GC St. Johnsbury: Farm Visit

Early in the Spring Term, Marshall suggested it would be fun to visit Second Chance Farm and went about setting up the logistics of the visit. He works at the farm and wanted to show people around. We arrived and met his boss, Penny. Penny let Marshall lead the tour. We started with the freezers and storage and Marshall showed everyone where the meat and eggs are stored. Marshall brought out his egg scale, egg-collecting bin and egg cartons. He told the class that he is in charge of collecting the eggs, weighing them, cleaning them, and then putting them in cartons. He explained that some eggs are jumbo and some are small – this depends on the chicken, he explained. The scale had markers ranging from “too small” to “ouch!”

Next, Marshall led us down to the barnyard. Penny explained that she keeps her animals like they do in the movie Babe. Everyone lives together. We saw chickens, ducks, pigs, sheep, geese and a lamb all in the same big barnyard. The pigs, Lucy and Ethel, were very popular. Lucy showed off rolling in the mud and splattering everyone’s pants with muddy water. Inside the barn, Marshall showed us the baby chicks.

Next, Marshall took us to the fields. He explained that Penny’s plan is to bring the chickens into the field in a moveable pen so they can fertilize the grass. As of now, cows, sheep, a goat and a llama live in the fields. Penny brought us out compost to feed the animals. Rosie loved feeding the cows and sheep and had fun throwing in loaves and loaves of old bread. Cristy made friends with the goat, Stars. Sharilyn said she was having a great time, which she never expected she would! Marshall hopped the fence and picked up a baby lamb for us to pat. Lastly, we went out to look at the beef cows. Penny moves them around to different parts of the pasture so they can graze at different levels of grass and clover. Regina showed interest in the cows and knew that cows without horns are called “polled.” We have a lot of farming knowledge in our group!