seasonal MUSE
THE VALUE OF TIME BY CA RO L A N N SAY L E
A
few years ago, the
in a letter to his wife, he
school district in
pronounced the ‘food do-
which we live won-
ings’ as ‘first rate.’”
dered—rightly, I think—
I told the board mem-
what education and value
bers that, like heirloom
derive from preserving old
tomatoes,
buildings. Potentially at
houses and rich bottom-
risk was part of a tax abate-
lands are fragile. Count-
ment allowed for City of
less antique houses are
Austin homes deemed his-
long gone, torn down for
toric landmarks (like ours).
lack of care or for dis-
At a school board hearing,
placement by modern de-
interested parties, both for
velopment—the heirloom
and against the abatement,
soil underneath smoth-
were invited to speak. The
ered for eternity. The
vast majority read from
Boggy Creek farmhouse,
prepared statements, and
on its primordial foun-
I noticed the board mem-
old
wooden
dation, has withstood at
bers listened to the speakers, but also looked down at their papers.
least two floods (1900 and 1935) and at least one tornado (2001),
I hadn’t prepared a written statement, but without notes I was able
plus the typical tortures old structures face from the first nail on-
to look every school board member in the eye and hold more of their
ward: roof leaks, window failures, termites and every era’s “gentri-
attention as I simply told them the story of this old farmhouse.
fication.” But with periodic resuscitation, it still stands a home and
Constructed by the Smith family and their slaves over the win-
a reminder of the farm it once was: a fine house amid land stretch-
ter of 1840–1841, on the 50-acre farmstead that the family estab-
ing out, the pecan trees at the creek, the slaves’ cabins, the vegeta-
lished in 1839, the farmhouse sits firmly anchored by two giant
ble gardens and the outside kitchen. Lives have been lived out en-
limestone foundations that support four fireplaces. I told them that
tirely within this home’s wooden walls—gatherings, births, deaths,
for Larry and me, who live in the old home and steward the re-
wars, torments, bounty, love. Original to one of the last scraps of
maining five acres (yet who are of decidedly lesser means than the
bottomland farm soil in East Austin, the house bears silent witness.
pioneers) the tax abatement has been a blessing. It’s costly to keep the paint intact, the roof sound, the chimneys securely pointed and the structure protected from insects, water and rot.
Then the three-minute buzzer sounded and I left. Thankfully, our abatement survived. As stewards of the house, as well as the land, Larry and I re-
Continuing in a random-babble style, I told the board members
cently delved behind the farmhouse’s clapboard exterior to replace
about the many people who come to our farm and immediately sense
decayed wooden supports, and added new porch floors and paint.
they’re at an “old place,” and of the many students who visit to see
Next project: the windows, through which farmers across the years
a working farm but end up getting a history lesson, too. “Sam Hous-
(and today) have no doubt watched for visitors, marauders and
ton, the first president of the Republic of Texas, was a guest here on
weather. It’s our goal to maintain the health of this antique-heir-
December 24, 1841,” I tell the students. “You’re probably standing
loom farmhouse—the true value of which dwells somewhere in the
where his carriage was parked and walking where he hobbled up to
ether and can’t be measured in dollars—along with its timeless,
the farmhouse on crutches—favoring an ankle that was wounded
nourished fields, for the next generation. We think every farmer
at the battle of San Jacinto—a major in the Texas army by his side
who ever lived here would approve.
as an aide. He ate supper here—dining on cornmeal, pork, beef and
For more information on Boggy Creek Farm or the upcoming Historic
heirloom vegetables, all raised on the farm—and later that evening,
Farmhouse Tour on November 1 and 2, visit boggycreekfarm.com
78
HEIRLOOM 2014
EDIBLEAUSTIN.COM