Every Wed, my little guy and I head over to a goat farm to pick up our CSA. It’s not the farm that grows the food, but it is a farm that my farmer takes our shares to, so we can pick them up without driving all the way out to his farm.
Y’all have seen me on here before talking about L’Cajn Farms, and my farmer, Cecil. I’ve yammered on to everyone who will listen about the importance of knowing where your food comes from, and knowing who grows it. I know the man who grows my food. I know where he lives, what he grows, and I know that he loves farming. You can tell this is his calling in life.
What I don’t talk about much is the farm where we pick up our share. It’s a goat farm called Homestead Farms and it has been hidden right smack in the middle of a local suburb for longer than there was an actual suburb. It’s a goat farm, with a farm stand where you can buy goat milk, goat meat, eggs, and other items like local honey, local produce, nuts, etc…. What you get when you take your kids there once a week is so much more, however.
It’s a family farm, and these guys know us. The ANIMALS know us.
A few weeks ago, we went out there and my son went up to every animal there and told them we were taking him to see Big Hero Six. He calls them his friends, and they are. I’ve seen the large dogs run up to our car when we get there to greet my little guy. I’ve seen the baby goats run to the fence line when they see him approach.
Last week, it was raining and I wouldn’t let my son go back to see them because of the mud. We were waiting for Cecil when one of the ladies came up and we started talking. She told me that the goats do in fact start to recognize people who come out a lot. We chatted a bit about the weather, farm stuff, kids, etc and then I let her get on about her work day. A few minutes later, she showed up at my car again, in the rain, with a goat. She knew my son was upset that he couldn’t go see his friends, so she brought one to us! Now, these people are not making any money off me. The most I’ve spent there was $30 for a kid’s farm camp where they took us around and let a group of preschoolers feed the animals, milk a goat, and taught them about how a farm works and what a farm does for the community. Don’t get me wrong, we will do that again in a heartbeat! My son and I had an amazing experience that day, but we have pretty awesome experiences every time we go there. These are the kind of people and experiences I want him to learn from. And I know he does.
We got out of the car that day, in the rain, and he loved on his goat friend.
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