Things to Do: Nash Farm, Grapevine, Texas

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Things to Do: Nash Farm, Grapevine, Texas

Nash Farm 626 Ball St., (817) 410-3185. Daily 9am-5pm.

exterior of farmhouse at Nash Farm in Grapevine, Texas

Thomas Jefferson Nash purchased 110 acres of farmland in Grapevine in 1859. His family raised an assortment of livestock and crops here. Today, 5.2 acres of the original Nash Farm--including the farmhouse built by Thomas, the barn, and the family cemetery--remain. The house retains much of its original structure, but was restored in 2008. The Grapevine Heritage Foundation’s mission for Nash Farm is to preserve, protect, and visually reflect the significance of Grapevine’s farming and agricultural heritage so that future generations may appreciate and experience a way of life lived by settlers of the Grape Vine Prairie. Nash Farm schedules many special events (think Ice Cream Social, Kite Making, or an 1860s Baseball Game) and interpretive programs, as well as educational tours. Every event here is a living history experience, with workers dressed for the era. And crafts are done with authentic era tools. “You’ll never see plastic,” say tour guide Cody Jolliff.

upstairs bedroom in farmhouse at Nash Farm in Grapevine, Texas

By all means sign up for the package that includes a farm-to-fork farmhand breakfast of biscuits with homemade butter and jams, salt pork (fried ham), hard-boiled eggs fresh from the farm’s henhouse, pickled vegetables, trappers fruit, and a variety of beverages (each guest gets to take home their logo Nash Farm coffee cup as a souvenir). I had to good fortune to experience this delicious breakfast in the dining room and kitchen that were built separate from the house to keep down the heat from the wood-burning stove, and part of the deal was assisting with the morning farm chores, including feeding and collecting eggs from the heritage breed chickens, turkeys, and Gulf Coast Sheep as well as picking ripe little peaches right from the tree. This early morning exercise helped me and my compatriots work up a good appetite.