How Fall Activities Connect Us To Our Ancestors
Genealogy isn’t just about researching names and dates. It’s also about connecting with real people who lived long ago. It’s about creating those feelings of closeness and comfort. This is why we have family traditions. This is why we learn from our parents and grandparents because we want to keep that connection alive. And this is why we have fall activities!
I love Fall! It’s my favorite season. And I’m getting those nudges to do fall activities that my ancestors would’ve done during their lifetime. Activities such as candle making, barrel making, dyeing cloth, soap making, apple cider making, etc. Yes, my ancestors probably didn’t do these things for fun. They worked hard to survive and live off the land. But for us these can be turned into fun activities for everyone to enjoy. So let the fall festivities begin!
What Fall Activities Did Your Ancestors Do?
My ancestors were farmers so even though I don’t have actual journals about what they did, I can guess at what they probably did on a farm. We also have colonial ancestors, which can be a different set of skills that we can try. In fact, my daughter is learning more about Colonial America so this might be a good place to start.
So I made a list of what my ancestors possibly did in the fall.
- Harvesting fruit and vegetables
- Making candles for the winter
- Butchering animals to preserve the meat
- Preserving all of those harvested fruit and veggies
- Cutting wheat and other grains
- Making soap
- Collecting honey and maple
- Getting ready for fall celebrations and future holidays
Then I decided what do I actually want to try and what can we actually do in my area where I live with the time that we have.
Apple Picking
I live in Idaho so their are plenty of fruit orchard in our state. So I just Googled what orchards were in our area and who had a pick-your-own fruit option for family activities. Cherry Hill Farms was the best option for us. The point of this activity is to go to the orchard, pick our own fruit, make it into cider and other treats, and see the “fruits” of our labor. Simple enough.
Candle Making
This one falls under both colonial and farmer ancestors so I’m excited to try this one. I found this article on Pinterest about making tapered candles out of beeswax. This looks fairly easy and since my daughter is older it shouldn’t be too boring for her. She also loves bees because they make honey. So when we do this out of beeswax it might make it more special for her. I also plan on using these candles during the winter to show her how our ancestors lived before electric lights. Yes, I know there are easier ways to teach her this concept, but I love doing the work so we all can appreciate it better.
Dyeing Cloth
This one intrigues me to no end! I’m talking about using nature to dye cloth to make into table runners or napkins. I don’t sew so I don’t want to make them into clothes, but I do want to make beautiful tablecloths. I found a website called Botanical Colors that not only teaches you how to naturally dye your cloth, but they sell the dyes, books, and cloth to get you started. They’re amazing if you really want to get into that industry. They definitely teach you more than you can imagine.
Wheat Harvesting
We are big foodies in our family and I love baking any kind of bread or sweet treat. So the idea of growing your own wheat, harvesting it, separating the wheat from the chaff, and milling it into a flour has always been on my fall bucket list. This one may take awhile since I don’t have any wheat in our backyard yet. So this may not happen this fall, but I’m not giving up on it yet. I want to find a local bread mill to take my daughter to see how bread is made from start to finish and then enjoy the treats afterward.
Isn’t fall the best!
Last Thoughts on Fall Activities
My point of this article is to get you to think about your ancestors and connect with them by doing an activity that they would’ve done in the fall. I’ve shared how I’m going to do it with my family, but you may have already done these things or you may have very different interests. I know that many of my relatives would be interested in the canning and preserving aspect while others would want to learn about making soap. So it all depends on your desire to do it and what your family is interested in. So I invite you to take the time to do one fall activity that helps you remember your ancestors.
And as always…good luck and happy hunting!
Tiffany
P.S. Related Reads…
ancestors, fall, fall activities, family activities, genealogy bucket list