Family Fun Farm Tour - Grain Tour

Family Fun Farm Tour

Grain Tour with David Bathe from Whippoorwill Farm

The Barn 

This is a wonderful farm set way back in the Haliburton Country down a dirt road. This farm is so peaceful.

On this farm they grow healthy heritage grains. He grows Buckwheat, Oats and Red Fife Wheat and grows them all without the use of Pesticides or Herbicides and only uses Non Chemical Fertilizer.

When we started our tour of the farm and the fields we were lucky enough to see a Sandhill Crane.

The crane is mainly a herbivore and they love to eat cultivated food like wheat.

David telling us about the fields 

Talking about the Buckwheat (pictured)

The black one is Buckwheat and the White one is Red Fife Wheat 

We were told some interesting facts about Buckwheat while we were walking the field.

~ Buckwheat naturally kills weeds

~ Buckwheat does not allow things to grow below and it doesn't require much to help it grow

~ Buckwheat flowers nectar makes Buckwheat Honey

~ Buckwheat only takes four days to sprout

After we visited the wheat fields we headed back to the barn and got to see the animals. There were some chickens and a rooster that roam around the farm all day. There are also four Tamworth Pigs.

These pigs are considered a heritage animal. This specific type is a cross breed with Wild Forest Bores.

Tamworth Pig 

Then David showed us where the chickens stay at night and we went back to the main entrance of the barn to learn about Combines and how wheat is processed.

A Combine is a machine that takes all the old technologies from our past and uses them all at the same time in the same machine. For example he explained how the farmers used to beat the wheat with large sticks and separate the grains for the stalk and then how they used to use a sifter type container to blow out the husks. All of this is now done with one machine for easier and more convenient harvesting.

David also showed us how to use a hand mill and that it's perfect if only milling a little bit of grain at a time.

David using the Hand Mill to mill Buckwheat 

The white part is what you can eat after it's milled 

Liked tasting the raw Rye and Buckwheat.

~Jaxson (child)

Some of the families tried the raw Buckwheat 

We also saw a Fanning Wheel and he explained how the hand operated machine worked by turning a large handle almost like a giant jack -in- the -box. During the process if you start to see the good grains coming from the spout on the side you need to start to slow down the wheel. This Wheel separates the weed seeds, wheat seeds and the wheat.

The Fanning Wheel 

Once we finished learning how to separate the wheat from the weed seeds and the wheat seeds we were able to watch him make flour from the wheat grain. We watched him get the machine ready and how he used it. He told us how it can produce up to 300 pounds per hour.

We saw what it looked like after he was finished and then watched a demonstration on how to turn it from whole wheat to white flour with using just a metal sifter.

Making the Flour 

Sifting the just made flour 

Getting to smell the fresh flour 

We all then went back to the barn for a sample of Red Fife wheat bread and tried some wonderful cranapple jam. We were all lucky to have the chance to take home a loaf of this wonderful bread made for us by Angel Taylor.

Enjoying the Home Made Red Fife Wheat Bread 

Seeing all the animals and eating all the 
bread, it was really good.

~ Brian (child)

The Home Made Red Fife Wheat Bread 

While we were all sitting around and enjoying our wonderful bread I was able to talk with some of the families about their experiences at the grain tour.

Here is what some of them had to say.

How they make white flour was cool

~ Dylan (child)

Liked being on the farm.

~ Sadie (child)

Very informative, great experience, really enjoyed it and would go on another.

~ Brandon (parent)

Enjoyed being here it's a lovely spot. Learning about different grains and how they are processed compared to bigger companies.

~ Catherine 

Here are some of the upcoming Farm Tours:

August 25th -Garlic Festival 

August 29th - Magnificent Hill Farm ~ This is a Bee and Honey Demonstration along with animals and a wonderful Meal made with fresh produce 

September 7th - Abbey Gardens 

If you would like to attend any upcoming Farm Tours please contact Debbie or Daniela at SIRCH Community Services  705-754-1742 or by email at Daniela_pagliaro@sirch.on.ca.

SIRCH Community Services Website
http://www.sirch.on.ca/