On the Farm

As my interest in real, slow and organic foods grows, I've found myself hunting opportunities to get the entire family to local farms. The month of June can really be traced from one farm trip to another, leaving us all with mucky boots, farmer tans and full bellies.

Thomas Farm
We started out the month with a Community Education class taught at the Lee and Noreen Thomas farm near Kragnes, Minn. (You might remember we came home with an unexpected family member.) I'd met Noreen a month or so earlier when I sought out a source for raw milk. We'd already spent more than three hours on her farm, as she scooped us under her wings and filled us with interesting tidbits about farm life, organic growing and real foods. I couldn't wait to return.

During the day, we attended several seminars taught by local experts. We learned how to foriage for edible weeds, the nutritional and environmental value of organic and free-range chicken eggs, how to make goat's milk cheese, the details of bee keeping, tips for growing fruit trees in this area, and more. The kids hunted for bugs and played. And played. And played.

We shared a meal of local foods including purple potatoes, quinoa and a vegetarian bean stew. Oh, the food.

The kids bottle-fed a rescued calf receiving organic medicine treatments.

I stuck my face in a bale of organic alfalfa (one of my favorite smells) that will go across the country to feed cows producing milk for companies such as Organic Valley.

We left with a bag of strawberry plants to add to our patch, a brochure for a new local CSA (contact benjamin.kragnes at hotmail.com for a great deal), a notebook filled with ideas for more fruit trees and more inspiration to be intentional about our food.

And the cat.

Brakke Farm
Next, we headed to the Lynne Brakke farm, where we purchase our organic beef. We bought a package of beef last summer that took us 11 months to eat, making it an excellent deal. Beyond the delicious taste and superb nutritional value, we love knowing what a good life the cows had prior to our table. These beautiful cows spend their days knee-deep not in their own waste, but sweet-smelling grasses. They move from pasture to pasture of organic grass, mooing their little hearts out in the sunshine.

Last summer we visited the farm with my mom. This year, we took Jason's parents. And because the cows weren't up along the fence line, we crawled through the fence and hiked our way through the entire field to get a closer look. Farmer Bob told us all about the cows during the trek and Dwain led the kids as close as they could get to the new calves. I think it was an influential visit for everyone.

Peterson Farm
Another visit took us to the farm where Jason grew up. His parents sold the farmstead about six years ago and this was the first time our family had returned. The owners invited us all for dinner. As we visited, the kids ran through the yard, chased the dogs, looked for rabbits, picked flowers and leaves, and ran until their little faces were red and sweaty. They experienced what it's like to hear only the birds outside, watch hundreds of swallows dot the sky when you upset their nesting grounds and watch the sun set without any interruptions of buildings.

Dakota Carriage Company Farm
Finally, we headed out to a farm near Davenport for a morning of Little Farmer Camp. Natalie and Gavin pulled on their froggy boots and sloshed their way through the muddy farm yard (we've had a little rain lately) to experience what it's like to take care of the animals on a farm.

They fed chickens and gathered eggs. They bottle-fed a calf, pet goat kids, and tossed hay over the fence to a bull and cow. They scooped up kittens, hauling them around like rag dolls, and snuggled Aussies and a Rottie. They filled the feed buckets for more than a dozen Clydesdales and ponies, and stood behind a gate as the barn door opened and the horses rushed into the barn, filing flawlessly into their own stalls.

Finally, the little farmers enjoyed pony rides and bid the farm farewell.

The rest of our summer likely won't be so farm-filled. We'll have others things to tend to like swimming, biking and park going. But we'll be thinking about these farm visits for many more months - the fun we had, the animals and people we met, and the lessons we learned.

Just what I hoped for.