The Rural Voice, 1983-07, Page 49Finding out
where food
comes from
by Bev Brown
Mrs. Marilyn Elgie, kindergarten teach-
er at Turnberry Central School, wants to
be sure her students know where their
food comes from. Less than half of her
class has had any experience with farm
animals, so she took them on a tour of
area farms, where the host farmers had
carefully prepared for the visit. Several
mothers came along to help and to learn,
too.
First stop was at Neil Edgar's sheep
farm near Wingham and as soon as the
children were off the bus, the sheep were
brought running in from the fields in
response to a few calls of "Nanny,
Nanny" from their owner --- an impres-
sive sight for all. Inside the barn, Edgar
showed the class how he "names" his
sheep with an ear tag (lower right) and
everyone got a sample of some sheared
wool along with a lesson on how sheep
are cared for.
Next stop was Jim McKague's dairy
farm at Belmore where the children saw a
cow mi ked by hand (lots of giggles) and
then milked in a parlour. Each child had a
chance to put a thumb into the milker to
feel the suction which draws the milk
from the cow's udder (middle right). Mrs.
Lana McKague (upper left) showed one
of their standard bred horses "Misty" and
demonstrated some of the special things
a horse needs to have done such as
currying and shoeing. Looking on with
the children are Cathy Edgar, Jane
Machan and Marilyn Baird. In spite of the
very cold day (for late May), the children
enjoyed a wagon ride around the fields
with Mrs. Edna McKague handling a pair
of handsome purebred hackney horses.
After lunch the class visited Doug
Filsinger's swine barn near Bluevale
where the owner's interesting presenta-
tion soon overcame the children's con-
cern about the odours and noises (lower
left). Three of the mothers seen in the
picture are Jane Machan, Marilyn Baird
and Marian Fischer.
The children were delighted when
Filsinger ran the feed mill (upper right) to
show them how the food is prepared for
the pigs.
Last stop was at the New Life turkey
barns near the school where Rick
Sleeman answered many questions from
the children who all managed to find a
turkey feather to take home.
Then it was back to the school to get
cleaned up (and warmed up) before going
home to tell all about their day on the
farm. -
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THE RURAL VOICE, JULY 1983 PG. 47