Little House- Day Two

"Standing on end in the yard was a tall length cut from the trunk of a big hollow tree. Pa had driven nails inside as far as he could reach from each end. Then he stood it up, put a little roof over the top, and cut a little door on one side near the bottom. On the piece that he cut out he fastened leather hinges; then he fitted it into place, and that was the little door, with the bark still on it.............The hams and the shoulders were put in brine, for they would be smoked, like the venison, in the hollow log."   LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS, CHAPTER ONE 

A lot of people smoke their meat for a hobby, for the taste etc...but can you imagine that being one of the main ways to keep your food for all of winter? When we read the whole outline of what they did to preserve every LITTLE bit of the pig, the amount of work amazed us! They used every part of the animal down to the tail that they roasted for a fun treat. This wasn't your typical "Oh, someone gave us some ham, let's put it in the smoker this afternoon.", it was an all day or two affair to get it all preserved before going bad.

For our craft today, the girls colored a tree trunk smokehouse, added pine chips and a little door to complete it. We wanted to put some Hickory Smoke drops on it, but we were all out. Next time we buy it, we will put a couple drops on. 

Down below, you will see some pictures from the morning:

Adding the glue...

The Smokehouse Activity.

Finished product!

Some of daddy's smoker chips!

Stapling in the door to our smokehouse...

Proud of their work...

One of the illustrations by Garth Williams of the smokehouse.

Hope you enjoyed today's installment of Little House in the Big Woods. Tomorrow we will have something really fun, so be sure and check back tomorrow evening!