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MetroParks Farm offers families glimpse of rural life
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Kim Moff, Mill Creek Metroparks Farm agriculture educator, (right) gave the tour participants a brief history of the horse barn on the farm.
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Visitors on the Family Farm Tour were given an opportunity to pet Mariah, a horse that lives at the farm.
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Visitors on the Family Farm Tour got a close-up look at chickens, turkeys and geese when the wagon stopped at the bird barn.
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Texas Longhorns lounged in the pasture at the Mill Creek Metorparks Farm.
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Visitors to Mill Creek Metroparks Farm boarded the wagon to start the Family Farm Tour offered by the farm.
By ABBY SLANKER
Bacon, eggs, sausage and a glass of milk. Where did your breakfast come from? No, not the grocery store.
Visitors to Mill Creek MetroParks Farm’s Family in July have an opportunity to learn where their food comes from, what is made from products produced on a farm, the different types of farms farmers operate and a close-up view of the farm’s animals.
The farm gives family tours every Thursday in July at 10 a.m.
The tours include a wagon ride and then a walking tour. The tours start in the farm’s play room, where visitors are told what to expect on the tour, and they are invited to board the wagon, which is pulled by a John Deere tractor.
“The tours include information on what the farm is doing in the fields now, and as summer progresses, we explain how the fields and crops are progressing on the farm,” said Kim Moff, agriculture educator.
The wagon tours takes visitors through fields of crops and provides a view of animals that live in the pastures, including, horses and Texas Longhorns, beef cows that live in the pasture year-round.
The wagon then stops at the bird barn where visitors can get off the wagon and get a close-up view of chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, peacocks and more, all the while learning facts about the birds from the agriculture educators that lead the tour.
After the bird barn, visitors are given a brief history of the horse barn located nearby. Visitors can then enter the barn and pet the horses and pot belly pig who live there. The barn cat also draws lots of attention, especially from the children on the tour.
After boarding the wagon again, visitors are given a lesson in agriculture and, with a interactive twist, are asked to shout out answers to the agriculture educator’s questions.
Moff wanted to make sure everyone understood there is no such thing as a chocolate cow.
“All cows produce white milk. A chocolate milk producing cow does not exist. You have to make your own chocolate milk,” she said, much to the dismay of some of the children on the tour.
Visitors are taken back to the main buildings of the farm and are led on a walking tour, which includes barns which house rabbits, baby ducks, goslings, baby chicks, baby goats and more.
Moff and Ann Unkefer, agriculture educator, even took some of the smaller animals out of their cages and held them so visitors could pet them.
The Thursday family tours last approximately one hour. There is no cost for the tours, but reservations are suggested. For more information or to make reservations, call 330-533-7572.
Visitors are also welcome at the farm Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Sunday from 1-4 p.m. Visit millcreekmetroparks.com for more information and details on special programs the farm has scheduled.