TOURS

Take a Tour at a working dairy farm in Paradise, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

There are three kinds of tours available at Farmland Fun, depending on the time you want to spend and the depth of skills you want to learn. Guests become a part of the working farm during their stay, so activities can vary depending on the season and daily farm schedule.

• Farm & Barn Tour (available at 7:30, 11:30, 3:30 and 4:30 daily)
• Wagon Ride & Farm Tour (available at 9:30, 11:30, 1:30, 3:30 and 5:30 p.m. daily)
• Farmer's Apprentice (available at 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. daily)

Farm and Barn Tour
Milk a cow, feed a calf, help feed the rabbits, goats, chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, swan or fish; learn how cows turn feed into milk, let young cows and goats use their long tongues to eat alfalfa from your hand, hold rabbits as they eat clover from your hand, discover how post-&-beam barns are built.
Fee: Adult $8 & Child $5

Wagon Ride & Farm Tour
The Farm & Barn tour (described above), plus join an excursion by tractor and wagon through fields of corn, hay, and other crops waving in the fields. See the verdant view of up to 20 miles, learn about Amish and "English" ways, ask a farmer about farm life. The wagon was uniquely designed by farmer Don Ranck, and was built by a local firm. If you're lucky, you might even have the chance to see a cow giving birth to a calf!
Fee: Adult $11 & Child $7

Farmer's Apprentice
Farmer's Apprentice is a skill-based learning experience for those who would like a more in-depth experience on the farm. In addition to the farm & barn tour and the wagon ride (described above), there are dozens of "hands on" farm activities for adults and children, including cheesemaking, quilting and learning about the history and issues in agriculture. By the end of your stay, you will have a basic understanding about where your food comes from, and a first-hand account of life "down on a real farm." Activities are seasonal, and some only occur at certain times of the day.

Here is a sampling of the Farmer's Apprentice activities:

• Groom a baby calf for show competition
• Collect eggs from the farm chickens and poach, boil or make an omelet
• Feed, water, and lead a goat Make a batch of artisanal cheese
• Try your hand at making butter
• Make a batch of artisanal cheese
• Make ice cream from scratch
• Learn how our post-and-beam bank barn was built by hand
• Quilt your own hot pad
• Arc weld your initials on a steel plate
• See artificial insemination and learn bovine biology up close and personal
• Plant, tend, or harvest vegetables in the garden
• Prepare your favorite from Ginny's 300 recipe Sharing our Best cookbook
• Make your own preserves with seasonal fruit or vegetables
• Examine the botany of corn -- how the stalks, silks, and kernels form

Adult $15/Youth $15/Child $15

All activities are weather dependent. Tours are available Monday through Saturday, with limited tours on some Sunday afternoons. To make a reservation, call Farmland Fun at Verdant View at 1-888-321-8119 or 717-687-7353; or email at reservations@verdantview.com.