you think you have large biceps or small ones, you can participate. For further information contact Harriton by e-mail at Info@HarritonHouse.org or by old fashioned telephone at 610 525 0201. Fee and materials charge, and registration is through Main Line School Night at www.MainLineSchoolNight.org.

Can't find a good apple at the supermarket?  Join us for the annual Harriton Apple Tasting on October 27th at 3:30 pm.  Apples are a fruit to love. Come and  sample heirloom varieties of America's favorite fruit - tart, sweet, crunchy, soft-fleshed, yellow, pink, and green.  Some varieties are over 300 years old, others are more modern, and one variety was discovered in a field in Lancaster County (this last is only available either at Harriton or from the farmer who owns the trees!).  Apples were extremely important in colonial America.  They were eaten "out of hand";  they were baked into pies or baked by themselves; they were cut and dried into "schnitz" for use all winter long; or, they were converted to cider (hard and soft) and vinegar. Learn who Johnny Appleseed was (yes, he was a real person) and why he spread the seeds he did.  You will also learn that apples don't "come true" from seed and how we do get the delicious varieties which survive today.  All this while you munch apple slices, sample organic Pennsylvania cheese, and partake of a glass of cider.  Children welcome if well behaved.  Apples and small trees will be available for purchase.  $6.00 per person.  Reservations required.

Everything from bowls to candlesticks to staircase parts and fountain pens can be made on the lathe. Lathe turning is a popular hobby for young and old(er), and it was historically a popular pastime of nobility. Work with Bruce Gill, Executive Director of Harriton House, on Saturdays, November 3 & 10, 2012, to learn about the lathe and tools. Get a lesson in sharpening (which might even come in handy around Thanksgiving - turkeys as well as wood need sharp tools!). Come and be introduced to the pleasures of creating your personal pen, candlestick, baby rattle, or spinning top (take THAT home to your grandchildren and see what happens!). We will look at the historic Harriton House and its contents to see lathe-turned objects from the 1700's. This is a cooperative program with Main Line School Night. For further information contact Harriton by e-mail at Info@HarritonHouse.org or by old fashioned telephone at 610 525 0201. Fee and materials charge, and registration is through Main Line School Night at www.MainLineSchoolNight.org.