Kristen and the Prince

I thought it blog-worthy to mention one of our Wagner Farm alumna had an awesome week. You might remember Kristen who left the Farm to pursue her Ph D at Cambridge a couple years ago.  This week she was selected to represent the graduate student body when the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge came for a visit.  Pretty cool stuff. And yes, she said he was charming. 

Small, Medium and Large

This winter we have a number of little projects that we are looking forward to picking up.  One of them is to continue work on the silo exhibit.  Jim, a Wagner Farm staff member, has long collected agricultural related items. In his collection are a number of salesman sample silos.  These are now incredibly rare as there are not many left in existence.  Our plan is to make a display showing the model silos so people can get an understanding of their relative size.  When you stack them next to each other it is dramatic to see how big  modern silos are comparatively to the wood structures.  The original wooden silo  that we have on display in the Heritage Center is about 30 feet tall and 8 feet in diameter which matches the scale of the wooden salesman sample.  The blue Harvestor and the gray Madison are on the same scale and would be roughly 80 + feet tall.

Wintertime On the Farm

Posted by Allyson

Activity tends to slow on a farm come wintertime, and Wagner Farm is no different.  The corn has been harvested, and the fields have nearly all been plowed.  However, there is still much work to be done behind the scenes.  Just like on farms of the past and present, there are fences to be repaired and equipment to be fixed.  Andy continues to restore and rebuild the two-horse open sleigh that Todd wrote about in an earlier post, and Richard, one of our dedicated volunteers, has been busy for the past few weeks replacing several of the anchor posts on the white fence along the northeast end of the farmyard.  You can see from the photo above, they've become good friends working in the basement together!

"New" Plow After Photos

Posted by Allyson

This past week, Dick and Paul finished restoring the plow that I previously wrote about and put it to work in the cornfield.  Jack even got a chance to use the plow a bit on Wednesday.  They finished the west field even though it was a bit rough at times cutting through the leftover cornstalks and straw.  As you can see from the photos, it turned out to be more of a two man job!    

The forest has grown

Every year we have a small forest of evergreens appear in the barnyard and mark the official opening of tree sales.  If you are needing any wreaths, trees or greens please stop by the Farm.  Like always, all the proceeds stay right here at the Farm and are used to buy feed for the livestock.  Thanks for supporting Wagner Farm

Picture perfect

With Rob and Lindsay's permission I thought some of you would enjoy getting to see their engagement photo.  Guess where it is taken?

Good bye April

With the end of the school milking programs it was time to take April the cow back home to Primrose Farm.  If a cow could smile I think she had a grin on her face to see all the other Jersey cows calling for her at the end of the barn. 

As I was getting ready to leave, my old friend Doc came over to say hi. Doc was part of the first team (his partner was Betsy) we purchased at the Farm. When Betsy could no longer work Doc moved over to Volkening Farm in Schaumburg to work with some other Belgian Drafts who were from the same Amish farm that he came from. A couple years later, Doc took up residence at Primrose Farm with yet another team of hard working Belgians. He's looking good and in shape for the coming plow season.

 

Our next exhibit

Even though the dust hasn't settled from the silo exhibit we have already found our next project thanks to our friend Dick Zander.  If you have been to the Farm you have likely seen the model of the 1920's Case steam engine that we have displayed on the main floor.  Well, that was hand made by Dick.
Our next project is coming to us courtsy of Dick and his son Boyd.  They have restored back to working order a 1914 Waterloo Boy hit and miss engine.  This old engine has a couple of stories that make it unique.  First, it was owned for many years by someone else in Glenview, Leroy (Lee) Hartung.  If that name rings a bell it is because when Lee was alive, he had one of the nations most interesting collections of unrestored automotive and mechanical equipment . When he passed, the collection was put up for sale and that is when Dick and his son purchased the engine.  Interestingly, the Dunbar popcorn wagon that Ron Bernardi donated to the Farm also came from that  auction.  The other story worth noting about the engine is it was made by Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company who was not only making hit and miss engines but also tractors.  Their tractors  worked so well that in 1918 John Deere bought the entire company just so they could own the rights to the tractor business.  In fact, Deere still makes tractors in Waterloo, Iowa. 
We are working on how best to display the engine but we are looking forward to getting to show off Dick's latest restoration and little piece of Glenview history.

Final day of cleaning the soda fountain

When it comes to cleaning the soda fountain, the worst job by far is scrubbing out the freezer.  While the crew does a good job of keeping up the cleaning during the season, there is still a little ice cream that spills down the back and in the hard to reach places.  This year it was a team effort and the job was knocked out so the freezer is now ready for the 2013 season. 

Bring on the snow

Our resident carpenter, Andy has been working on a really neat project as of late.  A couple years back, Lloyd Bettis found us a early 1900's horse-drawn wood box bed sled.  Because of huge projects like the new shed and silo project we have not had time to work on the sled.  Now that the dust has somewhat settled the restoration of the sled has commenced. The plan is to replace the box bed with a flat platform that we can mount a series of benches so we can give horse drawn sleigh rides once we have a little snow. 
On a historic note, when we were moving the sled to the basement to start the work one of our staff made the comment about how it seemed strange that a turn of the century farmer would invest in a entirely separate running gear just for snow.  This observation brings up an interesting fact that is entirely foreign to us.  At the turn of the century snow was not bladed off the road but rather packed down to make passible pathways.  It really was not until recent times did villages and highway departments make war on very flake of snow that hit the pavement. 
If you happen to be around the Farm next big snow stop by and see if Bob and Sue are pulling our brand new sleigh.

Congratulations to Cody

This week one of our staff members was honored by the Glenview Optimist Club during their annual Ralph Lynch Sr. Youth Appreciation banquet.  Star students from all of the area schools were recognized for their scholastic, athletic, civic and vocational achievements.  Cody was the recipient of the outstanding vocational achievement at Glenbrook South High School. 
Great job Cody, we are all very proud of you.

"New" Plow Before Shots

Posted by Allyson

For the past few weeks, Dick, Paul, and Scott have been working away in the basement to restore an antique plow owned by Jack, a longtime friend and volunteer of the farm. Jack generously offered to loan the plow to the farm, but the plow needed a bit of TLC to get it in working order. The plow is a 2x14 just like the farm’s other plow, meaning that it has two moldboards that each make a 14-inch wide cut as they move through the earth. However, unlike the farm’s other plow, this one has a hydraulic lift since it’s a bit newer (c. 1940), meaning that it can be operated from the tractor with the switch of a lever instead of having to pull a string to raise or lower the plow. Dick, Paul, and Scott have replaced or restored many of the parts already, including the moldboards and shins. Now all that’s left to be done is a bit more rust removal and painting. Check back soon for some photos of their completed work!

Whisk Class

Over the course of the year I have written a couple of times about the NSSED partnership and the garden plot that they used as a classroom.  One of the final items harvested this year was the broom corn.  With the help of Christine and John the kids have had a great time working the broom corn into something.  Before making whisks with Christine, the broom straw had to be deseeded. While it was a mess, the students really had fun with the task.

O' Christmas Tree!

Posted by Sarah

You can always tell when the holiday season approaches at Wagner Farm when the big semi trucks loaded with Christmas trees show up.  Our staff jumped right in to help Jeff unload the first batch of holiday green's that will go on sale at the end of the month.  Everyone enjoys the piney perfume left on their coats when the job is finished too!

Farm buildings

Last week I ventured out to Cedar Rapids, Iowa for regional museum conference.  On the drive I noticed a number of farm silos and grain bins that I thought were noteworthy. The Dutch windmill in Pella of course was an eye catcher.

Psssss

Today while working in my office I heard a really strange noise that made me jump out of my seat and run to try to figure out where it was coming from.  After looking around the office wing I went outside to see a blume of mist in the air.  It was then that I figured out the irrigation company was just blowing out the water lines in preparation for winter.  While I'm not ready for snow the site is getting there.

An ugly job

Now that we have officially into fall it is time to start cleaning up the soda fountain.  Everything gets it's final scrub and put away for another year.  Diane and the crew take about 3 Saturdays to get through the parlor.  While it is a small space, it needs the attention.  Thanks to all the high schoolers and their fearless leader Diane for a great season.

4-H elections

I want to congratulate Cody, Claire, Marina, Marguerite and Myles as the 2013 Glenview Clovers officers. Also a thank you to Cassidy and Bridget for their service this past year.

End of a Gardening Season

posted by Jen

All of the gardeners have cleaned out their plots for the season. Apparently, that makes it a great meeting place for geese heading south.