Bunnies and more at the farm

While cleaning pictures off of Dorothy’s phone, we found a few that felt appropriate to share this week on the blog. These aren’t from our home or garden; they were taken at Wunderlich Farm Interactive History Park right here in the Houston area. We were spending the day there helping an Eagle scout project build bird feeders for an upcoming birding program there at the farm. (Don’t worry, this was early March, before the COVID related shut downs and social distancing became the norm.) It had been a busy day there for them between the scout project and framing the new blacksmith building but we all had a great time out there. As usual, Dorothy had snapped pics of a few fun things during the day and we realized sharing them would give others a chance to see parts of the farm that they may usually miss on market days. So grab the kids and enjoy our first little mini tour for your Wednesday afternoon.

They have free range chickens at the farm and it’s a bit hard to miss them if you are near the barns on the back of the property. Farmer Steve has many different varieties there on the homestead but she was fascinated with the bearded chickens on this trip so that’s what we got pictures of. Yes, you can actually see the chicken’s nesting boxes and their eggs when they are collected daily. His chickens lay eggs of a few different colors and they all taste great! For the kids asking what the chickens eat, free ranging chickens love to find bugs on the farm and will wander over almost the whole grounds hunting for them. You can find the chickens even roaming into the big barns and the big garden in search of food or to see what the humans are up to. (Leashed dogs do not really seem to bother these chickens at all, so no worries there!)

Near the big barns and historical homes you can find the bunny area on the farm. This little one pictured was roughly a month old, if we remember correctly. The farm has multiple varieties of bunnies and they are all easily viewed by your whole family. It wasn’t a normal market day when we were there so the bunnies were all snug in their regular bunny houses. On market days with good weather, you can find a few playing outside in their play pen right there near the big tree. Bring your camera for those markets- you don’t want to miss a cute picture! All bunny houses are tagged so kids can learn the names of their favorites. Farmer Steve also has informational signs in this area to teach visitors about bunnies, just in case a docent is tied up in a lesson when you come in. Please make sure you get permission before handling the animals and follow all the rules when you’re allowed to hold them. It’s totally worth it to get a chance to snuggle a bunny.

While helping show a visitor around the farm that day, she went to the building with the outdoor and observation hives to answer a few of the visitor’s questions. It was a cool and overcast day so the outdoor beehives were quieter and the visitor had questions about beehives that were just easier to answer while looking at the inner workings. Dorothy thought it perhaps a bit wiser to just show her the observation hive than anyone opening an outdoor hive so they went inside the small white building. Want to laugh? When she removed the white board covering the glass for the observation hive, she jumped coming face to face with that many bees even though she could clearly see the glass! Don’t feel bad if you giggled at that; we all did! The observation hive here on the farm is a great way to see some of the innerworkings and relationships of bees, hive structures, and the life cycle in action. We were able to show the visitor a queen, let her see how the bees interacted, and even explain the process of removing honey and bottling it up. When you visit the farm next, make sure you stop by and watch for a bit. They have many signs like the one pictured above that help explain the process of “how they’d do that” so that you can learn even when a docent isn’t handy. The outdoor hives area also has a few great signs that explain how bees help farmers and gardeners, the large amounts of crops that depend on bees to pollinate them, and general safety information. Worried about being stung by the bees? It rarely happens on farms, especially if you stay on your side of the fencing and don’t harass the hives.

We think we’ll wrap up today’s first ever mini tour here and pick up next time with the outdoor cooking area, candle making, laundry fun and a peek at something for the blacksmithing building. Make sure to subscribe so you can be notified when that goes live. We all hope you and yours enjoyed a little something different for the day. Once this has all passed, please do try to come out to Wunderlich Farm for a tour or market day. They have docents on the grounds to help bring the history alive for us all plus the buildings are all open for self tours. There are open gardens to see, livestock to observe and pet, school room to experience, branding stations, crafts and home keeping skills areas, and so much information about our past hiding right there in plain sight. During the week, they are typically doing school tours so they open for general public tours on the last Saturday of each month. Their website and facebook pages are great about noting events on the farm. See you there again real soon!

Going beyond history…..

Wunderlich Farm, KleinHistorical.org

To reach Wunderlich, you can find their website here and on Facebook right here. While COVID has them closed to the public, they are hosting story times on their Facebook page, posting regular pictures there too, and we understand they might still have some farm fresh eggs available. Contact them for details.

Have another spot you think we’d love to see, share about, or experience? Have a festival, market, or event you’d like us to come to? Want to share your opinions with us? Let us know in the comments or email Dorothy@TexasPioneerCreations.com to let us know!