These Aren’t Your Garden-Variety Containers
Containers can add form, texture, and color to areas that have limited garden spaces, like around buildings, sidewalks, vertical walls, and patios. The traditional container with annuals is great for beautifying your home, but next year you may want to try something different. Here are unique container displays that you can see at Minnetrista.
New recipes!
We are into our growing season in East Central Indiana now. I’m so excited by how many yummy tomatoes are ripening on the branches of my plants. I’ve already made some salsa and I will can some plain tomatoes soon.
Ball Brothers Company Sponsors a Canning Contest
What a great idea! Give away a jar, encourage canning, and, of course, sell a few products. That’s exactly what Ball Brothers Company did for the International Canning Contests held during the 1930s.
“Happy Little Trees” at Minnetrista
Lucius L. Ball, his wife Sarah, and their daughter Helen used the room to the left of the entrance to their home as a parlor. It is now used by Minnetrista as a classroom and meeting space. During the 1980s, though, the room had a much different function. It was a recording studio for WIPB, the local public broadcasting station, and starting in February 1984, Bob Ross of “happy little trees” fame produced The Joy of Painting in that room.
Crown Rot makes for Rotten News
When you manage 21 acres of gardens and natural areas like we do at Minnetrista, the last thing you want to hear from one of your gardeners is that they found a plant disease and that it is moving fast. I hoped she was wrong. After checking it out myself, she most certainly wasn’t. It’s affecting hostas on the Minnetrista Boulevard. Now what?
What to do with Chutney?!
Twice in the last few years I’ve chosen to have a chutney workshop. This year we will have a Spicy Tomato Chutney workshop on August 6. Because I choose the foods that we can at workshops, you may assume chutney is one of my favorite condiments. That may be the case now. However, when I first decided to do it, I had never had any before—or at least didn’t think I had. So, before the first workshop, I had to do a bit of research. I didn’t even know what to do with chutney!
A Children’s Party That Wasn’t for Children
The very dapper George A. Ball dressed like a child for a party at his home! How could that be and why? According to Emily Kimbrough, in her delightful memoir of early 20th century Muncie, not only was George dressed in young boy’s clothing, Frances dressed like a little girl.
The Poor Little Dog without a Face
If you’ve lived in Muncie for a while, you’ve probably followed the trail of the Native American and his dog from atop the third Delaware County courthouse to the Stradling farm to Wysor Park and finally to the fourth Delaware County courthouse. Sometime during his travels, the dog was damaged and lost his face. The damage will soon be fixed, though. Delaware County Historical Society, which owns this statue and the other two that originally graced the third courthouse, has received a grant from the Community Foundation to make repairs.
What to pickle that isn’t a pickle?
It seems to me that most people either love pickles or hate them. I should start this blog by saying that I am not at either extreme but I probably lean toward the latter category. So, many of these recipes are not things that I’ve tried for myself.
The Town Bell Rang
When Ball Corporation moved headquarters to Colorado in 1998, the company donated its large collection of jars to Minnetrista. Ball chemist Dick Cole headed across town to Minnetrista instead of making the longer trip to Colorado. Why would Minnetrista hire a chemist? Dick’s work involved chemistry but his passion is the Ball jar, and he followed “his” jars here. Dick retired several years ago, but I still rely on his expertise. And, occasionally, I recycle stories that he shared. This is one.
Duplex Fireless Stove
As anyone who has spent time with me in the Collections storage area knows, the Duplex Fireless Stove made by Durham Manufacturing of Muncie is one of my favorite artifacts. How could you not like this giant, early crockpot? It’s green and heavy and would take up a lot of space in your kitchen. Like today’s crockpot, however, you would fill it with food in the morning and have a fully cooked dinner that evening.
7 Tips For Dividing Your Wonderful Water Lilies
Spring is a great time to divide hardy water lilies. We recently divided the water lilies in the pond behind the Lucius Ball home here at Minnetrista. If you have a hardy water lily at your home, here are some things to keep in mind when dividing or planting.
Update On Canning At Minnetrista
WELCOME SPRING!!! I think I can say that for real now. I mean, it can’t snow in May, right…Oh my, I hope that’s right! Anyway, back to the point. Welcome to springtime. I’m super excited seeing all of the plants pop out of the ground. I’m looking forward to planting my tomatoes soon. And Farmers Market at Minnetrista opened outdoors last week! This is a wonderful time when all these items to can are so plentiful.
They Established a Hospital
Several days ago, a Ball State University student asked to interview me for a video she was making for a journalism class. Her project was Muncie history, and she wanted to talk about the Ball family. One of her questions was “What impact, besides Ball State University, did the Ball family have on Muncie?” There are many ways that the family made an impact, but we’ll start with another institution that carries the name “Ball.”
Discover Heritage Collection Artist: Oscar Conley Pickett
Mostly forgotten except by a small group of devoted fans, this artist was once well known in Muncie. He worked as a janitor, a sign painter, a piano player, and composer. He was even known to handcraft violins. Local citizens knew him best, however, as a wandering painter of landscapes. To pick up some cash for meals and, most likely, a drink or two, Oscar Conley Pickett painted his scenes on cardboard, wooden crates, or even glass.
Brown Needles on Your Evergreen? It could be winter injury
After average winters, it can be common for evergreens to show what is generally referred to as “winter injury” in late winter or spring. As you might expect after a winter like we’ve had, it can be even more widespread. You might be noticing this now in your own yard and at Minnetrista I’ve noticed it, too.
Best Places To Store Canned Goods
Before we all get too heavily invested in canning wonderful goodies this season, we should first consider where we’ll store the foods that we preserve. If you are only going to preserve a couple items, perhaps this isn’t a big question for you. You can just store them with your other store-bought canned and dried goods. However, if you’d like to get more heavily involved with canning, you probably should consider storage beforehand.
Lucius Styles Ball – Inventor
I bet that, in his wildest dreams, Lucius S. Ball, father of the Ball brothers, never thought that he’d be featured in a museum in Weil am Rhein, Germany. Yet he is.
What Color Is It?
Everyone is familiar with Ball blue jars and with the company’s clear jars. Many have seen green, amber, sun-colored amethyst, and swirled Ball jars. Very few people know, however, that there was once a white Ball jar and even fewer people have seen or own one.
