Sunday Event Kicks Off Dickson-Murst Farm Season

What are you doing on Sunday? How about bringing the family for a fun-filled day on the farm, and helping to preserve a piece of Montgomery history in the bargain?

For the fifth year in a row, Dickson-Murst Farm, at 2550 Dickson Road on the west side of Montgomery, will open its grounds for Spring at the Farm. It’s one of four major events hosted on the old farmstead each year by the Dickson-Murst Farm Partners, and like the four years before it, it promises to be a family-friendly good time.

It’s also one of the ways the Partners keep the farm in good condition. In 2006, the allowed the Conservation Foundation to buy the 4.5-acre farmstead—saving it from the bulldozers—and open a satellite office there. The Foundation agreed, as long as volunteers could be found to maintain the barns and other buildings, some more than a century old.

Enter the Dickson-Murst Farm Partners, a group of around 25 people who give their time to keep those buildings in good shape. But they need money to do it, which is one reason the partners hold events like Spring at the Farm.

But another reason, according to Partner Merrie Woodward, is to give people some idea of what farm life was like in the 19th and early 20th Century, and what it's like today.

At Sunday’s event, kids can meet and pet farm animals of all kinds, from horses, pigs and cows to sheep and goats, courtesy of the Future Farmers of America. The 4H Club of Kendall County will demonstrate the ancient art of soap-making, and guide kids through take-home craft projects.

Beekeeper Ed Bell will be on hand with his hives, and kids will get to put on the masks and gloves beekeepers use.

Families can see antique tractors and farm equipment, and hear bluegrass music courtesy of the Northern Illinois Bluegrass Association. There will be hayrides, pulled both by vintage tractors and a team of horses.

And there will be good food in abundance, Woodward said, at good prices—a family of four or five can eat for about $12, she said.

The money raised from food sales goes right back into the preservation of the buildings on the farmstead. The Partners painted the chicken barn last year, and will likely paint the cattle barn this year, Woodward said. And they hope to build a temporary kitchen to help with future events.

In the long term, they’re looking at touching up and repainting the big barn. But they’ll need volunteers and equipment to do it, Woodward said. The Partners are always looking for help with their endeavors, and volunteers are always welcome.

Spring at the Farm is the first of four events planned for 2012. The Partners will host their antique truck show on June 10, Day at the Farm on Aug. 19, and a bluegrass jam on Sept. 16.

Spring at the Farm runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and is free to attend, though donations are accepted. Parking is free as well. The event will go on rain or shine. For more information and directions, visit the Conservation Foundation online, or call 630-272-0686.