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Benny
& Willy the Pygmy Goats would love to see you! Children
and adults enjoy many farm animals to pet and feed.
This is Rocky, a calf that our mare took away from it's
mother. That resulted in an unhappy cow and horse,
leaving us to bottle feed him. Rocky has
grown up with goats and sleeps in a dog house-what a
confused steer!
BACKGROUND
Jim
and Sandra Tuthill and one employee farm full time.
Our three children are involved in goats, layers, horses
and 4-H. They play an active role on the farm.
Jim served on the MSU Extension Council for Livingston
County and is a former two-term Green Oak Township Trustee.
Sandra serves on the Board of Directors for Livingston
County Farm Bureau and MASA (Michigan Agricultural Stewardship
Association) and has served as Secretary of the Michigan
Composting Council. She has used her BS in Biology
to teach ecology and environmental education classes.
Topics
and Activities:
- Farming
- livestock, crops, organic methods, history, sustainable
agriculture
- Composting
- large scale and backyard, food waste composting,
manure management
- Activities-visit
with the animals (calves, goats, chickens, horses,
ducks), gather eggs, bottle feed calves, hayrides,
walking tour, make a compost pile, identify decomposers,
learn about vocations. Activites are subject
to availability based on class size and weather.
Special emphasis is placed on subjects covered in
the class curriculum.Approximately 1 - 1 1/2 hours
- $2.00
per person with a minimum charge of $30.00
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TOPICS
COVERED
- Organic
farming: use of compost instead of pesticides.
How we rely on soils that are alive with organisms
instead of using chemicals to sterilize
- Where
food comes from: vegetables, beef, chicken,
eggs, milk
- Recycling
issues: yard waste and food waste composting,
waste diversion from landfills, backyard composting
- Environmental
Issues: Farms provide habitat for wiildlife,
how decomposition works in nature (worm composting),
manure management
- Farm
History and Economics: Why farms struggle today
but there's still hope. Social issues involved
in what happens when a farm is surrounded by
neighborhoods.
- Vocations:
Work skills required for agricultural jobs.
Discuss steriotypes (ie. men drive the tractors,
farmers don't need education or computers.
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WHAT
IS EXPERIENCED
- Visiting
a working farm introduces students to the realities
of agriculture (there are sights, smells, and
sounds that are different)
- A
hayride provides an overall tour of the farm
and composting facility.
- Students
see how yard waste is composted on a large scale,
demonstrations are done using tractors to mix
and turn piles. Temperatures of piles are tkaen.
- Students
learn how to make their own compost and recycle
food waste from their lunches. How compost is
used in gardening or farming.
- Students
have the opportunity to pet a variety of friendly
farm animals. Tour includes a visit through
the chicken coop to see how eggs are managed.
For spring tours the teachers feed a calf by
bottle. Discuss how dairy goats provide milk
and meat. Students see how our average 150 beef
cattle are raised with space and care.
- Wetlands,
river, and pasturew area where we have lunch
provides a place to enjoy open space and the
discussion of wildlife habitats, bird-watching,
conservation, water quality, etc.
- Explore
decomposition by identifying organisms in a
worm compost pile and/or in the river bottom.
- See
how the vegetables and crops we grow respond
to compost use (over 400 asparagus plants are
used as an example)
MORE ON FARM
TOURS
Call
(248) 437-7354 for reservations or go to the Contact
Us page
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