Field Trip – Bliss Family Homestead

November was a slow month for our extra homeschool activities.  The nature study group only met once because of Thanksgiving and we weren’t able to go.  We only ended up doing one group field trip.  It felt good to slow down for a month…at least in terms of field trips.  We still kept busy with other family outings.   The group field trip we attended was a visit to the Bliss Family Homestead.  They have a one acre property right in the middle of the city where they keep goats, chickens and horses.  Here are some highlights of our field trip.

 

They have a pulley set up for feeding the goats on their climbing perch.  The kids (human kids that is…) dumped feed into a cup and pulled the rope to raise the cup to the top.  It rotated at the top to spill the feed into the tray.  Each kid took a turn feeding the goats this way.

 

We learned how to milk a goat and the adults in our group had an opportunity to give it a try.  The kids were treated to a snack of goat milk, goat cheese and goat butter.  The goat butter was actually made during our stay by shaking the milk in a mason jar.  It was great timing for us because we had just read a story about making butter and we were planning on making butter that same way at home.

 

This is some sprouted feed for the goats.  The kids fed the goats and got to take some seed to grow sprouts at home.

 

We were introduced to chicken bingo.  The kids gathered eggs in the chicken coop.  Each egg had a number and the kids’ names and numbers were written down.  A chicken (or actually in this case a rooster) was put in a small enclosure with a “bingo” card on the ground.  The number the chicken poops on is the winner!

 

The kids had a great time trying to rope the bull and Storyteller actually managed to get the rope around it!  The rope was later used for a huge tug of war.

 

Our girls didn’t really get much out of the blacksmith demonstration.  The ground was very soft and sandy and they just loved digging in it like a big sand box.  I’d like to think they were listening a bit but probably not.  The older kids and adults enjoyed it and he was really entertaining.

They also have horses and the kids were led around the arena for ride.  Storyteller loved it.  Comedian actually got on the horse but panicked pretty quickly.

The Bliss family has been active in 4H for many years and they now have a horse group and chicken and goat group that meet at their house.  When we lived in a rural area we always imagined eventually having horses, chicken and goats when the kids were a bit older.  That’s not a possibility at our new house in a city although chickens are allowed here.  It was interesting to learn more about 4H.  I’m not sure the girls are showing much interest in something like 4H now but it might be something to keep in mind later.