Intro
This is the 20th story in the New World Series. Like Fish & Ships of story 19 to the east, the town of Butcher & Baker began as a small fishing village, but unlike that neighboring town's founders, the settlers of Butcher & Bakers were farmers and bakers. Their breads and oat cookies would become a favorite among the northern trade route customers. Thanks to the merchant ship and the extra riverboats that were built in recent years, more perishable items like meats and baked goods could be delivered.
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Map seed # 896374728 Valley, Small, fair, Disasters Off, Easy 8 (seeds, no animals)
Mods activated for this map and load order:
Map Changing and Starting Mods: Banished UI Maps, Banished UI Town Names, Labor Window, RK Minimized Status, CC Light Rain, override Fewer Trees, Settlers Deco, Kid Deco Tree Fall, Kid Tree Replacer x-Light, New Flora Edit, Wildlife Start
Tweak Mods: Better Fields, Better Stockpiles, Better Stockpile Storage, Fishing Dock +25%, Hunting, Hunting Season, Increased CC, 1:1 Alternative (Voeille), override Rural Clothes, Rock Respawn, Tiny Smoke.
Major or Must Have Mods: An Empty Square, Nomads (Kid), override Uneducated, Storage Crates, Kid Workshop, Jinxie Bitty Village, Jinxie Festival Park, Kid Abandoned Places SE, Kid Alotofseed Trader 2, Kid Colonial City Center, Kid Colonial Housing, Kid Colonial Resources, Kid Old Hovels, Kid Plimoth Plantation, Kid Workplace
Supporting Mods: Deo Sunflower, Deco Tombstone, Kid Butcher & Baker (new, Testing), Kid Deco Farm Animals, Kid Deco People, Kid Farmyard, Kid Hedgerow, Kid Houseboat, Kid Jam & Wine, Kid Market Carts, Kid Market Food, Kid Patchwork, Kid Traveling Trader, Kid Washing Mod, White Picket Fence (TS).
Mod note: The new mod being tested, Kid Butcher & Baker, is another mod like Kid Coats & Cloth. It is meant to make available Items that may be missing when using some of the older mods. The buildings each come in a choice 8 textures, one at least that is sure to match whatever other mods you are using. Barley, oat, and rye crops and patches are added. Three bakeries make an assortment of baked goods including peach and pumpkin pies.
Yes, eager explorer, our children do enjoy reciting that little nursery rhyme. It's hard to believe that its orgin was a 14th century fairground peepshow about Three Maids in a Tub. No, no peepshow here unless you want to peep through the pie baker's window to decide which meat pie you want for dinner tonight; they're all good. Come, I'll walk you over that way and tell you all about Butcher & Baker.
Chapter 1
I can't tell you very much about the early years of our settlement, only what the grandparents and other elders told my husband and me, and some of that was not very clear. We are Kenden and Floreana. We started keeping town records after we were married and were expecting our first child. We recorded what old information we managed to piece together. Those we talked to were very elderly with failing memories or they were only children at the time and didn't remember much. The most common childhood memory was of oat cookies. I can't tell you exactly how many families settled here; all we were able to find out was that there were a lot of children, more children than adults.
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Actually, eager explorer, they settled in 3 locations in this valley; some time after they were settled, the settlements were called Timbertown, Rivertown, and Huntington. Many years later, the three together were called Butcher & Baker. It's not really clear which settlement was first; there are no early records at all. Some elders say they came down from the north along the small stream and settled what they later called Huntington, and some went on from there to settle the other 2, Timbertown to the west and Rivertown to the south. Others say they came along the river, settled Rivertown and then went on from there to settle the other 2. All agreed that they migrated from the north, so we think Huntington was probably first.
Huntington is in the northeast corner of the valley by the stream from the north. It's where I was born years after it was settled. I'll start by telling you what we learned about its early days and more reasons we think it was settled first.
Chapter 2
When Ken and I began our inquires, we spoke to one of the river boatmen who came to Butcher & Baker. He said it was not likely that the early settlers came along this river from the north. There was no direct river route from the north; the winding path to get here would have been a very long journey and would have passed many good places to settle.
No, the river route was not likely especially for a large group traveling with a lot of young children plus, as we learned, with sheep and chickens. We learned quite a bit from the oldest resident of Huntington; she was one that said they came down the small stream from the north. Her memory was sketchy, but she remembered the sheep and chickens. They were in the farmyards that were planted right away with some of the seeds they brought with them. There were cabbage, carrots, corn, oats, and potatoes that she remembered. Her boys liked the oat cookies she made.
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There were large herds of deer; her 2 sons were hunters. The hunter's lookout tower and a barn were built before any houses. They stayed in the barn. She remembered a summer storm damaged the porch roof of their new cottage that was just built. One house was big enough for 2 families.
The hunting was good, that is why they called their settlement Huntington. An animal shed was built before the winter for the sheep and chickens and the donkey; she had forgotten about the donkey that pulled one of the carts on the way here, the cart with the seeds and chickens. Now she remembered that one of the chickens pecked a hole in one of the seed sacks. We thought it was surprising what things we remember from so long ago.
Chapter 3
We thought it logical that some or all of the rest of the group of settlers would have headed for the river. Food would have been the number one priority and fishing was a quick and easy way to provide food. The 2 elders we talked to, in what was then called Rivertown, agreed. Two fishing piers were quickly built on the river. Patches of cabbage, potatoes, and oats were quickly planted as well; they thought at one time there was a rye patch too. They gathered wild foods and found 3 hedgerows close by. There were apples, plums, and walnuts. The elders remembered there was wild honey for making oat cookies. Again, we were surprised that the cookies we liked so much as children and even now as adults dated back so far.
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The elders of Rivertown couldn't tell us just how many families there were to start with. There was a big house for 2 families, a couple of cottages, and several small houses; a couple of young people wanted houses of their own. The houses were small and crowded with older children and younger ones and sometimes a grandparent too. The old buildings were just like the ones that were built in Huntington.
Apparently, some folks didn't take well to the long trip and weren't feeling to well; a few children were sick when the weather was cool and damp. There was a shortage of logs and firewood too, the elders remembered. A forester's workplace and an herbalist were built southeast by the river. There was a tool shortage too; a smith got to work at the anvil that they brought with them from up north; it was set up right behind the woodcutter next to the stockpile, where it still is today.
The elders did not think that the log shortage or tool shortage caused families to leave; they thought a few families went off scouting as soon as they got to the river. They weren't sure; they didn't remember.
Chapter 4
The few elders in Timbertown did remember. They came down the small stream from the north where some settled, that settlement became Huntington. The rest of them then continued down the stream, along the hills to the river, and then along the river to where another group decided to settle, that settlement became Rivertown. Three young couples and a young single female continued along the river, at the riverbend, they headed northwest into the forest to settle on their own in what became Timbertown. So yes, eager explorer, some actually did come along the small stream and others along the river to settle here.
The reason Timbertown's houses were so much different and newer looking was because they used fresh cut trees and thatch to build them, not weathered downed trees and branches like the others did. They did have plenty of branches that they gathered for firewood. There were also a lot of wild foods to be gathered and more than 1 large deer herd. They called their settlement Timbertown, not so much because of the abundance of wood for building, but because one of the foresters had a loud booming voice that he used to yell "timber" when he cut a tree so no one would get in the way and get injured by a falling tree. Folks were more in danger of getting trampled by the herds of deer that he scared away by his yelling.
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They built a forester station so they could replant what they cut, and they built a bitty barn and gatherer's cottage. A hunter went out a time or two so they would have meat to go with all the berries, mushrooms, onions, roots, and wild oats they gathered. They had all they needed except for tools and clothes; some of the children were already outgrowing their hand-me-downs. Ken's grandparents were among those children; they were too young at the time to remember much.
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A few of the men went to Rivertown for tools and clothes only to find that the town was short of both tools and logs to make more. They had only recently set up a forester workplace. The men returned to Timbertown, loaded up a big cart with logs and branches, and headed back to Rivertown. An early autumn snowfall made it very difficult to pull and push the cart. They were well fed and allowed to stay in a vacant house near the fishing pier that they passed on the way into town. When the weather cleared, they returned to Timbertown with the cart and a few iron tools and hide coats. The foresters and gatherer spend a lot of time outside; they could use warm coats.
Chapter 5
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Time passed-on both in the past and in the present and so did some of the townsfolks. Ken and I talk to the elders about the past as often as we could; we learned that Huntington built a small cemetery and a chapel in those early years; my grandparents are now in that cemetery. A few of the elders died of old age, a few of the younger ones died in childbirth, and 2 died and a few were injured when attacked by wild boar. Yes, eager explorer, wild boar. A large group was first spotted near Huntington. There would have been more deaths and injuries there if not for their skilled hunters. There was plenty of boar meat as well as venison and duck meat.
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A couple of small houses were built in Huntington for young singles and the cottage's damaged roof was repaired. A tailor shop was built; there were plenty of textiles to make warm coats with that folks wanted and needed. The hunters provided leather, the sheep provided wool, and there was plenty of wild flax to gather. A trip was made to Rivertown to exchange some of the warm coats for iron tools.
Chapter 6
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Rivertown also build a cemetery for the same reason but had no deaths or injuries from wild boar. We learned from her daughter that the elderly women we had previously spoken to had passed on not long after we spoke with her. Her mother didn't remember to tell us that the rye patch had been replanted and her favorite rye bread was made from oat flour and rye. A workplace grinder had been set up in front of the storage barn; there were oats and wild oats to grind into flour. A thick slice of rye bread was so good in winter along with a piece of dried fish; the old fish drying shack was built back then on the road leading to one of the fishing piers.
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We also learned that the builders from Rivertown were busy extended the roads to both Huntington and Timbertown. More wood and branches were brought to town and exchanged for some of the warm coats and a few more tools. Timbertown had none in stock, but like Huntington, they too had boar meat and built a cemetery. They had flax and leather that could go to Huntington and wild oats that could go to the grinder in Rivertown. The roads would make that easier.
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Chapter 7
I hadn't even been born yet when the wild boar situation got worse in Huntington; Grandpa always told us kids to watch out for wild boar when we went out to play. He must have been just a small boy when the town build a small playground in front of the chapel. They thought that was a safe place for the children until a group of boars gathered in the clearing behind the animal shed and old cottage. The hunters came promptly when called and more boar meat was added to the storage barn. The rest of the boars moved on but their presence in that area prompted the town to start building a fence around the town perimeter, a fence sturdier than the ones around the farmyard.
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With even more meat in storage than they already had, they decided to build a smoker to preserve some of the venison for the coming winter. The smoker was built behind the tailor's workshop, and a bitty marketplace was built on the corner of the road that led to Rivertown. The tailor had a cart to store textiles in right in front of the shop's door. A worker hitched the donkey up to the travel cart and took some warm clothes, fresh and smoked meats, and oats to Rivertown in fall and returned with flour and other needed items.
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A worker from Timbertown also came to Rivertown in fall to have their wild oats ground into flour at the grinder. It was so much easier than grinding the grain by hand. Timbertown's worker brought gathered foods, leather, and flax to Rivertown and went back with a few warm coats, iron tools, and flour. The smaller cart was easier to pull than the big wood cart and traveling to and from Rivertown was a lot faster since the roads were extended. Some roads were being paved with stone; the stockpiles had plenty.
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The roads were not quite covered with snow by the time the worker got back to Timbertown; the first snow of the season was early again that year. That winter, the folks in Timbertown had warm coats and hot mushroom soup to enjoy from the soup stand that was just built across from the new bitty market. Hopefully, the market vendor would have cabbage and potatoes for vegetable soup before the mushrooms were gone.
Chapter 8
The soup stand in Timbertown and the meat smoker in Huntington used up quite a bit of firewood; there was a shortage in both towns. My grandpa remembered that time; they had to go outside the protective fence often to collect branches; it was dangerous because of the wild boar; they were told to stay withing range of the hunters. A woodcutter stump was set up across from the stockpile to cut firewood.
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Grandpa didn't remember when the school was built by the chapel but others said it was at that time. Grandpa didn't go to school but my mother went to that school and so did I and my brothers. Grandpa did remember the 2 houses that were built after the migrants came from the west. We found out in Rivertown that 3 or 4 families with both adult and young children did come to stay in the valley around that time. One of the women was a teacher, and two of the men were builders; they must have built the school. They had some different ideas about house building and the one they built by the market in Huntington got some attention. Our builders built a small house next to the chapel for one of their young single girls. Two of our single young men were still living in the vacant house there by the farmyards.
In Rivertown, the woodcutter could not keep up with the demand for firewood, and tools were again in short supply. Timbertown's market vendor came looking for tools and said their stockpile had plenty of wood and iron; he went back to Timbertown with Rivertown's workplace anvil. Rivertown built a hovel smith next to the woodcutter on Main Street. They followed the newcomer's instructions and built a bread baker in the new building style. Everyone we talked to, eager explorer, remembered that bread baker. The main storage barn and both markets soon had rye bread. Two of the newcomer families were happy to remain in the nearby vacant house while the bread baker was being built.
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In Timbertown, another wood house was built for one of the new families behind the soup stand. Tools were being made at the anvil by the stockpile, firewood was being chopped by the soup stand, and vegetable soup was being made with Rivertown's potatoes and cabbage from the market.
Chapter 9
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Folks remembered that it was around that same time that a river boatman pulled up to one of the fishing piers. The boatman was surprised to find a settlement here; it had been quite a while since he came down this river on his way to Riverboat Depot. He had been late getting to his last stop and thought it would be quicker taking this route back to the Depot; it could snow any day. He said he could easily add them to his route but they would need to build a trading post; it was safer for loading and unloading the boat. He would do his best to bring items they needed but clothes and textiles were sometimes hard to get. If it was seeds for farm fields they needed, they would have to build a trading post suitable for seed storage. None of the boatmen would bring or accept large amounts of iron or stone, or foods that did not store well. He'd stop back when he got this way again. He would tell a seed merchant to stop too. No, he had no idea where to get a donkey; he'd ask around. His visit gave the townspeople of Rivertown a lot to think about.
The farmer from Huntington came with his harvest of oats and the gatherer from Timbertown brought wild oats to the grinder as usual that autumn. They had to wait their turn; it took a while to grind all the grain at one small grinder. Some of the flour went to the bread baker with Rivertown's rye. Rivertown's oats would wait until the others were done and on their way back to their towns with their flour and a few loaves of rye bread, hopefully before it snowed. All 3 towns could use more flour and bread.
Chapter 10
Huntington's residents were glad for whatever flour and bread they could get from their market, especially in winter. They could often find dried fish from Rivertown and crooks of vegetable soup from Timbertown. They had plenty of venison and boar meat and even rabbit from the hedgerow. The wild boar often got too close for comfort but by then the town was completely enclosed by the sturdier wood fence.
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Timbertown's residents were happy to have flour and bread at their market too. There was smoked meat from Huntington, and dried fish, potatoes and cabbage from Rivertown. The soup kettle would be bubbling all winter long. A hunter went out from town when a herd of deer came near; there was soon venison in the market as well.
Rivertown, however, found that their storage barn often had very little food to spare; the market vendors from the two other towns left little. A marketplace was built in Rivertown right in front of the storage barn. A vendor from that market would visit each of the other two towns and bring a supply of foods back to Rivertown. The rye crop and the rye bread were gone fast; the bread baker decided to make nut bread with the walnuts from Timbertown instead of using 2 grains for the rye bread, oat flour and rye.
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The supply of tools and warm coats for all three towns was good by then. The amount of logs and firewood had also improved for the towns. The only thing that was needed was crop seeds for more grains.
Chapter 11
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Huntington planted another oat patch by the new blue colonial farmhouse that was bult by the market. They had managed to save seeds from their farmyards each year for spring planting.
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Rivertown also managed to plant another patch of oats not far from their market. Across the road they built a mill that would grind the grains much faster than the small grinder. A trading post suitable for storing seeds was built down the road from the market and storage barn. A gatherer's shack was built by the herbalist's hut. Wild foods like those gathered in Timbertown would include more wild oats. Both children and adults liked wild oats with honey for breakfast; with two more oat patches, more of the wild oats would be left unground for that purpose.
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Several of the elders told us that Timbertown didn't think they were doing enough and had to be reminded that besides their gathered foods and wild oats, they contributed a lot of logs, branches, firewood, iron tools, and delicious soups. They were doing their share, and then some.
Chapter 12
By late summer, the crops were harvested, and the mill had made the flour, the winter supply of firewood had been cut, and there was finally time to consider what to stock the trading post with; a lot of trade goods would be needed to acquired sack of seeds.
Huntington had smoked meat that stored well and should be acceptable for trade. They also had more than enough leather and flax for coat making.
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Rivertown had some iron that could be taken easily enough to the nearby trading post. They also had 3 hedgerows with apples and nuts that would store well; the one behind the mill had walnuts and sunseeds, another had hazelnuts and wild honey, and the third one had apples and chestnuts. That one was the same as the one in Timbertown that they then began tending. They discovered they had another hedgerow nearby with a walnut tree like the one in Rivertown. Branches and twigs were cleared out of that one and a house for a young single girl was built near it; she would pick the flax and sunseeds and gather the walnuts when they fell.
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Two traders were assigned to gather the tradeables from the towns; they had only just begun stocking the trading post when Hassandell, the seed merchant came to port. He had quite a few sacks of seeds that he had just picked up to take to Riverboat Depot, but the towns did not have enough trade goods stocked for any seeds had they wanted anything he had with him. He took their order for barley, oats, and rye; and he gave them a small sack of assorted seeds he had left over from a previous stop. When asked, he said he would take some smoked meat in trade to see if there was a market for it. They looked forward to his return.
Chapter 13
Huntington's smoked meat was very welcome in the winter months, but the rest of the time folks preferred fresh meat. There was already plenty of smoke meat in stock for the coming winter and some was taken to the trading post. The border fence was extended on the west side of town, and a butcher shop was built there by the market. The butcher began by making venison sausages that were well liked by all.
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Rivertown workers were busy clearing the land for three crop fields for the grain seeds that were ordered. The 2 grain patches would probably be replanted with potatoes and cabbage. There was already plenty of grain and flour for the towns' needs, but Timbertown thought there could be more cabbage and potatoes; what they used for the vegetable soup did not leave much in stock for families to use.
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Timbertown's soup was simmering all winter long. There was plenty of wild foods gathered to provide a nice variety of foods to the markets. They gathered a lot of wild honey, and the gatherer made a sweet treat for everyone by cutting pieces of honeycomb into bite-sized pieces. We were told by the elders how much the children and the adults liked those honey treats back then. We still did.
Chapter 14
The seed merchant returned in time for spring planted. Apples, hazelnuts, walnuts, wild honey, smoked meat, down, leather, and a little iron were traded for barley and oat seeds. Hassandell gave the Rivertown trader a really good trade value for the leather but there still was nowhere near enough trade goods in stock for the rye seeds. He would bring them again the next time he came and would let them know how well the smoked meat were received by the other customers.
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The oats and barley seeds were promptly planted in 2 of the 3 prepared fields. The crops did well and were ready to harvest in late summer. Hassanell, the seed merchant, returned in early autumn with the rye seeds; he took more of the leather, apples, nuts, and smoked meat in trade. He said to keep the seeds stored in that special trading post so they would last for several planting seasons. If items other than seeds were wanted, another trading post should be built. The seeds that were planted did do well thanks to the boatman's special handling.
Mod note: The dark shadows on the barley field have been fixed for the release version of the mod.
The forests in Rivertown and in Timbertown both did well that year also; the harvest of wild foods was very good. The supply of logs, firewood, and tools had never been better. It was time to do some more building.
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Chapter 15
We were told that a new trading post was started immediately and was done that winter, but we thought that was not the case, eager explorer. We think it had to be the following winter because we were told about other buildings that were done first.
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A colonial style house was built behind the storage barn for a young single that had still been living in one of the vacant houses. Two shops were built on the road near the Rivertown forester; one was a furniture store and the other a home goods. The shopkeepers lived above the shops. The surplus of logs the town had was put to good use making tables, chairs, and bedframes. The home goods stores had wooden cups, plates, and bowls, plus storage barrels and crates. The town's women made other household items for the shop that others, especially those will young children and little time to spare, really appreciated.
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Another school was built for the children, the new one in Rivertown was on the road that led to Timbertown since Huntington had its own school. One of the older students from that school went to teach at the new school; it was completed and ready for new students when the first snow fell in autumn, we were told. It was the school Ken went to years later.
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So, that's why we think it was that winter that the new trading post was done. The trading post itself was a lot of work. They removed the old wooden fishing pier next to the seed trader and built a matching stone fishing pier on the other side. Another colonial house was built across from the pier. The new trading post was good size and stocked with crates and barrels of items moved from the seed trader. The farmers weren't planning on ordering more seeds; what they had would last for years with saving seeds from each crop, plus they had plenty of seeds for patches which were being stored with the others in the stone seed trader.
Chapter 16
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The rye seeds were planted along with the oats and barley in the 3 farm fields. Three new patch was dug closer to those fields to replace the other patches. One new patch was planted with cabbage and the other with potatoes, the 3rd patch was not planted right away; they were deciding which they needed more of, the cabbage or the potatoes. A new colonial farmhouse was built by the patches and fields. The last family was now out of the vacant house, which was then truly vacant.
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Huntington got a picnic table and bench from the furniture store, and a barrel from the home goods store. They began making cider with the berries from the market, there were a lot of berries. There was also a lot of leather at the market; the tailor's cart was full of wool and leather. It wasn't long before someone came up with a plan to use some of the surplus leather; a cobbler shop was built next to the furniture store. Everyone in the 3 towns would be getting either a new pair of shoes or boots, or new leather soles put on their old ones. The children's shoes held up much better; they outgrow their clothes and shoes so fast that they are in good condition to pass down to a young sibling.
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Yes, eager explorer, they do tend to grow up so fast. At that time, there were several young adults living at home with their parents who either wanted a place of their own or wanted spouses. A few more houses were built, most in Rivertown and one in Timbertown.
Chapter 17
No one could tell us how long it was before there were more apples and less berries in the Huntington market; they began making their cider from apples instead of berries. Elders could tell us that everyone liked that apple cider, especially when it was warmed by the fire on chilly fall evenings; they still do.
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In Rivertown, a tavern was built on the main road by the cemetery. It was completed in late winter, and in spring the furniture store provided some tables and benches for both inside and outside the tavern. A hardy ale was brewed from berries no longer being used in Huntington; the ale and the tavern were enjoyed by both men and women from all 3 towns and still is.
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Down the road the elderberries were blooming beautifully that spring. Several trees and shrubs were cut down, so the berries got more sun and had more room to grow. A wine barrel was set up and ready to make elderberry wine as soon as there were elderberries to pick. A shed was built nearby to store the berries and the wine.
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It was that same year that Timbertown built a nut roaster. The hedgerows that had apple trees had either a walnut tree or a chestnut tree. Walnuts were the first nuts roasted and in fall the tavern set out bowls of warm roasted walnuts to go with the mugs of berry ale.