alafarmnews

WHERE DOES MILK
COME FROM?
By Don Linker

When this question is asked of children in the first or second grade, you get a variety of answers, with one being "mom buys milk at the grocery store." The idea that food starts before the grocery store is foreign to some children because of lack of exposure to American agriculture and our heritage which centered around the family farm. Growing up as I did on a small farm in rural Oklahoma, I used to take for granted everyone knew where eggs, milk, or vegetables come from. In our society, most everyone is so removed from the farm they may never see or learn about a working farm. We Americans enjoy safe, fresh, economical food provided by a very small portion of our population, the American farm men and women, and we should be very appreciative and never take that fact for granted.

Children took turns as they got hands-on experience in milking the cow.

I enjoyed a great May Day at Representative Johnny Mack Morrow’s Cypress Cove Farm near Red Bay where "Down on the Farm" was held for local 1st and 2nd graders. Mike Shewbert, Livestock Marketing Specialist with the State Department of Agriculture, invited me to this fun day on the farm and I’m really glad he did. Dr. Susan Hargett, Coordinator of Community Education, coordinated the event with area schools and gathered together a group of interesting, dedicated volunteers to educate the students on a variety of farming enterprises from both the past and the present.

Joseph Baldwin explained horseshoeing to students.

Cypress Cove Farm is a cooperative effort with Bear Creek Development to use the farm for educational purposes, an outdoor classroom, maintaining wildlife habitat and offering recreational activities. Jeff Emerson, the director of the farm and an employee of Bear Creek Development, splits his time between the farm and maintenance at Bear Creek. Thanks to Jeff, there is a working gristmill, a complete blacksmith shop, approximately six miles of nature trails, 22 acres of wildlife ponds that are home to wild ducks and there are plans for a museum to hold area artifacts, a peckerwood sawmill, a Native American exhibit and a general store. Some of the artifacts to be housed in the museum are from an archaeological dig in the area and they date back 10,000 years. Also to be on exhibit in the museum are historic items from this and surrounding areas. The long-range goal for the farm is to be in operation each day of the week with educators utilizing the facility for class field trips during the school year and for day camps during the summer.

The day began with a welcome and each teacher received a schedule of events and time

for each group to visit the different exhibits. Hargett’s volunteers manned exhibits that included horseshoeing, a working gristmill, blacksmith shop, poultry, basket-weaving, hand-quilting, hand-washing, cooking Johnny cakes, making corn husk dolls, cow milking, fishing, swine, soil and water conservation, and Native American artifacts. Each exhibit included a narrative, questions and, in most cases, hands-on instruction like milking a cow, making hand-stitches on a quilt or making Johnny cakes. These experiences will be with the students forever and now they understand milk, eggs and popcorn come to the grocery store by way of a farm somewhere.

It takes a lot of dedicated volunteers to present an educational farm fun day and Hargett is quick to recognize and thank all the people involved with all phases of the event, from planning to completion.

Events planned for the farm include a summer day camp, storytelling in September (about 500 students attended last year) and Farm Day again next spring. The farm is also available for individual class field trips, class reunions and other events by contacting Jeff Emerson at 256-810-3795, Red Bay City Hall or Representative Johnny Mack Morrow’s office. Information about Farm Day, summer day camp or storytelling in the fall can be obtained by contacting Emerson or Hargett, Franklin County Community Education at 256-331-0005.

I would like also to thank Dr. Susan Hargett, Mike Shewbert, Representative Morrow, Jeff Emerson and all the volunteers who took time out of their busy schedule to help with this event. I really enjoyed a great day and seeing a smile on the children’s faces as they milked a cow or held a chicken brought a smile to mine.

Jeff Emerson explained about gristmill, corn and corn meal.