Thursday, May 17, 2012

Touring Polyface Farms - Rural Thursday

Seems like I'd wanted to tour Polyface Farms forever, and finally the other weekend we made it happen.  A multigenerational organic farm located about two hours from us, we'd watched the video, read some of the books, but needed to see it with our own eyes!  I called up my parents, who were also eager to tour Polyface, and we met them there.
 All of the animals we saw looked healthy and happy.  The cattle are moved every day so they stay on fresh green grass.

Cort and Reid had fun exploring.  Reid is in the background, petting a barn cat.  See Cort's shirt?  Reid's shirt says, "Me Neither".  This was the first time they'd worn them, and they were a huge hit!

Beautiful greens.  There were several hoop houses like these stuffed full of beautiful vegetables. 

See the wood furnace in the hoop house?  They can use it to heat the house in the winter, when they have the chickens in there. 

The chickens are moved frequently too, on this day they were in a permanent hoop house, where they were stirring up the dirt and matter that the rabbits had produced.  Let me say that while it was full of chickens in there, there was absolutely no icky smell.  The floor looked nice and clean, too.

Baby chicks!

Rabbits!  Their cage may not be fancy, but it's moved everyday, so they always have fresh grass.

Walking up the road, to find some pigs.

We found some chickens, carefully guarded by a VERY vocal goose.

And we found some chicks too.

Lucky for Cort my Dad was there to be his buddy and carry him...all day long...so he wouldn't get his feet muddy.  He was especially concerned about getting his feet muddy.  So he says.  I think he just wanted a free ride.


This is the barn.  The barn was full of pigs on this day.

The barn where the pigs were was the only place we found to be a little smelly.  However, the place still looked clean and the pigs seemed quite healthy.

Afterwards, we went in the shop, where you can buy their products.  Unfortunately, we hadn't thought ahead to bring a cooler with us.  Their cuts of meat looked beautiful though - the organic bacon was especially tempting.

Just outside the store.  The boys had so much fun touring Polyface with their Cat Cat and Pop Pop! 

54 comments:

Ginny Hartzler said...

Your dad looks like he is having more fun then the boys!!! Ella's dad had a chance to work at Polyface Farms once. Some of our local restaurants serve food from there. We have the book The Omnivore's Dilemma" but have not read it yet. I didn't know they had tours!

Katie said...

What a fabulous experience for your kids and entire family! I love farm visits.

Brian King said...

It looks like a very busy place and a great place for the kids! They obviously enjoyed all the animals. Somebody has a full time job keeping up with everything there.

Jill said...

What a great place! I just love the shirts that the twins had on. Funny and oh so true, I am sure. :)

Karen thisoldhouse2.com said...

What a great place to visit with the family. And it looks like all the animals are taken care of well.

Eat To Live said...

Lucky.. Cort. I wish I had someone around to carry me so my feet don't get muddy.

Nancy said...

Interesting place and a great way to visit with your parents and get some exercise to boot! Thanks for taking us along, Lisa. :)

Anonymous said...

I love the twins shirts! This looks like a wonderful farm to explore.

Unknown said...

So cool! I would love to visit there, thanks for taking me along on your tour!!

Sonya @ Under the Desert Sky said...

Looks like a fun field trip, especially since their grandparents were with them. (And it looks like grandpa had no problems giving Cort a day-long ride!)

I love the twins' shirts!

Coloring Outside the Lines said...

Another fun tour- my grands would love this place.

Unknown said...

Oh how fun! We want to go there one day! I really need to look into their tours; I don't think they are but so far from us either. So glad you got to see the operation first hand!

Tanya Breese said...

what a great farm and i love the boys shirts! when braden and dalton were about their age i got them these cute t's that said "yes we are twins and yes we are identical" to wear on outings lol...it cut down on the same question we would hear over and over and instead got some laughs!

Laura @ Green Legacy Farm said...

Fun! I love Polyface and am glad you got a chance to go. We (finally) got to meet Joel Salatin the last time we were there, and he is such a genuine, humble person! BTW, I'm going to link up later. :)

TexWisGirl said...

looks like a great farm! kids are so cute.

EG CameraGirl said...

What a super place for the kids to explore!

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed you sharing the tour and cute pics of the farm. Thanks so much for hosting; this is my first time to join in. I have enjoyed visiting around this a.m. Have a great day. I've signed up to follow you.

andy said...

Looks like fun! !! Bet the boys loved it! !!!

Betty Manousos said...

hi lisa, thanks for this lovely pictorial tour and for taking us along.

looks like a lot of fun and a great farm!
your kids are soo cute!

have a nice day!

Dimple said...

That looks like a fun tour. I grew up in a small city, and every time I had the chance to visit a farm, I loved it. The shirts are funny!

Marie said...

Looks like a fun time for everyone! Love the t-shirts on the boys! Sooo cute! My cousin has twin boys that are just one year.
Have a great day!

V and A said...

I've always wanted to go to an organic farm like that and buy my meat. I need to look into that

Anonymous said...

WHat a great place!

LOVE MELISSA:) said...

Looks like such a fun place for the kids!! I love all the pictures! Gorgeous

Leovi said...

Delicious pictures, I love the organic farms.

Sally said...

There's not anything I enjoy more than visiting farms, and that one is great. So glad your parents met you; they look so happy with the boys.

Have a wonderful day, Lisa.

Buttons Thoughts said...

Now this looks like you had lots of fun. My kind of fun. It is so good for your parents and your kids to spend time like this together. Thanks for the tour. B

Irish Italian Blessings said...

What a super cool trip!! That seems like an awesome place to visit and the animals look happy. The shirts are seriously perfect, I need to get those for my littles :)

Candy C. said...

Dang, I am soooo jealous that you got to go tour Polyface! I love their philosophies for farming and raising animals; unfortunately, most of it isn't very practical here in the desert...

Unknown said...

How cool!!! We've been wanting to go visit up there. I love when Joel talks about respecting the piggyness of the pigs!! That was the part that really suckered me into liking him. :)

Out on the prairie said...

Lovey tour, I will have to read up more on this operation

Anonymous said...

What a great place to visit! I love those tee shirts!

Tina Fariss Barbour said...

Looks like a beautiful farm where the animals are well treated. That's good to see.

Your boys and their grandparents seemed to be having a ball! Photos of your boys on trips like this always show them so intent, so interested in what they're seeing.

MarmePurl said...

Well, I certainly enjoyed the tour through your lens...many thanks.

J.Rhoades said...

What a great experience for your boys! Looked like fun!

GardenOfDaisies said...

What a wonderful day you had! My daughter had an opportunity to meet JS a couple of years ago, when she took that college class on the sustainable farm in WV. Hey, have you met Kate over at "Foxs Lane" blog? She and her husband were inspired to start their own organic farm after reading one of his books... http://foxslane.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh, love the goose & chickens pic, hilarious! =)

Across the Avenue said...

Aw, what a fun day! It looks like the family loved every minute of it. :)

Debby@Just Breathe said...

That sounds like a fun day. Very impressive farm! Like the boys shirts.

Becky Jane said...

Love the shirts! I can see why they were a hit. This is the way farming should be. I so appreciate folks that do it right.

jp@A Green Ridge said...

What an AWESOME farm and neat place to visit!...:)JP

Michelle said...

I have read Joel Salatin's books and enjoyed them. I do like his philosophy on farming.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

What a great place, Lisa... I'm sure that the boys all enjoyed being there --even if Cort didn't want to get muddy!!!!! (I'd love that free ride myself! ha)

Your parents looked like they were having as much fun as the boys....

Great pictures and great place.
Hugs,
Betsy

Tweedles -- that's me said...

The farm looked so beautiful. Seeing all those animals would be so much fun!
love
tweedles

Myya said...

I loooove their shirts. That is one of the cutest things I've seen for twins, especially boys! LOL

Animals are so great, always a great way to give kids a good time. Those piggies are ahhhhdorable!

Vision By Mila said...

the shirt is so fun!

Roan said...

Looks like a good time was had by all. Loved the 'mud' excuse. lol

Jo-Lynne Shane said...

I have always wanted to visit Polyface!! I grew up in the Blue Ridge mountains (near Roanoke), now I live in Philly. One of these days, on one of our trips back to visit my parents, I am determined to take a tour. Love your photos! (I also run.) Glad I came across your blog.

Valerie Boersma said...

I love the last photo-it sums up what a wonderful day you guys had:)

Jen said...

That looks like an awesome farm! It's so cool that they move the animals so they can have fresh grass every day.
P.S. Pigs are always smelly ;)

Chatty Crone said...

I enjoyed your visit to the farm. What I really loved was seeing your mom and dad - they look so sweet and the kids were so happy!
sandie

Andrea said...

How fun! I especially love that last picture. They look so adorable together. :) Looks like a fun time!

Sandy said...

I have this thing for cattle. I just love their faces. The shirts crack me up! Looks like a neat place.

Texan said...

Neat farm looks like a great place! Being a cap wearing gal, I am in love with Cort's alligator? cap. Now honestly is that the cutest thing or what. LOL