No matter what time of year it is, one of our favorite things to do out here in the country is to visit Perrydell Dairy Farm. It is a 15-minute drive to this family-owned cow dairy and farm market. This family bottles their own milk and sells it from their market right on the farm. They also make their own ice cream from their milk, which is creamy and delicious and comes in many different flavors to choose from! In their store, you can find anything from locally made cheeses and their own ready-to-eat desserts, soups, and salads, to breads, baking mixes, candies, and unique kitsch for your home. And of course, they sell lots of milk. A local woman, Norma Warner, sells her farm's goat milk at Perrydell, and she also just started selling her own farmstead fresh goat's milk cheese. I hear that this cheese is delicious, but I haven't had the opportunity to taste it myself, because it sells out so quickly. While visiting, you might be lucky enough to run into Tom Perry, one of the family members who makes the farm a success. He can be very friendly and informative if he's got a chance between his many farm chores to chat with you.
Even on this 20-degree day, the kids cannot pass up an opportunity to experience the delights of Perrydell's hand-dipped ice cream. On the front porch you can sit on the long bench and eat before heading back to see the new arrivals on the farm. They have a constant flow of newborn calves arriving to, one day, add to the milk production at the dairy.
If you get there at the right time, you may get a chance to watch the cows being milked in the parlor - eight at a time - through a large glass window. Or you might be able to watch the process of bottling that same milk. On this day, the kids had the great honor of bottle-feeding the calves!
There were probably 15-20 calves on this particular day. Some are kept in wooden sheds, some were in individual fenced-in plastic housing. Calves are so cute and full of energy, especially at feeding time. A few were so excited to eat, that they were giddily jumping around their pens when they saw the bottle coming. I was surprised at how much air they were capable of getting!
Here you see the full grown cows at feeding time. Their feed is extremely fragrant, and can be smelled from very far away. Some of the cows are very curious about their small visitors and attempt to sniff and/or taste them. This dairy farm is a great place to spend an afternoon anytime of the year. When you come to visit us, lets go to Perrydell!
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