The monthly Museum Open Days at the Hinkle-Garton Farmstead will resume from 1 to 4 p.m. this Saturday according to a release.
The day will feature live musical performances, farmstead tours and a sale of local products, said Steve Wyatt, executive director of Bloomington Restoration Inc. Due to social distancing concerns, live music will be performed on the back deck of the farmhouse, and visitors will only take the tours in the groups they come with. Visitors will be asked to wear masks, Wyatt said.
Visitors will be able to tour the farmstead museum on the main floor of the two-story Queen Anne-style farmhouse exhibiting family items of the Hinkle family.
The Hinkle-Garton Farmstead is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and owned, protected and maintained by BRI, a not-for-profit historic restoration group. Most of the land of the farmstead is leased to IU to operate the IU Campus Farm, Wyatt said.
The farmstead was donated by the late Daisy Garton, whose father and grandfather were farmers by trade, according to BRI’s website. An old piano sits in the farmhouse, since both Daisy and her husband Joseph were music teachers.
“There’s people who still come in who remember being her students as children and taking private lessons here at the house on that piano,” Wyatt said.
Among the products available for sale on the open day is maple syrup produced at the farmstead. Wyatt said the maple sap is ready for harvest in February and March, and people can come to watch the process or even take a class on making maple syrup.
The open day events are free.
