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Down on the farm
Families gain hands-on experience learning where food comes from
"I have a shirt that says 'Farmers get all the chicks,'" 5-year-old Max Godfrey commented as he finished watering the goslings, one of his morning chores that helps keep Godfrey Family Farms running smoothly. "We have a lot of chicks here."
All seven of Brian and Rose Godfrey's children contribute to the farm that they call home. Even the youngest, 15-month-old Sicily, has a job. "She supervises," her mother said.
Godfrey Family Farms is a chemical-free seven-acre farm where "everything has a purpose," Rose Godfrey said.
Visitors who travel to the farm, located just east of Marysville on Highway 20, will not only get to see the work that goes into producing meat, eggs, produce and dairy but also gain hands-on experience.
Children who visit the farm experience the twice-daily process of milking cows and goats, collecting eggs and feeding the animals.
They will get to watch Oreo, the newest calf at the farm, chase the chickens through the field while her mother, Cookie, grunts in frustration that her baby is being distracted from drinking milk.
Ten-year-old Isabella is always close at hand to be sure the calf and its mother are not nervous while guests are near. Rose Godfrey watched from where she was milking and laughed at the chicken taunting the calf. "It's definitely free-range around here."
Godfrey smiled as she finished milking their jersey cow, Mocha. "It's tiring, but it's a good kind of tired. It's a lot of work. Everything is sort of a blur until after lunch, then I take a break and start all over again for evening chores." She laughed. "I really get that whole siesta concept."
Not only do the Godfreys sell the things they produce on their farm, but they use the produce, Godfrey explained. "I've been experimenting with making different kinds of cheeses from the milk. I made lasagna the other day using homemade mozzarella and ricotta. The trouble with cheese is that you don't know for months if you messed up.
"I wouldn't mind doing a farmstead cheese-and-butter kind of thing," Godfrey said. "I'd just need to have a certified kitchen."
Godfrey says that growing and eating chemical-free foods is essential. "Between my goat's milk and the neighbor's honey, I don't have allergies anymore. I call it my non-scientifically controlled study of one," she said.
"The concept of our farm is for everything to complement each other," Godfrey added.
The Godfreys move animals around as necessary for whatever the ground needs and provides. They rotate them so the watering and feeding is a natural process, based on the idea that what one animal has provided to the environment may be of use to the next resident.
"Our plan is for perfect rotation," said Godfrey. "Instead of taking food to them, we take them to the food that is naturally occurring."
Godfrey relies on a natural pest-control system as well, so there is no need for chemicals. "For instance, the pigs are cleaner-uppers, and the Muscovy ducks like flies, so we have essentially no flies near the pigs because the ducks take care of them."
The Godfrey children learn from their surroundings as they contribute. They liberally share their knowledge with visitors and try to answer questions while being helpers. Seven-year-old Olivia and 8-year-old Sophia are skilled at egg sorting. "We size them by peewee, small, medium, large or jumbo, then put them at the farmer's market," Olivia explained. "Or extra large," added Sophia.
Max said as he listened to his sisters, "People who want eggs want ours."
And the community certainly is "eating up" the concept of organically and locally grown.
Farmer Jim Muck and his wife, Amanda, grow organic fruits and vegetables year round at their Wheatland farm.
They sell their produce at both the Yuba City and Rocklin farmers markets and run a community-supported agriculture program (CSA), which enables their subscribers not only to receive fresh fruits and vegetables from Muck's farm once a week, it also allows for them to visit the farm at any time and pick their own. Jim Muck said, "As a member of the CSA, it's essentially your farm."
Muck sells CSA subscriptions in 11-week blocks at $23.00 a week for fresh, organically grown produce.
In addition to opening his farm up to CSA members, Muck organizes several events yearly, such as pumpkin planting, you-pick cherry tomatoes and pumpkin picking.
He receives groups at the farm in small numbers by appointment. "I don't have a big staff," he said. "I don't charge for the tours, and I keep the groups small because I'm actively farming."
He added, "I believe it's important that kids — and adults, too — know where their food is coming from. We are so detached from the production of food that it's important to teach about the farming that's right outside the back door of people in Yuba, Sutter and Placer counties. It is my goal to get these counties to feed themselves locally, within 50 miles of where they live."
Marysville residents Andrew and Lacie Robertson are organic farmers as well.
Their 70-acre farm off Highway 70 produces fruit and vegetables year round free of pesticides. In addition to their garden and orchards, they raise animals for meat and eggs.
"I want my children to be able to walk out into the garden and pick a tomato right off the vine and eat it," Lacie Robertson said of her five children, who help with farm chores, too.
"It's harder to grow organically," Robertson said. "But it's really amazing when you dig down into the soil a couple inches and there are worms in the soil because it's so healthy and rich."
Environmentally, Robertson is dedicated to organic farming. "We like that there's no chemical runoff from our farm."
Robertson Family Farm is open to visitors year round by appointment for "you-pick" visits and hands-on tours of their farm.
KNOW AND GO
Godfrey Family Farms
At the Yuba City Certified Farmers Market on Saturdays
Robertson Family Farm
740-1001
At the Marysville Friday Night Market on Fridays
Jim Muck
At the Yuba City Certified Farmers Market on Saturdays; also at the Auburn or Rocklin farmers markets on Saturdays
PHOTOS
#1 Ashley Garewal and Jayla Pollard with "Guardian Donkey"
#2 Ben Payne helps feed the goats
#3 Joshua Garewal chasing geese
#4 Ashley Garewal checking for eggs
#5 Rose Godfrey milking Mocha
#6 Ashley Garewal and Hannah Payne holding a bunny
#7 Bella Godfrey helps Joshua Garewal and Ben Payne milk Sweet Pea the goat.
