Got Local Milk?

We recently went to the Quahog Fest in Warren, which I had to keep explaining to my step-son was NOT in Quahog, RI (despite the fame of the fictional town in his favorite show).  It was fun, but sadly lacking in all things quahog.  I guess I wanted historical and scientific information on the quahog, clam rake kits, and a quahog-shaped mascot.  It was much like any other New England festival.  Nevertheless, we had our clam cakes, looked at art, clocked time in the bouncy house, and collected shells at the nearby beach.

Then yesterday I took my daughter to the Ice Cream, Blueberry & Bluegrass Bash at Fort Hill Farms in Thompson CT.  It wasn't all things blueberry, but it was all things local!  Fort Hill Farm is part of a co-op of six Connecticut family dairy farmers.  (In RI, we have Little Rhody milk.)  Their milk can be bought in supermarkets and their distributer, the Farmer's Cow, also makes ice cream.  We had the "Red, White, and Moo" with blueberry sauce with whip cream at the free sample tent, along with DELICIOUS strawberry lemonade my daughter renamed "yumonade".  Later we tried the chocolate and coffee flavors.  My daughter wore hers proudly down her shirt.  We also toured the farm and visited the cows in the calf barn.  A bull had been born two days before, which my daughter got to pet.  There were also guinea fowl and a horse.  A visiting group ran horse cart and tractor-pull rides for visitors.  Local merchants had t-shirts, art, and more.  In October, I will be helping to host a poetry event there.  (Details soon.)

Happy Cows!

Nothing goes to waste!

Worms helping with manure.

But fresh, local, hormone-free milk is not all this farm offers.  It's a very family-friendly place.  Kids can mine for gems as a fun educational experience.  In fact, the farm is full of "In-Farm-ation", including a talking cow!  The corn is grown into one of the largest mazes in the area, then fed to the cows in addition to grass.  There's pick-your-own organic pumpkins and blueberries, several gardens and an almost hidden sunken lavender garden.  The lavender is grown organically in several inches of shells and made into soap by Colin Haskins.  The farm's co-owner, Kristin Orr, went to great lengths to remove the bittersweet and poison ivy from a beautiful rock wall that is part of the farm's history.  The land that was once part of the original foundation has been let to go wild with bachelor buttons, phlox, cone flower, yarrow, and more.  They have a garden center full of flowers great for pollinators.  They even have a butterfly garden buzzing with bees and...very exciting...humming bird moths!  These are one of my favorite insects, and a great pollinator that I hope will visit my own garden habitat.  I met a lot of great people there and am looking forward to returning.