Spring has Sprung

One of the most exciting things about spring, at Conner Prairie and elsewhere, is fresh food growing in the garden! Who doesn't love the first bowl of fresh strawberries or blueberries each year?!

Now, I'll admit that I've always hated peas, asparagus, and lima beans. But when I first tasted them fresh from the Liberty Corner garden, I quickly realized that what I was eating out of a can or from a frozen bag were not actually peas or limas - blech!. I was so naive - EVERYTHING tastes better fresh from the garden.

My favorite thing, the food I look forward to most in the early spring is a fresh-from-the-oven rhubarb pie! Mmmmm!

I was just recently reading that seed companies all over the country are reporting between 20 and 30% higher sales - people want to spend less on food these days, they want to eat fresh, and it feels so good to grow your own food! The Indy Star just had an article giving tips for starting your own garden. And now is the best time to start - from now until mid-May, you can get great results that you can take to the kitchen!

At Conner Prairie, we have SEVEN fully-functional gardens in the historic areas. Opening Day is Thursday, April 2. And over the next few weeks, anybody is more than welcome to come and help start the season by taking part in planting the gardens.

Here's the garden plan for 1886 Liberty Corner:

What are you growing in your garden?
What are your favorite spring foods fresh from the garden?

The Science of Video

Hey there!

I’m really excited about the possibilities with this new staff blog! My name is Jenny Messmer and I’m in the Marketing Department. My main role is to write, proof, edit, proof and proof again every communication that goes out our doors and into your hands. But my true passion is video.

When I started over a year ago, I made a push to start producing videos internally. We bought a camera, updated our editing software and started recording! So far we’ve had great results.

Below is the latest, never before seen outside these walls, video about a new History Science Theater experience Adam and Aili (who you will hear from soon) have been working on this winter. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Balloon Pilots in Training

Hello to you all.

I am Adam Bouse and I’ll be posting from time to time on this new Conner Prairie staff blog. I am an Experience Manager and this will be my third season at CP. I’ve had my hands in a LOT of different projects around the grounds (and still do). I want to share with you the back story on how this place works – what does a “day-in-the-life” look like, how do we train, how do we get ready for events, and what are our inspirations. I figure that the best way to start posting here is to let you in on a little bit of what I’ve been working on most recently.

Maybe you’ve heard: we’re opening a new experience in June! (check out the pictures of construction under way) “The 1859 Balloon Voyage” will take you through the story of how Indiana played host to the first air-mail delivery. You’ll get to experience the excitement of being in Lafayette in 1859 for the original balloon launch, learn about balloon technology, and play with some fun balloon-related interactives. The whole experience will culminate in a real life ballon trip – up, up, up and away to almost 400 ft (weather dependent)!

Just last week, two other staffers and I went to begin our pilot training. Lots of physics involved, but going up is a great experience for sure. Here are some photos of the balloon we trained on. While the colors are different from ours, the size and operation are just the same.

(photos by John Elder)

Pardon the Dust

We are starting a new staff blog with the launch of the new Connerprairie.org on April 2nd. So, this is where we are going to test out design ideas and content for the next 2 weeks.

Let me get this rolling with an introduction. This is Jamie Hastings-Smith, Marketing Technology Specialist and lackluster blogger extraordinaire. My background is in IT, higher ed, and standard geekery. I started here in November and its been a whirlwind ride.

I had never visited the museum as a guest. So, I feel like I get the 'behind the scenes' everyday and I want to share that with you.

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