Open Farm Sunday at The Real Milk Company

For the last few years, we have made a special effort to visit local farms for Open Farm Sunday, not only is a it a great way for the children to see what a real farm is like but it is also a great way to support British farmers.

This year we headed up to our local dairy farm, The Real Milk Company. They are a fabulous family run farm based in Halam, Nottinghamshire and with a strong heard of Montbéliarde cows, they are GM Free and are currently converting to being an organic farm.

With tractors on show from local farms, local ice cream from Thaymar Ice Cream and bread from Hambleton Bakery there was plenty to do whilst you waited for a tractor ride. 

I think it is safe to say that everyone loves a tractor ride, so we hopped into the trailer for the short trip up to the main farm, whilst we were on the tractor, we were given a quiz to complete which we could hand in at the end of the tour for a prize.

Once at the top, we were greeted by some cows which had been kept in for the day, as well as some of the mama cows who had just given birth or were waiting to give birth. Including the rather beautiful cow which graces The Real Milk Company's logo.

Since I have spoken about The Real Milk Company a lot over on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, the farmer Ian said hello, it was nice he recognised me and we got chatting about the farm, what is happening with the organic certification and all about the cows and farm life surrounding them. It was fascinating to hear all about them and how they spend their day, as well as some other interesting facts such as, the tanker driver is the one who checks if the milk is ok, he lifts the lid and makes sure it doesn't smell off.

We also got talking about the price of milk in supermarkets and the very small amount farmers are given per litre, on average they get 19p a litre, 19p! It is heartbreaking considering the hard work and dedication the farmers go through to produce this yummy white stuff, but for Ian, his son Tom and their family, they continue to farm as their family have done for years before them.

After we had chatted for a while, we headed round the rest of the farm, there was a tanker which allowed us to see how the milk is transported as well as lots more calves which I think you'll agree are just the cutest.

We had a milkshake made with the farms milk and since we already drink it, I knew it would be amazing and it was. After some hale bale climbing fun, we decided to walk back down to the car rather than get the tractor back. It was such a lovely day it seemed a shame not too and it meant we got to get up close and personal with the cows themselves.

Most of them were more than happy if not eager to have their photo taken and they are just such a beautiful animal that it was a pleasure to do that.

When we got back to the beginning we answered the final few questions and the children got their goody bags from the kind people at Arla.

Did you visit any farms for Open Farm Sunday this year? I'd love to see your story if you did.

Open Farm Sunday 2015

This year, I didn't make it to Open Farm Sunday with the family, as I was at the fabulous Creative & Crafty Blogger meet at Breadsall Priory. However, I made sure they all went to enjoy the lovely warm weather and obviously what the local farms had to offer.

At Betty's farm, they have around 24,000 chickens! They were invited to take a tour of one of the enclosures, where they were encouraged to pick up the chickens. My daughter, who loves animals, really got up close, although she wasn't sure about them when they were trying to peck her feet to see if they were food. 

They learned about how they protect the chickens from foxes, by putting the llamas in a field on the path most used by foxes, apparently you don't mess with llamas! The farm shop had tastings of some of their delicious products, including some creatively named rubs from Bohns Rubs.

Later in the day, at Stanton House Farm, the children got to watch some of the 750 cows being milked in a rotating parlour, this milking turntable holds 50 cows at a time and the milk they produce is turned into cheeses, which they were able to sample at the farm.

They also got to watch a sheep being sheared, they always look so shocked during the process but afterwards a sense of relief at having their 'hair cut'. My daughter loved stroking the fleece, once it has been cut off, it is wrapped up in a specific way to protect the best wool.

I really missed going as it is a truly great event for all of the family, my husband took his dad and they all had a great time, going on tractor rides and seeing the farms and animals up close and personal.

If you didn't get to visit this year then it is well worth putting in your diary for next year.

Open Farm Sunday

For the last two years we have been visiting Open Farm Sunday, this time of year farms across the country open their doors to members of the public, to get a taste of what the do, try and encourage people to buy local and so you can see what goes in to farming.

Manor Organic Farm in Long Whatton just outside of Loughborough is as the name suggests, an organic farm, this means that they can't use any chemicals on the land and it is all natural. As we walked through the fields Graham the farmer explained to us about how, instead of using weed killer to control unwanted plants, they have introduced a beetle that eats, dock leaves. They are a big problem within the cow fields and the cows don't eat them. We also got to see a sheep dog herding the sheep into a pen, very fascinating how it works and the different commands.

We got to learn about bees and how they make the hives, breed and make the honey. It was a really interesting talk and we all learnt a lot. We knew bee's were special anyway but the whole cycle of a bee is amazing, getting to see inside a beehive was also pretty special.

There was sheep shearing too, it was amazing to see the fleece come off in one go and then to touch the fleece, you could feel the lanolin in it which makes the water run off when they are out in the rain (I had always wondered why we'd never seen a soggy sheep). It was really fascinating, sad though that the farmers don't get much for the fleeces, about the same as it costs them to shear them. Surely for the cost of proper wool items you'd expect they'd get more!

The children both had a great time, learning about the different areas of farming, getting to know the animals and playing on the old tyres that made up the playground.

It was a really great day, we got to try some of the farms fabulous produce from the BBQ stand and the children both had a go at bread making, lots of fun and they got to eat their creation once it had been cooked.

If you didn't get chance to go on a Open Farm Sunday trip this year then do look out for it next year, it's a really great idea to help members of the public have an understanding of the time and effort that goes into farming.

We prefer to buy our meat from local farm shops, simply because the meat is so much better but we are also supporting a small business and our very important farmers.

Linking up to Country Kids on Coombe Mill and Magic Moments on The Olivers Madhouse.