WonderTree Farm

I need to make something clear here at the start. My wife, Jen, gave her consent to this piece. It is a 100% true retelling of a marital event that occurred several years ago. Facebook is full of posturing and perfect false fronts. Our life together is imperfect, but it is real. We aren’t much …

Steve Winn is a good man. Honest, hardworking, dependable. He is also connected. A member of the Zionsville community for many of his 73 years, he knows everyone and knows every place. So, years ago when I was looking for a farm, I called Steve. It seemed right, as I trespassed on properties, knocked on farmhouse doors, …

It was the Summer between my sophomore and junior years at Notre Dame. I came home to my parents ranch in Sherman, TX to rest, workout, and help my Dad around our place. It was a sweet time of life. I had moved on from being under my parents watch, but was still very much …

I have a suspicion. From my childhood on a cattle ranch in Texas to farming as an adult, traditionally here in Indiana, it has become clear to me that animals know much more than we think. This is not due to the way dogs knowingly look at a person or to the way a horse …

From 1916 to around 1960 Americans lived with the reality of a crippling disease called Polio. This sickness affected the lives of millions until a vaccine was developed and widely distributed in 1961. Growing up we lived with the effects of Polio long after 1961. Aubrey Elam Smith Jr. was my Dad’s brother. Uncle Auby. …

How To Train Your Cow When people come to WonderTree, they often ask Hunter or I if we’ve been farmers our whole lives. Hunter will share his agricultural upbringing with you and all the ways that raising animals were an integral part of his youth in Texas. I, on the other hand, grew up a …

Farming in the Winter Mesopotamia, the land between two rivers, is considered to be the cradle of civilization. Situated in the northern section of the Fertile Crescent, this land is proposed to be the location of the Garden of Eden.  On the 21st of May 2004, from 10,000 feet in the air, I came to …

Good day WonderTree Community. Hunter is taking some time to be with family in Texas for Christmas and has entrusted me (Chris) wear all of his “farm hats.” One of which is the newsletter writing. So here goes… On Saturday, November 21st, I woke up with a Chip Gaines inspired vigor, and at 9:00 am took a …

I was raised by an old father. Dad was older than my mother in years when I was born, but he was a lot older than her–or anyone else his age–in personality, appearance, and expressions. I can remember a teammate poking his head in the locker room in 7th grade to tell me my “grandaddy” was there to …

There is a secret deep in this thicketand high on this pastureand spread through this bottom land It is a secret old as the stones buried deep in clayas hidden as their coreas subtle as their descent It hides in plain sightthrough the drumming of the Yellowhammerthe pecking of the hen It moves in unisonthrough …