Totara Estate Welcomes the Harvest Home!
New Zealand Historic Places Trust information release
10 March 2004
Stepping back to its pioneer past is nothing new for Totara Estate, which
on Sunday 28th March will relive an age old tradition of 'welcoming' the
harvest home, with a grand 'live day' of celebration.
A ritual of 19th century farming, the Harvest Home was celebrated when
the last sheaf of wheat was stored, signifying that food (and profits!)
was safely gathered for another year. This event would be cause for great
rejoicing accompanied by feasting music and dancing.
Totara Estate, made famous as the birthplace of New Zealand's frozen
meat industry, is no stranger to hosting its own harvest homes. The most
famous occurred in 1896, when over 300 guests from afar away as Dunedin
arrived, requiring the west wall of the Barn to be removed before festivities
could begin!
The 2004 version promises its own special pageantry and colour. Old farm
hands will tell of their days behind the plough alongside today's tractors,
while vintage threshing mills will 'chug and puff' side-by-side modern
heading machines. Swaggers' will compete for the 'tallest tale', while
young Victorian 'peddlers' will test their entrepreneurial spirit by selling
their wares, be it boiled sweets, shoe shines or pine cones. Lunchtime
'hawkers' will prepare and sell traditional farm fare - lamb shanks, blackened
corn and more - while skilled trades such as blacksmith, saddler and woodworkers
will demonstrate their craft.
The day will commence with a traditional Thanksgiving Church service
at the Estate Granary at 10am and continue late into the afternoon. There
will be plenty to keep the family entertained including horse and buggy
rides, storytellers and roving minstrels.
Estate Manager Scott Elliffe is excited at the prospect of Totara once
again hosting a Harvest Home. "In past years the whole community
would work together to bring in the harvest before the Autumn. It's great
that once again, we can come together as a community to celebrate the
harvest home".
For more information:
Scott Elliffe, Property Manager
Totara Estate
03 434 7169
Email: totaraestate@historic.org.nz
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