Day Trip Idea: Homeland Creamery

By Guest Blogger Leslie M

If you’re looking to give your kids a sweet taste of farm life, round ’em up and head for Homeland Creamery. This local dairy farm is in Julian, just a half-hour south of Greensboro.

When my daughter reached the age of four, I could tell by her commentary that she had no real knowledge of where food came from. With all the talk these days of organic foods, going “green,” being environmentally friendly, and supporting local, sustainable farms – I realized that no book or DVD would bring these lessons to life quite as vividly as a trip to a local farm might. Lucky for us, there are a variety of interesting local farms nearby. Hoping to charm my young audience, I chose Homeland Creamery, a sixth-generation family dairy farm that is well-respected for its ice cream!

The tour at Homeland Creamery kicks off with a 20-minute hayride around the property. After touring the dairy farm facilities, we were able to get some “hands on” experience: milking a dummy cow and bottle-feeding a baby goat. The crowning glory, of course, is sampling the ice cream. This is a great experience for groups of all sizes, including one family, a preschool group, or a couple of parents looking for a partial day-trip to entertain the kids this summer.

I should have known to expect the unexpected when I took our morning off-road in this manner. Who knew that hayrides make some kids feel like superheroes while others sob over prickly hay? Who could have imagined the commentary from a bunch of preschoolers observing a pasture of resting cows? The memory that has been best preserved in my mind is the image of my two-year-old daughter hunkering down on a milk crate under a dummy cow, milking it as if her very life depended on it!

Weekday tours are offered on Monday through Friday mornings at 10am. Tours last 60 – 90 minutes, including a 20-minute hayride around the property. If you are bringing a group, tours can be customized to the age group of those touring. We were welcomed to bring a picnic lunch for our preschool group before the ice cream sampling. Then we were allowed to let them run and play in the picnic area to burn off their sugar rush!

Reservations for tours of any size are required. The cost is $7 per person (ages 2 and up). For more information, go to www.homelandcreamery.com.