September 2011 - MILKING A COW

Milk a cow! Check! It has taken me a few years to find it, but I have finally found a farm that will let the public milk their cows. Most of us city folk have not had the delight of interacting so personally with a cow that really does go “Moo”. They were even the chocolate milk cows, as I used to call them as a kid. It only seemed natural that brown cows produced brown milk.

Primrose Farm in St. Charles is owned an operated by the St. Charles Park District. They offer a variety of hands on, interactive farm experiences for all ages. This historic facility is a working farm that provides children ages 4 and over an opportunity to milk cows. The class is tailored to the age group present which makes the hands-on milking experience educational and fun. We worked with 7 year old, Amber, who is a Jersey Cow and weighs approximately 1000 lbs. She produced a whopping 21 lbs of milk for us as we all worked diligently to provide her relief during her morning milking. Afterward, the kids washed all the buckets and milking machines. This program runs rain or shine so dress for the weather. It stormed the day we milked and we all survived.

Amongst the many other program offerings we experienced at the farm, we also participated in the Chicken & Egg class for kids 4 and over. We gathered eggs straight from the chicken coop. And although we have done this before at Kline Creek Farm, this experience offered much more interaction with the chickens. We fed them, chased them back in their yard, and were also able to bring our fresh eggs home with us. The kids were so excited to bring their personal collection home. The education offered is amazing and the kids talked about the hows and whys of backyard poultry all the way home.

Threshing grain was also on our task list but due to the storm it was too wet. We still learned the differences between wheat and oats and how it is harvested, as well as visited the summer kitchen.

Primrose Farm is located at 5N726 Crane Road, St. Charles, IL. The phone is 630-513-4370. Website is www.stcparks.org. Call the farm directly or visit the website for specific program details. There is so much to do there. Hours and programs change with the seasons. Program prices range from Free to $15 for a non-resident.

– Kristen Kucharski

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