Make a connection between suburbs and rural farmers?

A few years ago, I had a connection with a rural farmer.  I went out to his farm, did a tour and bought some stuff from him. We had permaculture in common and we had some good conversations.  It was easy, because he had a shop in the suburbs near my house.  In fact, that was the very first time I ever met Paul Wheaton in person.  Unfortunately, he moved to Mali.  Not Molly or MDMA. I'm talking about a country in Africa.  

Having a connection between a suburbanite and a rural person could be great.  I think this would be a great benefit to both.  My kids are grown now, but I would think it would be wonderful to have a place for kids to come out and feed animals and see what goes on at a farm.  A farmer could benefit from a friend in the suburbs, because the shipping charges on some purchases are exorbitant.  Just getting into a store during business hours could be a hassle, and the suburban person could potentially store something for a bit until the country person could come in and pick it up.  

There are other activities that might benefit a country person.  Libraries and other organizations have cultural celebrations and ethnic presentations that don't happen often in the rural areas.  I also think that a country person might want to go to Ethiopian, Thai, Indian, Korean, etc. restaurants that tend to not be found in the country.

They might want to go together to some beautiful rivers, mountains, lakes, or beaches that tend not to exist within cities and suburbs.  

It also could heal some of the divides that are occurring in our country right now, with media groups trying to get each other to shout at each other and hate.

The problem I see is, how do they meet each other?

John S
PDX OR

That's just what my daughter and I are trying to do. She wants to learn how to milk goats and/or cows, and I am trying to figure out how to find a farmer that would let her observe, learn, and eventually try it out.

My one idea so far has been the farm equipment store's pinboard, but nothing useful was there. If they hadn't cancelled our region's classified ads paper last year, I would be trying that too!

Rachel Lindsay wrote:That's just what my daughter and I are trying to do. She wants to learn how to milk goats and/or cows, and I am trying to figure out how to find a farmer that would let her observe, learn, and eventually try it out.

The local farm stores are a great place to get information.  The employees know who buys goat feed.

At our feed store, you can find a group of men (ranchers/farmers) sitting around drinking coffee and telling stories every morning.  And probably every one of the is a goat or sheep rancher.

Our towns are so small that there is only one vet and I guarantee that vet knows the goat ranchers.

Just ask.

Where do they sell goats where you live?

Is there a livestock auction?  Or the classified section of the local newspaper.  That is where I sold my goats.

We have a store like that here.  It's an old store, so it actually used to supply real farmers.  But Portland has grown so much that it's now in the suburbs, so it supplies hobby farms and pet owners mostly now.  But I bet they know people.

JohN S
PDX OR

I'd like to throw my 2 cents worth in here.

As I have been that person who over the years, let Suburbanites come to my place and learn to milk a goat.  Let me say, it costs the farmer/homesteader in time and feed, because the trick to hand milking doesn't "happen" right away, on average it takes a "Newbie" 2 weeks of milking everyday to get the hang of it.

It takes time and patience with the goat to whom the "Newbie" is a stranger, and trust must be established, as well the manual dexterity required for milking is difficult to master.  While the goat is in the milk stale, she is given feed in exchange for allowing her to be milked, thus the longer the process the more feed she will require.

Rarely is the goat milked out properly and the owner has to come back in and strip the goat of the remaining milk or production will go down

Inexperience can wast milk, feed, time, and patience, because the farmer/homesteader has to stay and make sure there are no mishaps or injury to either the student and/or the goat instead of moving down the list of chores for the day.

So, to make it worth the while of the farmer/homesteader, once milking has been learned, pay back the time and extra feed it took for the teaching/learning either in $, in kind, in trade, or in hours, and make the whole experience good for everyone involved.

K

For kids, the 4-H Club is a good place to learn all kinds of skills.  

And the 4-H Club is also a good place to make friends who have goats to milk.

Our daughter learned to milk (a cow) at some sort of event put on by the 4-H Club.

For adults going to the City's Farmers Market is a great place to meet rural folks.

Great ideas Kate.  I would think that a natural way of doing that would be for the urban/suburbanite to bring an extra generous amount of feed when they feed the animals.

John S
PDX OR

Visitors to a farm or homestead should inquire with the owner about feed rations for the livestock before hand.  I have a sign on my front gate that reads;  

"Working Homestead, behave accordingly",

another sign reads;  

"Caution,
Keep gate closed,
Guardians on duty, free-range livestock,
Authorized entry only"

Why should I need these signs?  

Because I have had many (not all, but many), total strangers show up asking to see the place, some with their children, to then completely run a muck; leaving gates wide open, chasing chickens, taunting goats, wanting to ride my horses, treating working dogs like pets, clambering on garden trellises, stripping the raspberries and rhubarb patch, running through garden beds, and unwittingly causing all sorts of issues as per Livestock/Liability Insurance, etc.,.

Again, it would be wise to inquire ahead of a visit to a farm or homestead to consult with the owner on the "rules" to keep everyone safe and sound, and make sure the rules are adhered to.  As the song goes;  "I'm not here for your entertainment", cause this ain't no petting zoo.

If you want to make a Great Impression, offer to help muck out the barn till the job is completed.  You'll earn big time "brownie points".

Personally, I had a career in the Creative Arts and a Design Studio for many years, hold an MA, and was being groomed for Doctorate Level Studies when a major life event changed everything.  I dumped it all, and moved to the solitude and calm of a Homesteader, to get away from the clamour, the noise, and frankly the BS.  

In recent years and ever more frequently the "Noise" now shows up at my front gate,...so be respectful, be attentive, offer to help out if there is a need (because there is always something that requires extra hands), and all will be well.

K

Great information! I had no idea that people would just show up and demand things.  My impression was that people would already have met, arranged a time, agreed upon a type of feed, etc.  

I fly hang gliders and paragliders, and we often land at someone's farm, after a long flight (10-100 miles).  We always tell people to use the gates. Better to step through a barbed wire fence. Don't climb on a barbed wire fence, don't land in a crop, don't land near livestock, etc.  

John S
PDX OR

One of the things I really like living here in the bottom of West Linn is that I'm on the edge of the country, like I can walk there, literally.  Though it was a bit too far to walk to this particular farm, I met a spunky lady named Tobey on Next Door, she posted to say everyone should set up a time to bring their dead Christmas trees over for her goats to eat.  So we did, just a bit too far to walk, but not far away at all from our apartment, and she loved showing us around her 2 acre small farm, she's right on the Tualatin River, which is my favourite river right now because its so near us), she has chickens, turkies, 2 goats and a noisy guinea fowl which made me laugh a lot.  She is looking for someone to utilize her garden area in trade for giving her some of the produce.  I told her its too far for me to walk over, (driving has never been an option for me because of my disabilities), but to advertize the oppertunity here on permies.  Maybe she'll do it soon since spring will come in a month or two.  I hope she does, because she'd be a nice farmer for folks local to me to connect with.  And the goats were very happy with our Christmas tree!