For the second year in a row following COVID disruptions, A Peep at the Coops is back at Moss Haven Elementary, this time with a Star Wars theme.
One of the urban chicken coops featured on the tour from 2019. Photo Courtesy of Suzanne Flodin.
Held at Moss Haven Elementary for over a decade, A Peep at the Coops is an annual fundraiser supporting Moss Haven Farm, a nonprofit outdoor learning garden and STEAM curriculum enrichment center for Moss Haven students.
The event is Moss Haven Farm’s biggest fundraiser, a fact which became apparent to organizer and Moss Haven mom Kaitlyn Osteen after a few years without the event, which was canceled in 2020 due to COVID.
“It is our biggest fundraising effort, and we were running out of money,” Osteen said. So we needed something to boost both the awareness and bring in funds to keep the farm going. So this is the second year it’s been back after a hiatus.”
The premise is simple: think of a home tour, but for chicken coops. Five different homes’ coops within a ten-minute drive of MHE will be featured for the first time, as well as a “fan favorite” coop making a return from last year — a new addition to APATC programming.
Attendees can visit each coop anytime between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. for a self-guided tour.
“You can spend as much or as little time at each coup as you want,” Osteen said. “You can make a whole day of it. You could spend a ton of time at the festival, go see the co0ps, and then go on about your day. You could go to the festival, see the coop and come back. It’s really whatever you’d like to do.”
The festival at MHE —complete with a vendor market— has been enlarged ahead of this year’s event. Falling on May 4, the event has taken on a Star Wars theme. From 10 p.m. to 2 p.m, “characters” from the iconic sci-fi franchise will be available for a meet and greet with pictures, which will be accompanied by John Williams themes from one of the four bands scheduled to appear.
There will also be two workshops and demos at the event: garden yoga from 10:30-11 a.m, and bee suncatcher art from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Other planned activities include a chicken show, pictures with ponies, yard games and a scavenger hunt.
Among the planned attractions, a few are decidedly green thumbed. Master gardeners from the Dallas County Master Gardeners Association will have an informational table, and Angel Giron of Big TX Mushrooms will be on hand with plenty of fungi and fungi-related facts.
Event chair Jodi Dubuclet, who the Advocate featured as “The Beekeeper on White Rock Creek” in 2024, says she is excited for an appearance by her friends from the Trinity Valley Beekeepers Association.
“They’ll be doing a local honey tasting competition, so you get to taste all the honey and vote for which one’s your favorite,” Dubuclet said. “Then our most exciting thing is that we’re having a peep-easy behind the school. So Oak Highlands Brewery has donated beer, there’ll be free beer at the event, as long as you stay behind the school and not on the school property.”
Peek at the Coops will run from 10 a.m. (coop tours start at 11 p.m) to 3 p.m. on May 4. Early bird pricing is available until May 3, and tickets can be purchased on Moss Haven Farm’s website. Festival-only tickets are available.
