Thursday, January 28, 2010

Visit to the Dairy Farm

Last Friday was a highly anticipated day around here! Emily has been wanting to milk a cow for quite some time and despite all our searching, the closest farm we could find with dairy cows was several hours away.

Until one day, last Fall when David was in Chick-Fil-A and heard a couple mention needing to get home for milking time. Aha! He kindly asked if they would allow young visitors and they graciously agreed!

We waited until after we'd reached the week in MFW on "cow" and that was this past week! We were excited to make the trip with some sweet family friends! What a fun day we had ~

Despite the fact that all the cows are machine milked now, the farmer graciously agreed to let our littles milk the old fashioned way!

It was so fascinating and I will say that I learned a ton about the milking process and found the whole thing so interesting!

We saw the baby calves ~

Learned about their food, how corn gets way up in the silo (always wondered that), how many gallons of milk a day they get, etc... We were so thankful for the opportunity to visit this Mennonite Dairy Farm and appreciate this couple taking some of their precious time to show us and our children around!

21 comments:

Ami said...

That looks like so much fun! We went to a place called KY Down Under last fall. It's set up like a little Australia, complete with sheep farms. They had to have cows so there was enough milk for the orphaned sheep and they let the kids milk the cow. Except it was the biggest cow I've ever seen, I think a brown swiss? So it was a little scary for the kids. I'm 5'7" and I think its head stood taller than me. Later in the fall we decided to start buying milk directly from the farmer so when we visited her little jersey cows it wasn't quite so intimidating. I really love farmers, and whenever we get to visit farms it is such a blessing! It looks like you're doing a great job of incorporating great activities into school!

~katie~ said...

What fun and how cute! I am trying to plan a similar field trip for our homeschool group.

Being from the dairy state myself, I had to chuckle at your comment about the nearest dairy farm being a couple hours away...it's hard to drive for more than a few miles without passing one up here in WI! :-)

How neat that the Lord crossed your hubby's path with the dairy farm owners in a Chick-Fil-A!! (Now, there's a restaurant I've never been to...we don't have those in our neck of the woods.) But if I recall, isn't that where you dressed your littles up in little cow outfits too?? :-)

Thanks for sharing your homeschooling moments!

Leanne said...

First of all, its so cute to see your kids in little windbreaker jackets...we are all still very bundled up here in the North..with our sweaters, hats, coats, gloves, boots,etc (I'm sure you get the picture!).
I can't wait to do that with my boys. If you are ever in Indiana...this is the best place to visit:
http://www.fofarms.com/
Its quite the operation! You can even see Mommy cows give birth (I skipped that last time I visited, but I hear its "interesting!)
I'm filing that visit away in my "homeschool" file! Thanks for sharing!

Wendi said...

Sounds like fun! I've always wanted to milk a cow.

Mom said...

Glad to see these photos of your dairy farm outing! Love, Mom

Bessers said...

How fun! We are on cows this week. I think that I am going to start praying for an opportunity to do the same thing. We go to the Bob Evans farm festival every fall, but they don't have cows you can milk. I've tried to explain it to my littles and we've looked at books, but it would be so great to be able to get the hands-on experience. Thanks for sharing!

angie said...

We have stayed at a Mennonite farm bed and breakfast several times. My kids love to feed the animals and take a hayride to the (fully automated,too) dairy farm nearby. We don't really need to plan any outings while we are there since they are perfectly content to spend the day 'on the farm.'
I had to laugh at the irony of Devid learning about a dairy farm at Chick-fil-a, since their whole advertising is based on cows. Of course, you would meet dairy farmers there!

rachel@thecupcakesprinklesinlife said...

YAY!We love farms!

We have a dairy within a few miles that you bring in your glass bottles for milk and get them refilled. It is so cool to visit the calves at the same time. We've also watched how the milk gets pasturized and homogonized too.

Bet your littles will never forget it! :)

Brenda said...

I think it's very funny that you were in a Chick-fil-A where their advertising incorporates a bunch of cows trying to get people to eat CHICKEN and you met a couple of DAIRY farmers eating there!!!! That's funny!!! Great field trip!!!

Cheryl said...

don't you just love it when God works it out? So cool that God put your hubby and that couple in the same place at the same time.
I think I had more fun on the field trips when I homeschooled the kids than they did somnetimes. Hands on learning is so much more fun than reading it in a book or watching it on TV.
So, how do they get the corn in those silos anyway?

Blissful & Domestic said...

what an awesome experience

Sarah said...

Great fun! Growing up, my brother worked on a dairy farm; so we bought our milk from there. I remember always having to shake our milk container before pouring to redistribute the cream that rose to the top!

Debra said...

What fun experience!

Anonymous said...

Hi Monica:

What cute pictures! So glad to see your outing at the dairy farm. How neat that God provided someone for David to meet so you would know about the nearby farm.
I'll bet you all had fun.

Love, Grandma

Anonymous said...

I grew up on a dairy farm, so it makes me really happy to see you immersing your children a little in the farm life. So many of our children are out of touch with where their food comes from. It is wonderful to show them how hard others work so they can have good food!

Blessings,
Elizabeth

Katy said...

Aw, that's so fantastic!! :) Glad they had fun! We are around lots of farm animals around here...so we are lucky (at least in my opinion we are!). BUT...I have *never* milked a cow and I completely want to someday!!! What a great experience for your littles! :)

Dorothy said...

What a cute story! I'm not a little girl any more but I would have loved an outing like that myself:)

Bevy @ Treasured Up and Pondered said...

I grew up Mennonite (lots of farming in our family) and I actually was a clerk (my first job also) at a Dairy Farm/Store that actually jugged raw milk for customers. Customers could buy their jugs from us or bring their own jugs/containers from home.

Lots of fun!! But can you believe - I've always wanted to try my hand (no pun intended) at milking cows and never got that chance. I would joke and say that I milked the tin cow - because the milk would get piped right out of the milk tank adjacent to the barn.

SO. You're girls have one up on me. I'm so impressed. Gotta love those cows. They live in such a giving way, you know? (if you think about it). Ah, a cold glass of milk sounds really good right now...maybe that's what we'll server with our dinner. haahhhaaa, AND chicken parm is on the menu - get that!! too funny.

Jthemilker said...

I like to think that I was born to milk cows. Love it! I only get to do it about once or twice a year now. Way back I was a "Dairy Princess" promoting the industry. I love the dairy and I'm glad that you are exposing your littles to such things. How wonderful!

Heather said...

So. . .how does corn get up in the silo? I've always wondered that! :) (Not that you have to reply, though.)

We're going to start homeschooling next year and are considering My Father's World. Has it been a positive experience for you guys? Do you have any general tips for us about it?

Thanks, Monica!

*carrie* said...

Neat outing, Monica! I'm sure Nathan would have loved to go, too!