When Anna was small, she used to love both to go for drives and to look at cows. The 45-minute drive from our house to McClelland’s Dairy in Petaluma also happened to provide the perfect mid-day nap time. So it was that we took plenty of drives to McClelland’s, to watch the cows being milked in the dairy barn.
Now you can do this, too, even without the nap.
If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be a farmer, or if you just want to spend the day on a pretty farm, enjoying farm life, McClelland’s Dairy in Petaluma is offering families and others that chance, with a special day filled with activities at their family dairy farm.
Participants will start with morning chores — feeding the baby calves from bottles in the nursery, mixing grain for the “mama” cows, and then milking cows, with one-on-one instruction from the farmers. You can sign up for a guided tour, where you’ll learn the history of the multi-generation family farm as well as more about the nursery and cow-milking barn. You can also experience making your own butter from milk.
There are lunches for sale, or bring your own and picnic at the farm.
McClelland’s “From She to Thee Farm Days” will take place Sat.-Sun., September 5-6 and September 26-27.
Photo by Keith Weller
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