Farm offers an inside look at Amish life
By Joanne Lehman
It looks like a typical Amish home of the area—long stretches of white fences, well-kept vegetable and flower gardens, a pasture with animals grazing, and the white farm home with its smaller “dawdy haus.” Yes, from the road it looks like most other homes in the area. However, The Farm at Walnut Creek is different. Its purpose is to help visitors understand and experience life as it is lived by many area families.
This 118-acre farm, located on CR 114, not far from Walnut Creek, features an inside look at country life where each season provides different experiences. Whether you come by during haying in June, or help with harvesting pumpkins in October, you will find the seasonal rhythms of farm life are never far away. Here you will learn how it feels to live close to the earth.
The buildings on this property are new—built by local builders in 2006. Each one is similar to buildings found on the farms owned by Amish families in the area. A tour guide explains their purposes and, in the process, guests learn about growing produce, shoeing horses, caring for livestock, and doing laundry with a wringer washer. If you’re lucky, “Mommy” (Grandma) will be baking cookies and offer you a couple when you walk through her kitchen. All summer, the basement smells good and stays cool. This is the summer kitchen where the women of the home work many hours canning peaches and applesauce. You can see the shelves of canned goods nearby.
Upstairs in the living room, a quilt is in the frame, waiting until a few neighborhood women have time to gather around for a good visit. Look around at the sewing room with windows on three sides and the treadle sewing machine. Take a peek into one of the many bedrooms where handmade quilts cover each neatly made bed.
Everyone enjoys looking into the machinery shed where various kinds of horse-drawn equipment is stored and produce washing, sorting and packing takes place. The Dawdy (Grandpa) Barn is the home of the standard bred horse and Grandpa’s buggy and pony cart. Here you will learn more about horses. If you’re lucky, you might catch the farrier at work shoeing one of the farm’s horses.
The Farm at Walnut Creek includes a number of interesting exhibits that are educational for the entire family. Small exhibits of many kinds of fowl allow you to get a close look at some of nature’s most fascinating creatures. A handful of small hutches for exotic birds is located in the area near the huge rock garden where a series of waterfalls empty into a pond spanned by a covered bridge.
After exploring the dozen buildings and garden areas of the farm, many guests will want to complete their visit by taking the horse-drawn wagon ride through the wooded area of the farm. Here they will view a large assortment of native and non-native animals that roam freely enjoying the natural habitat. Ostriches coexist with water buffalo and pot-bellied pigs trot alongside elk. Visitors will get a close-up view because the animals have learned that the wagons carry buckets of snacks along with the gawking guests. Guests can feed the giraffes from the horse drawn wagon ride. Some guests prefer to drive their own vehicles through this section of the farm. Either way, you’ll get to see a variety of God’s creatures—including the unusual ones—that may be found on some farms in the community where Animal Planet might sooner be found in the neighbor’s pasture that on a TV in the family room.
Be sure to allow plenty of time when you visit The Farm at Walnut Creek. Children will enjoy the playground and adults will appreciate the picnic area and produce stand. Guests receive a colorful guest guidebook that explains many of the exhibits and educates everyone about the animals, buildings and crops found on the farm.
To get to The Farm at Walnut Creek, take SR 39 east, turn right on CR 114 (south) near Walnut Creek. Follow the signs; the Farm will be one mile on the right. Hours are Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. until one hour before sunset. The Farm is closed Sunday. Admission is $11.75 per adult. Admission for children ages 2-12 and senior adults is $8.75. Optional wagon rides are $3 for children and senior adults and $5 for adults. This business does not accept credit or debit cards.
For more information, call 330-893-4200 or go to www.thefarmatwalnutcreek.com.
