The Ingles Farm ....circa 1747

Labor Day...and we were off for our first field trip.  This farm, the Ingles Farm of 1747 in Radford was open and free to visit for the day.  They had exhibits to observe and it gave us the opportunity to go back in time for a while.

 A year or so after establishing their homestead here the Ingles family were attacked by Shawnee Indians.  Mary Draper Ingles, pregnant,  along with two of her children and another woman were taken away captive.  Years later she escaped from them and found her way home.  The movie "Follow the River" depicts her journeys and trials.

This was an apple cider press. What a fun way to see physics at work. Mr. Ingles, the tour guide above, is the 5th generation grandchild of the original family.  He still owns of the farm.  He explained how it worked, maybe I'll get Connor to put it into words later.   They were quite prosperous with their apple cider and orchards.

Showing how the wool would look after it was washed.

They then would 'card' the wool.  This was to get all the fibers in one direction.  From their they would spin it into a thread or yarn.

This may not be so easy after all....

Liam also found that this was much harder than it looked...big sister Cailin had to help him get the brushes apart.

The house was soooo small.  Mr. Ingles was quoted to have said that they had a small  family of five kids.  Seven people lived in this itty bitty home.

Inside the house listening to the story of Mary Draper Ingles and life of the frontier.

Brianne got very stir crazy sitting in the home.  She just wanted to be up and on her feet....after all she can use them well now and she wants to walk everywhere.  We went outside and found this ram.  She was interested in it, but couldn't figure out how to get closer.

House from another view.

Here they show us how the homesteaders got flax from the field grasses.  They would cut the grasses let them dry till the outside shells were brittle then use this contraption to break the shell away from the fibers inside.  After they cleaned the fiber they then pounded and pulled them through a forked thing-a-bob it was ready to be spun into threads.

Ryan chatting away with his friend Jess

Taking a bit of time to relax and enjoy the grounds....and play with Brianne.

Hearing all about the militia men...their equipment and what life was like for them.

Inside the home.

They got to play with some toys of the day.

Delaney and Jagger trying to figure out how to play with the whirl-a gig.

Cailin found a duck like toy which had four ducks "eating' food.
They also had some examples of different dolls from this time period.  I hope to make one or two of our own.