A group of participants enjoying a distance learning seminar.

Joan van Osdol commented, "It was my first time to use videoconferencing. I can't wait to tell my kids about it. I loved it." Others in attendance also asked about signing up for future presentations. Although some programs are scheduled now, individuals are encouraged to suggest topics. Equipment can also be rented for individual business and personal use. Case-Barlow Farm is located at 1930 Barlow Road in Hudson. For more information or to sign up for future classes, please contact us. Information can also be found at www.casebarlowfarm.com.

Future planned programs include:

August 13, 2008, 1:30 p.m. — "Vik Muniz – Food for Thought"
Explore the work of this fascinating contemporary artist. Major themes in his imaginative illusions differentiate between what appears and what actually is. The Artists touch or signature marks the use of unusual materials and how artists portray themselves. Muniz work is in the collection of the CMA and other distinguished art museums.

September 10, 2008, 1:30 p.m. — "America Transforming 1861-1918"
Analyze paintings and architecture for clues about changes wrought by industrialization, urbanization, immigration, and social stratification following the Civil War.

A presenter of a distance learning seminar, as seen with use of videoconferencing.

October 1, 2008, 1:30 p.m. — "Form, Function, and Faith"
Explore the relationship between architectural form and function by focusing on three historic Cleveland houses of worship. Use geometry and mathematics to understand how these buildings compare in their design.

October 29, 2008, 1:30 p.m. — "Scary Art"
The Cleveland Museum of Art and Case-Barlow Farm will welcome the ghosts and goblins of Halloween. Hudson has always had many excellent artists decorating the store windows in town for Halloween. Now come and see what other artists in the CMA collection have created to be considered part of Scary Art.

Each of these seminars will last approximately 1 hour and will begin exactly as scheduled above, so plan to arrive 15 to 30 minutes prior to the start. Seating is limited so reservations are requested.

Students from the Hudson Montessori School have established an ongoing relationship with Case-Barlow Farm. Students have learned to care for the overgrown grape vines and have planted several new crops this year including apples, blueberries, and dahlias. In the fall, the students plan to use the fruits and flowers for their North House Micro-Economy projects.

In addition, the students planted over 300 sunflower seeds in conjunction with the Great Sunflower Project. More than 32,000 participants across the United States and Canada have signed up to plant sunflowers and count the number of bees that are attracted to the sunflowers in an attempt to quantify the number of bees pollinating food crops.

For more information about programs, video conferencing and rental opportunities at the farm, feel free to contact us. Information can also be found at www.casebarlowfarm.com.

The farm is part of the past and present of Hudson. The farm was originally the property of Chauncey and Cleopatra Case who traveled to Hudson in 1814 from Grandby, Connecticut. Five generations of the same family worked the farm until 1996 when the Barlows donated the homestead to the First Congregational Church of Hudson. At that time, the farm was bought by a non-profit, independent corporation formed to restore the homestead and foster an appreciation of the spirit and heritage of its builders, owners and farm laborers.

For more information, contact Case-Barlow Farm.

Begun in the spring of 2008 by Gretchen LeBuhn, associate professor at San Francisco State University, The Great Sunflower Project is seeking the assistance of citizen scientists across the U.S. in planting sunflowers and then observing the number and variety of bees that buzz by them in a 30-minute time frame twice a month. When all the data is collected, San Francisco State University scientists will use the data to make a coast-to-coast pollination map, showing the population distribution of bees throughout the United States. Says Dr. Gretchen LeBuhn, "It is vital that we understand how bees and where bees are declining in order to start to help them. Having healthy pollinators is important for both natural systems and our food supply."

According to the website, www.greatsunflower.org, America's homes, schools, community gardens and those around the world produce roughly 15-20% of all the food Americans eat. And for the urban poor, who spend 50-70% of their income on food, these gardens are a real source of good nutrition and an essential route to food security.

Regardless of whether one's garden contains vegetables, fruit trees, flowers, or even medicinal plants, many of these plants must be pollinated before a fruit forms. And as headlines last year have indicated, bees are under threat. Little is known about bee activity in home and community gardens and their surrounding environments. With enough citizen scientists collecting data, much more can be learned about the current state of bee activity.

For more information about the project, contact Case-Barlow Farm.

The Garden Group will also experiment with some rare annuals this season. One of them, called "corn poppy," was originally planted at Monticello in 1807, and the other, called "Job's Tears," are clusters of seeds that form at the tips of the stems and can be strung as beads. Historic Pansies from the 1800's are self-seeding biennials that should bloom from midsummer to fall.

The Garden Group will be working in the garden on a weekly basis during the growing season in addition to monthly meetings from April through September. Regular meeting dates are scheduled for the remainder of the summer on Jul. 1, Aug. 5, and Sept. 2.

If you would like to stop by and take a look at what is growing or if you would like to help, please call the farm at 330-650-0591 or email the farm at casebarlow@aol.com.

• Seminar Series - May to June
• Seminar Series - with the Cleveland Museum of Art

Live entertainment including storytelling, music and more will be presented throughout the day. In the historic farm house, several "old time crafts" such as quilting, lace making, weaving, and rug hooking will be demonstrated. The Garden Group will be showcasing the renovated garden and garden crafts. Antique cars and tractors will be on hand to add to the excitement. Throughout the day, there will be hay wagon rides for everyone, pony rides for the children and other farm animals to pet.

Many hands-on activities will include creating a corn husk doll, make a stick scarecrow and animal bookmark, face painting sponsored by Children's ACT and bobbing for apples. Enjoy playing traditional games such as sack races, 3-legged race, a cakewalk, horseshoes and checkers. Pumpkins to decorate and "grub" may be purchased.

The old bricks used for the walkways have been given to the farm over the past few years by several individuals and organizations. In addition, Don Barlow had salvaged large pieces of sandstone sidewalk slab decades ago. The slabs have found a new life as at the farmhouse front door as a stoop and front walkway out to Barlow Road.

New bricks are being contributed by individuals or groups who want to have a commemorative inscribed bricks. These special bricks are interspersed along the front walkway. Anyone interested in making a minimum $75 contribution for a commemorative brick is encouraged to do so. For information about the brick project, contact the farm at, casebarlow@aol.com or 330-650–0591. Additional information is on the Farm's website, www.casebarlowfarm.com.

Included on the website are restoration updates, past newsletters and a photo gallery that show what the farm has accomplished in the past ten years since the farm was designated a non-profit organization. A Wish List and announcements of coming events invite individual and groups to become involved in the mission of the farm.

For more information about the Case-Barlow Farm or making private party reservations at the farm, call 330-650-0591 or email casebarlow@aol.com.