Pioneer Farms

Posted on | March 23, 2010 | 2 Comments

This past Friday was the highlight of our week off. Well, it is pretty hard to pick a high light. It’s more accurate to say this was just one of many highlights.

And you know what? I’m tired of checking the “homeschool” category box for things that happen during the week only. The rest of our hikes and Lego creations and reading really fall under that heading. Just putting it out there since it just occurred to me and I am impulsive that way.

Where was I? Friday? Pioneer Farms? Yes. Goes without saying: fun, friends, and those are all the Fs I can think of. It was hardly frivolous and there was lots to learn about from lots of people.

Like how nails weren’t commercially available until several years after the Civil War. That’s what this gentleman shared.

woodworker

Another docent told us that this chestnut horse (Indian “pony” or appaloosa) has what they call a “wild eye” because you can see the whites of his eyes. He looks very skittish because of it. It’s just a coincidence that is his, in fact, very skittish. The pony in the back (a palomino but not a champagne palomino) has what they call a “kind eye” because—you guessed it—no white can be seen.

skittish horse

Just for fun:

saddles

The blacksmith told us that, in Pioneer days, a good blacksmith could turn out 200 nails in an hour.

blacksmith2

Our hostess at the Jacobsen homestead told us about how the 13 children lived in their tiny, tiny home. That is to say, not very comfortably, especially if you were a boy past infant stage. You got to sleep outside or in the barn loft.

docent at jacobsen homestead

Please don’t ask me why, but I just love looking at laundry drying on a line.

wash on the line

Is that just me? The clothes always had such a nice smell and it was fun to walk through them when they were very damp and just hung and you could see someone’s silhouette through them. I think we need to bring back clothes lines.

A friend’s discovery as we were walking through fields (and by the way, there were so many different kinds of flowers…I was trying not to get left behind so I didn’t take too many photos). These flowers smelled like garlic.

wildflowers

See the fishes? The family of 15 Jacobsens’ diet was supplemented with fish from this stream which was actually part of the Chisolm Trail. Google it, it’s good for you to know about this stuff.

fish in the stream

This was the docent that gave us the information on different horse breeds and how the horses we were feeding were the sort that were very skittish and tended to bite. But not here. Here he’s telling us about how the Tonkawa Indians of Austin used to live and how, while they were a typical patriarchal society, the only “real” property that was owned—a tipi—belonged to women. Only women and their husbands got to live and sleep in a tipi. Kids? If you aren’t nursing, you’re booted out of the tipi. Husbands? You had better bring home a nice fish or rabbit for dinner or you’re sleeping outside with the kids.

talking about the tonkawas

Genuine replica tipi which only women set up and tore down and transported:
tonkawa tipi replica

Camp:
camp site

In another house, we saw a demonstration of how to card wool so it could be spun into yarn:

carding wool

And we met the baby longhorn in the area behind the home:
checking out the calf2
His mama was a little concerned about how close we were to her baby. After I took this, she did express her concerns so I made sure we moved out of the way. Those longhorns live up to their name. But if they changed the name to long-and-pointy-and-not-afraid-to-use-them-horns it would be much more accurate.

There’s lots more to see over on Flickr.

While I did get lots more trivia about pioneer life, my main thought is how much I take for granted in my own time and world. Right? I know I wouldn’t have enjoyed the chore of washing clothes (hanging, maybe) or fetching water from a well or having to sleep in a loft with no screens on the windows. Who knows what makes it in the house. No insulation either. Or indoor plumbing. Or gas and electric. Or indoor plumbing.

Wouldn’t you miss indoor plumbing?

Category: Homeschool

Comments

2 Responses to “Pioneer Farms”

  1. Mai
    April 14th, 2010 @ 9:59 pm

    I missed this place! We didn’t get to see a baby longhorn last time right?

  2. phisch
    April 15th, 2010 @ 3:36 am

    No I don’t think we did. I don’t think we saw any baby animals actually!

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