I am now at The Shepherd's Farm, though I don't know how it got its name because the people running it right now are the Cousins. It is a wonderful family of mother, father, 4 daughters, one son and two dogs. The oldest daughter is married and has two children. So far I have met two of the daughters, the son and father.
I found this place from another one of the clubs I joined. This one is called Harvest Hosts, which is a collection of farms, vineyards and small museums that have space for people to camp with varying degrees of services. The usual stays are one or two nights, but if you hit it off with the hosts and want to stay longer that is possible. I am only to be here for one night, en route to my next spot. I really wanted to see their operation because according to the on-line posting they have a lot going on at this organic farm, it was on my way to the next campground and they offer 3-way hookups (water, electricity and sewer).
The second oldest daughter showed me where to set up my trailer. A while later the father arrived and I offered to help out where I could. This involved helping the son to load old fashioned rectangular bails of hay onto the conveyor belt that would take them up to the barn loft where the father was putting them away. Each one weighed about 35 lbs. It was a good workout. In the lower portion of the barn I saw some laying hens, other chickens and four pigs. In a nearby field there is a herd of sheep.
The father and I then went to pick some red fingerling potatoes for a nearby gourmet restaurant. I helped pull them from the ground. I felt a bit bad because the potatoes were still rather small and should have been given the chance to grow a little larger. We picked about 22 pounds worth. We washed them off and then delivered them to the restaurant along with the tops of some garlic plants, some breakfast sausages and double smoked black forest ham. In the field where the potatoes were growing there were also a few kinds of berries and some other plants. Other fields were planted in grains. They also have some grape vines and a cranberry bog. On the way back we stopped at the dairy farm the daughter who showed me where to park was working, milking the cows. The farm has 148 cows to milk twice a day. They are housed in a very modern barn. The milking machines are electronic, keeping track of how much milk each cow is producing and how long it is on the milking machine. The milk travels through piping from the stalls to the tanks. The cows get lots of healthy feed mix and fresh water. This was quite an operation and I was given a good tour.
It was a warm day, around 80 degrees, but with low humidity and a fair breeze blowing it felt cooler to me, more like 72.
The father gave me two lovely lamb chops, a package of breakfast sausages and some potatoes. I cooked the lamb and potatoes for dinner. It was delicious.
I should sleep well tonight with the fresh farm air and the workout I got.
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