The Wyckoff Farm house is one of few wooden farm houses from the 17th century still standing in the U.S. I took a weekend tour with an extraordinary guide, Lucy, who not only described the lives of the family over the centuries but also the changes in the landscape of Brooklyn. This farm is in Flatbush, which is maybe a 45 minute train ride away from central Manhattan for commuters today. The farmers in this area that used to sell their produce to Manhattan would try to avoid a two day trip through Brooklyn and shipped their products on small boats up the creeks into the Bay and down to the tip of Manhattan, which back then was the entire city. The trip was short and convenient but today these creeks don’t exist anymore, since they have been filled in.

Everything that the family produced was made with great care not to waste any materials and any byproducts would be used somewhere else. There was no garbage in the Wyckoff household. For insulation corn combs were squeezed in the cracks of the clay walls. Their front yard was covered with broken oyster shells since they were abundantly available in New York, the capitol of oysters until the early 20th century. The floors in the original part of the house (it went through 3 stages of additions throughout the centuries) were compacted dirt, a well insulating and water resistant flooring people used back in the day. The basement was for storing foods dry and cool all year around. Candles were never used for frivolous things like reading! And so people went to bed at sundown - a live closely adjusted to the seasons and the environment.

My summary is probably a poor account of the wealth of information I received at the tour. I highly recommend if you haven’t had the pleasure of visiting the farm house yet, to do so and you can get the information here.