On the 18th of October, Whitby Farms played host to 60 students from all second grade classes at Basin City Elementary School.

With the masterful guidance of Kaleb Whitby, the “head honcho” at the dairy, they started their day off by separating into different groups. Those groups included the milk station, the feeding area, and even to see AND pet the new baby cows. The second graders especially loved that! The highlight of the dairy visit was probably watching a new calf being born!

After the dairy, the classes ventured over to Whitby Field to eat lunch. A competitive scavenger hunt for candy bags in the honey crisp orchard followed lunch. The fall activities continued with games like tug of war and pumpkin tossing. They were all rewarded after the games by getting to pick out their very own pumpkins.

Jeb Whitby, one of the four owners of Whitby Farms, came and educated the class a little on the variety of apples Whitby Farms grows. He finished his lesson by walking the students over to an orchard near his home to pick some apples.

When apple picking finished, Bryant Whitby who is in sales and is also an owners son, explained the process of hay and timothy harvest. Growing up on the farm and being fully immersed in the process his whole life makes Bryant the ultimate expert on the subject. He explained what the swather, rakes, balers, and stingers were and their roll in the harvest process. The kids were then granted access to explore the equipment and not only grew an appreciation of farming but also thought it was “so so so cool”.

If you have a class or group wanting to tour Whitby Farms, please fill out the contact sheet on the whitbyfarms.com website.

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**** All Photos Courtesy of Cambria Whitby