Tours of the farm...
We host a variety of tours to offer friends of the farm a chance to spend time interacting with the animals and learning more about our little family sustainable farm. All tours are free, and the amount of time available depends on the type tour, time of the year, weather, and current workload.
Attendance. To attend a tour, one must have an appointment. We do not allow or appreciate "drop in" visitors, for a number of reasons: insurance, regulations, disruption of work and privacy. There are also bio-security issues to be addressed before visitors arrive. Your consideration of this is greatly appreciated.
We host four types of tours:
1. Opportunity Tour. These abbreviated tours take place after Dave completes a Sunday Farmer's Market, and are designed to allow many to visit who would not be able to do so on a week day. They last an hour or so, and begin at 4PM. Winter days are shorter, so we don't host them when it gets dark before 5:30 PM. Most Orange County friends of the farm caravan back with Dave after the Newport Beach Farmer's Market, leaving around 1:30PM. Our farm helper preps the farm for the tour, so when we arrive, we're ready to go! You'll get to water our critters (water is always moving around the farm!), pass out any goodies that came from the Farmer's Market that day, and learn how we care for our animals. Complete the TYPE 1: Opportunity Tour Form below to schedule an appointment.
2. Full Farm Tour. A regular tour is generally conducted on a week day, although at certain times of the year, we try to do a weekend event. Full tours begin PROMPTLY at 9:00 AM. Bring a change of clothing, boots if you have them, hat, gloves, and be prepared to get your hands dirty! This tour, depending on number of attendees will be much more in-depth, and generally lasts three or more hours. Many folks bring a lunch, so afterwards, they can find a nice, peaceful location on the 22.65 acres and enjoy a quite time and lunch. With advance preparation and notice, we can fire up one of the grilles and have burgers and franks (or other cuts). With advance ordering, you may pick up your meat order for the week, to take home with you. Complete the TYPE 2: Full Farm Tour below to schedule an appointment.
3. Farm Work Day Tour. This is a FULL DAY of work on the farm, and might be on a week day or weekend. We might rebuild fenced areas, prepare soil for planting, cultivate crops (when planted), feed and water animals, muck pens, pick eggs, move animals, walk sheep, clear weeds, wrestle pigs (oops, that's not really a tour thing, but once a visitor did!), pick up trash, move things around, relocate rocks, build enclosures, and anything else that needs attention. Leslie generally spends a lot of time teaching you how to care for the animals, and clean up after them, while Dave supervises the heavier parts. The work day tour is free, but we ask you to come prepared to work, and bring a items listed as needed below for lunch or after work BBQ. We provide the meats for burgers and franks at lunch and meat for the evening BBQ. Your willingness to help in providing all the other fixings helps us tremendously. Generally, I ask a few people attending the tour to handle this part, so if your passion is planning or grilling, and you want to take this responsibility, be sure to let me know when you schedule a tour. Arrival time is 9 am, lunch is around noon, and we wrap up work around 4:30. Last farm work day tour was great. About a dozen friends of the farm helped us rework an area we had planned for new lambs, and the little guys are so happy with their new, expanded roaming area, and their new hill to play on.
4. Overnight Camp-out Tour. There are a number of locations on the farm for camping (a couple with water available), where tents or RV's might be appropriate. When time allows, we've afforded friends of the farm an opportunity to spend a weekend relaxing in the serenity of our little part of nature. We ask in return, that you spend Saturday working on the farm, helping with various projects. Most campers arrive Friday night, and leave Sunday evening, or Monday morning. Sorry, but this tour is only open to registered "Friends of the Farm," who regularly support our farming needs. We are not licensed as a camping location, so this tour is NOT open to the general public.
General items to keep in mind for attending any tour.
a. We have rattlesnakes on the farm during the summer, so ALWAYS keep an eye out while here.
b. Bees. We have lots of bees during certain times of the year. If you're allergic, bring your epi-shot for safety.
c. Dress for the weather and conditions. If you leave a hazy San Diego or Fullerton morning that is still 55° temp, and don't bring lighter clothing, you might overheat. Boots, gloves, hat, jacket, and even a change of clothes might be a plus. Pigs can surprise you, and if you get "pigged" while touring, you wouldn't want to hop back in your $50K SUV carrying their aromatic essence with you! Gloves are always an asset!
d. Bring plenty of liquids to drink. We have lots of fresh well water, but can't provide drinks to match a wide variety of tastes.
e. Farm tools and animals can be dangerous for adults, but especially so for children, who need to be strictly supervised for their own safety. Also, the hills on which we live are made of DG (decomposed granite), and are slippery.
~~ UPCOMING TOURS ~~
To attend any of our tours, you will need to:
1. Confirm your attendance by completing FORM 1 below, then pressing "submit."
2. Agree to arrive before 9 am so the program for the day can begin on time.
3. Bring gloves, jacket, hat, change of shoes, plenty of liquids to drink, and sunscreen.
4. Agree to be on special watch for rattlesnakes.
Sorry, no drop in's are allowed.
Saturday, April 20, 2013 Full Farm Tour
Tour ~ 9 am - 12 pm
Lunch (bring your own) ~ 12 - 1 pm
Voluntary work party after lunch (be flexible, we may not have enough response to extend the day) ~ 1 - 3 pm
Sunday, April 21, 2013 Opportunity Tour
Tour ~ 9 am - 12 pm
Lunch (bring your own) ~ 12 - 1 pm
Voluntary work party after lunch (be flexible, we may not have enough response to extend the day) ~ 1 - 3 pm
Use "Form 1 - TOUR APPOINTMENT" below to reserve your spot for ONE OF THESE TOURS. If you want to attend more than one, indicate so in the "Comments" block.
To be included in future emails offering tour times and dates, please fill in the "Future Tour Reservation Form" following Form 1.
Attendance. To attend a tour, one must have an appointment. We do not allow or appreciate "drop in" visitors, for a number of reasons: insurance, regulations, disruption of work and privacy. There are also bio-security issues to be addressed before visitors arrive. Your consideration of this is greatly appreciated.
We host four types of tours:
1. Opportunity Tour. These abbreviated tours take place after Dave completes a Sunday Farmer's Market, and are designed to allow many to visit who would not be able to do so on a week day. They last an hour or so, and begin at 4PM. Winter days are shorter, so we don't host them when it gets dark before 5:30 PM. Most Orange County friends of the farm caravan back with Dave after the Newport Beach Farmer's Market, leaving around 1:30PM. Our farm helper preps the farm for the tour, so when we arrive, we're ready to go! You'll get to water our critters (water is always moving around the farm!), pass out any goodies that came from the Farmer's Market that day, and learn how we care for our animals. Complete the TYPE 1: Opportunity Tour Form below to schedule an appointment.
2. Full Farm Tour. A regular tour is generally conducted on a week day, although at certain times of the year, we try to do a weekend event. Full tours begin PROMPTLY at 9:00 AM. Bring a change of clothing, boots if you have them, hat, gloves, and be prepared to get your hands dirty! This tour, depending on number of attendees will be much more in-depth, and generally lasts three or more hours. Many folks bring a lunch, so afterwards, they can find a nice, peaceful location on the 22.65 acres and enjoy a quite time and lunch. With advance preparation and notice, we can fire up one of the grilles and have burgers and franks (or other cuts). With advance ordering, you may pick up your meat order for the week, to take home with you. Complete the TYPE 2: Full Farm Tour below to schedule an appointment.
3. Farm Work Day Tour. This is a FULL DAY of work on the farm, and might be on a week day or weekend. We might rebuild fenced areas, prepare soil for planting, cultivate crops (when planted), feed and water animals, muck pens, pick eggs, move animals, walk sheep, clear weeds, wrestle pigs (oops, that's not really a tour thing, but once a visitor did!), pick up trash, move things around, relocate rocks, build enclosures, and anything else that needs attention. Leslie generally spends a lot of time teaching you how to care for the animals, and clean up after them, while Dave supervises the heavier parts. The work day tour is free, but we ask you to come prepared to work, and bring a items listed as needed below for lunch or after work BBQ. We provide the meats for burgers and franks at lunch and meat for the evening BBQ. Your willingness to help in providing all the other fixings helps us tremendously. Generally, I ask a few people attending the tour to handle this part, so if your passion is planning or grilling, and you want to take this responsibility, be sure to let me know when you schedule a tour. Arrival time is 9 am, lunch is around noon, and we wrap up work around 4:30. Last farm work day tour was great. About a dozen friends of the farm helped us rework an area we had planned for new lambs, and the little guys are so happy with their new, expanded roaming area, and their new hill to play on.
4. Overnight Camp-out Tour. There are a number of locations on the farm for camping (a couple with water available), where tents or RV's might be appropriate. When time allows, we've afforded friends of the farm an opportunity to spend a weekend relaxing in the serenity of our little part of nature. We ask in return, that you spend Saturday working on the farm, helping with various projects. Most campers arrive Friday night, and leave Sunday evening, or Monday morning. Sorry, but this tour is only open to registered "Friends of the Farm," who regularly support our farming needs. We are not licensed as a camping location, so this tour is NOT open to the general public.
General items to keep in mind for attending any tour.
a. We have rattlesnakes on the farm during the summer, so ALWAYS keep an eye out while here.
b. Bees. We have lots of bees during certain times of the year. If you're allergic, bring your epi-shot for safety.
c. Dress for the weather and conditions. If you leave a hazy San Diego or Fullerton morning that is still 55° temp, and don't bring lighter clothing, you might overheat. Boots, gloves, hat, jacket, and even a change of clothes might be a plus. Pigs can surprise you, and if you get "pigged" while touring, you wouldn't want to hop back in your $50K SUV carrying their aromatic essence with you! Gloves are always an asset!
d. Bring plenty of liquids to drink. We have lots of fresh well water, but can't provide drinks to match a wide variety of tastes.
e. Farm tools and animals can be dangerous for adults, but especially so for children, who need to be strictly supervised for their own safety. Also, the hills on which we live are made of DG (decomposed granite), and are slippery.
~~ UPCOMING TOURS ~~
To attend any of our tours, you will need to:
1. Confirm your attendance by completing FORM 1 below, then pressing "submit."
2. Agree to arrive before 9 am so the program for the day can begin on time.
3. Bring gloves, jacket, hat, change of shoes, plenty of liquids to drink, and sunscreen.
4. Agree to be on special watch for rattlesnakes.
Sorry, no drop in's are allowed.
Saturday, April 20, 2013 Full Farm Tour
Tour ~ 9 am - 12 pm
Lunch (bring your own) ~ 12 - 1 pm
Voluntary work party after lunch (be flexible, we may not have enough response to extend the day) ~ 1 - 3 pm
Sunday, April 21, 2013 Opportunity Tour
Tour ~ 9 am - 12 pm
Lunch (bring your own) ~ 12 - 1 pm
Voluntary work party after lunch (be flexible, we may not have enough response to extend the day) ~ 1 - 3 pm
Use "Form 1 - TOUR APPOINTMENT" below to reserve your spot for ONE OF THESE TOURS. If you want to attend more than one, indicate so in the "Comments" block.
To be included in future emails offering tour times and dates, please fill in the "Future Tour Reservation Form" following Form 1.