Horne Creek Historical Farm, NC

 

What I love about Horne Creek Historical Farm is that is makes you feel as if you have taken a step back in time. It takes you back to the 1900-era of rural North Carolina. Manual labor, raising animals, producing food, and creative crafts such as quilting were a normality during that time. This time period appeals to me because of the central importance of community and family. People relied on each other for giant harvests, bartering, and fellowship. The modern busyness we all face distracts from cultivating friendships and being with family. Yes, life was most certainly harder during this time period, but it must have been more fulfilling with a greater sense of purposefulness and closeness.

Website: http://www.nchistoricsites.org/horne/ 

We visited the farm during the 22nd Annual Cornshucking Frolic. Though it was cold and rainy, it was enjoyable to watch demonstrations of different tasks that would have been part of daily life on a North Carolina farm. This demonstration was of making apple butter.

  

The drying trays for making apple chips. A lot of time goes into preparing them.

Finished product.

 

The main attraction of the festival was cornshucking! A lot of free labor and then they roast it up.

Beside roasting corn, they also made cornmeal. To the left are the bare corn remains and to the right is the ground up corn kernels.

  

My dad and brother hard at work with sawing. It is a lot harder than it looks. I didn’t attempt it, but I have sawed before and know how challenging it is.

An apple press for making apple cider.

Mule drawn carriages.

 

I thought this John Deere powered cornmeal maker was really nifty.

 

They had several booths with artisan’s displaying their work. The one I found most intriguing were these tools that created the sounds of different bird calls. The owl and crow calls were very interesting. When you rub the stick against the pad that is on the wood, it duplicates the call which is useful in hunting.

This was my favorite hand craft piece. It’s amazing how every unique work of art reflects the individual who makes it. In the same way, we reflect the God who created us. Beauty is all around us and if we take the time to look we will discover that everyday is full of small miracles.