t of the
equipment is from the pre-World War II period and animals have been
chosen or bred to conform to those available in the 1930s. A volunteer
program, established in 1976, aids the farmer in tending the large
vegetable garden, and the livestock which consists of poultry, hogs,
rabbits, goats, sheep, dairy cows and draft horses. Frying Pan Farm
cultivates corn, wheat and hay crops and includes a late-19th century
farmstead, a frame barn, shed, henhouse, and rabbit hutch and a machine
and separator shed. An orchard and additional crop acreage and fencing
are planned. Far from being a zoo or a site of isolated craft or
mechanical demonstrations, the farm is operated daily as if agriculture
were its only aim. Crops are grown not merely for show but to feed the
animal stock and manure is used to fertilize garden and grain fields.
The visitor who stops by the farm does not see a prearranged
interpretive display, but chances on the farmer performing that day's
necessary work: milking, haying, repairing fences, or plowing.[300]

[Illustration: Laura Parham and Kim Stanton work in the vegetable garden
at Frying Pan Farm. Volunteers do much of the garden work at the site.
Photo, Fairfax County Park Authority.]

[Illustration: This early threshing machine is one of the pieces of
period equipment owned by Frying Pan Farm. Photo, Virginiana Collection,
Fairfax County Public Library.]

[Illustration: The farmyard at Frying Pan Farm in early fall. The barn
houses livestock such as horses, pigs, sheep, goats, and dairy cows.
Photo, Fairfax County Park Authority.]

The farm boasts one structure not properly belonging to it, but
nonetheless most relevant to the interpretation of early 20th century
farm life: the Moffett Blacksmith Shop. The shop was owned by Henry
Moffett and stood in Herndon for 70 years, from 1904 until the Frying
Pan Park Supervisory Board bought it in 1974. At this time the shop was
torn down and reassembled near the model farm as a memorial to their
former chairman (and donor of the funds to save the Moffett Shop),
Hatcher Ankers. Henry Moffett, realizing that the advent of the tractor
and automobile would eliminate the need for his business, displayed
considerable foresight by collecting blacksmithing tools all over the
Washington area. His shop now houses some of this equipment and another
portion is in the Smithsonian Institution, though Moffett no longer does
any smithing. The park offers courses i