After finishing a two week unit study on "Farming", our friends, (along with the Poppa's), managed a 2 hour hands-on experience at a 40+ acre farm in NewPlymouth, Idaho.

Our farming expert, Ms. Mattie, was extremely generous with her time & expertise as a lifelong farmer.  I managed to ask several questions, while the children managed to get a real taste of Farm Life.

Here are a few notes:

• Mattie's family farm has horses, cows, sheep, goats, geese, ducks, chickens, rabbits, & guinea pigs
  
• Currently, there are over 120 goats
  
• Their goat breeds are Alpine, Saanen, Nubian
• Milking Goats takes approx. 3 min
• Mattie currently milks 8 goats, 2x's day
• Each goat produces approx 1 gallon per day
• The "kids" can nurse on an artificial teat up to 6months
  
• The cows take approx. 10-15 min per milking
• Each cow produces approx 2-4 gallons per day
• Mattie's cows weigh between 800-1,400lbs
• "Heifers" refer to cows that haven't had a baby
  
• Playing music during milking helps calm the cows & prepares them for noise from visitors

I was surprised at the anticipation the children had regarding feeding and milking the animals.  Believe it or not, my children had more success milking than I did.  Plus, a few of them offered to be responsible for the milking duties once we get our homestead (that's a relief.....I don't think I have the patience to master milking....lol)

I must admit that our afternoon farm chores had us all really hot, sweaty, and much more grateful for our source of food.

There is no doubt in my mind that farming takes lots of hard work and commitment.  This field trip made me even more grateful for the fellow farmers out there like Ms. Mattie.

Have you hugged your local farmer today?? :-)  

P/S I'll work on uploading a short video of the farm experience & a link to my friends blog about the field trip :-)