The farming techniques practiced by the Ioway Indians in 1700 pre-dated written history and varied somewhat from European methods. Ioway farmers raised corn, beans and squash.

On a mid-summer visit to the 1850 Pioneer Farm, the farm staff might be in the fields cultivating corn and potatoes, or harvesting wheat, the three main crops on the Iowa frontier.

The 1876 town of Walnut Hill re-creates a bustling frontier community with craftsmen and merchants in several shops, businesses and homes along the town's main street. Near the town, visitors will find a country schoolhouse, as well as an upperclass Victorian home and adjoining barn.

In fields at the 1900 Horse-Powered Farm, Percheron draft horses pull a variety of machinery to plant, cultivate, and harvest the farm's three main crops of corn, oats, and hay. There are also vegetable gardens to be tended and household chores to be done.