Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Griggs Farm Fieldtrip

This past week our home school group went on a field trip to Griggs Farm. Mr and Mrs Griggs own over a hundred acres of land and they offer FREE tours of their farm. I was blown away by the enthusiasm and generosity of this family. I immediately fell head over heals for their farm. Come, let me share just some of the hundred and something pictures I took while there...



This is where we met farmer Len and his wife. I know they were talking about something important at this moment, but I was so distracted by the view I was focused on taking pictures of something.



Meet Michelle! This is a giant black widow with her latest victim. Michelle was found at a paintball range, but some how ended up at the farm. They make sure to dress her for every season... she's wearing her spring bonnet.



After meeting the farmer and his wife the kids got to meet these guys. I can't remember their names, but they were cute.



Here is a random shot of part of the farm. So relaxing!



There are many antiques scattered throughout the farm. Hey look, they even have antique mushrooms growing here. I love rustic stuff!



I was about to get a drink of water from this pump, but that guy was giving me the heeby-geeby's. He was staring me down so hard his eyes almost pop out. So I decided I wasn't really that thirsty anyway.



Okay, so these jeans were hanging on a line to dry. They look so stretched out because there is a wire mold that has been slipped into them to help them dry flat so they can be ironed easier. Evidently back then (whenever then was) the material they made the jeans with wrinkled very easily so they had to dry and iron them that way.

let's just say that if i had lived back THEN, i would be startin' a new trend... wrinkle jeans! i hate ironing and avoid it like the plague.



Now here's where we will camp for a little while. I'll try to make it short, but I just have to tell you about Mona. Mona is a donkey, not a mule. There is a difference. Mona is somewhere around 40 yrs old. Donkeys live to be about 40 yrs old. When she came to Griggs farm she was half dead. She was starving because as she had aged her teeth had gotten very sharp. This was preventing her to be able to chew her food well. They filed her teeth down and all is well. We learned a few interesting facts about donkeys that has given me a greater appreciation for these creatures.

Donkeys are known to be protectors. They will keep predators away from other animals. So a lot of times farms will put a donkey in with their other animals to protect them. Now, it's pretty cool when you think about the fact that Mary, while she was pregnant with Jesus, rode on a donkey. And then later Jesus himself rode on a donkey to Jerusalem. According to Mrs Griggs all donkeys have a cross on their back. If you look real close to the picture above you can see some of it. They have a stripe down their back and a stripe that goes across their shoulders... see it under her hand? Isn't that amazing?



Coming up here behind Mona is their other donkey...



ICKY! He is really cute too. You can't see the cross on his back because of his dark coat. Icky follows Mona wherever she goes... so much so... that they had to start letting the donkeys hang out with some of the other animals, because they are afraid that when something happens to Mona, Icky would die of loneliness. That's just what they do.



After meeting Mona and Icky we split up into two groups. One group went to visit their little museum and the other group went on a hayride. The first thing we saw on the hayride were these honey bee colonies.



The land at this farm was beautiful. This is the scene to the right and...



to the left. It seemed to go on forever.



While on the hayride we were told to keep our eyes out for a forest fish. We had no trouble finding him. Can you make him out in the picture above? It's a little hard to see it in the picture, but if you look at the right side of the picture you can make out his head.



We also had to look for a pencil. Man, that is some pencil!



This was a great hayride and a fantastic day!



I still can't believe they don't charge people to come tour their farm. You can tell they really love kids.



Just another random shot.



Hey Seth!



Hey Noah!



Hey Joshua!



I love this windmill. I want one for my yard... course it would look rather funny on my little piece of land!



They also had horses. I can't remember their names, but...



One of them used to be a pretty famous race horse. I can't remember if it got injured or what, but somehow it ended up at this farm... well loved I'm sure.



And no farm is complete with out goats. These are pygmy goats... Holly, Molly and Dolly. All the kids were able to feed the goats and watch them headbutt each other.



I think I could have taken about 1,000 pictures at this farm.



Here we are about to go into their little museum.



Their museum was packed wall to wall with antiques.



You can't really see it too well in this picture, but she is holding up an antique mouse trap. It was made out of metal and would trap the mice inside. They would then take the trapped mice still in the trap and throw them into the pond. And that's the old fashioned way to get rid of mice.



Here the farmers wife was telling some interesting fact... but again I was distracted taking pictures of all the cool stuff in the room.



Here was a neat table of odds and ends. These arrowheads were found on their property.



This is what they do to you when you don't listen during the tour!

i hope they don't throw you into the pond too.



There were so many things hanging around that everywhere I turned I spotted something new I had not seen before. I really liked this cross hanging from the ceiling.



Look at those gourds... aren't they GOURDeous!



AWWW, Noah's been a bad boy!



There were tons of wheels and...



hooks hanging from the ceiling. Evidently farmer Len has a thing for hooks... of all kinds. He even has a harpoon on the ceiling. He wanted it because of the hook on it.



I thought this was a funny picture of the goats hanging out in the "Snack Shack".



The kids learned how they use to wash clothes, before the days of the washing machine.



They each were able to take a turn washing.



Hey, Joshua looks pretty comfortable with that thing. I think you're getting the hang of it... that's a good look for you.



Hmmm, on second thought maybe not!



This was where they stored their wagons and sleigh. You know kinda like a two car garage. The little building would have been where they kept a few animals. I loved the wood and the way it was fashioned together.



Hey there goes Mona again!



They also had miniature horses. this horse cracked me up. It look just like a "My Little Pony" and her name was "Star". I'm sure there is a "My little Pony" named "Star".



Seth found Mona. She was sooo sweet!



Here the boys wanted their picture with this mill stone set. It is rare to find an original set, because usually one of them gets destroyed over time.



Watch out Joshua!



Out of all the things I loved about this farm... this was the best of all. I've always wanted to take the boys picture in a field of flowers.



After our tour was over we went to have lunch at a local park. This was the first time we had visited this park. They have some pretty cool stuff to play on. This was a four person see-saw.





This was really cool too. A stand up see-saw. Whenever the bar you had your feet on hit the tires it would make the other persons feet jump off their bar.



This was one of the best field trips we have been on in a long time. I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of that farm. I hear they need some help and lets just say, I know of at least four people who are dying to get back out their.

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