Goat Yoga hit the big time a few years ago. Started on a whim by Lainey Morse in 2016 when a yoga teacher suggested offering a class in the field with Lainey’s goats,  her Original Goat Yoga craze took off not only across the country but around the world. It was one of those silly ideas that livestock owners have known like… forever. Some of our animals can be down-right affectionate.

Not into yoga, but looking for a farm with friendly animals and farmers that allow some hands-on interaction? Farmstay has search filters beyond just location. Try the Activities filter and check off  Petting Paddock. You will find a number of farms or ranches around the U.S.. Or you can check off by the type of animal, recognizing that goats and donkeys are often used as ambassadors when they aren’t on brush duty, some milk cows are friendly enough, and baby animals (usually born in spring) are always cuddly.

Why do we even bring up livestock cuddling? It doesn’t sound very ‘farm-y’ but can be a side benefit of staying on a working farm. Call it “farm therapy”.  A chance to relax and slow down, to laugh and connect in a nonverbal way, to be in nature and recharge with something warm and furry under hand.

The caveat: it’s a unique farm (and farmer) that offers cuddling of their livestock, so don’t expect this on every farm you go to. If this is the experience you are looking for, call ahead to make sure you read the information correctly. There are plenty of farm and ranch livestock that aren’t treated like pets and will just as soon stomp on you as give you a kiss!

Just a sampling of farm stays allowing close-up-and-personal livestock interactions:

Bar SZ Ranch, Pacines CA. We figure when the description includes, “…walking a pig, snuggling a rabbit” along with photos of kids interacting with their horses, there’s got to be some cuddling going on . The ranch is all about interaction and learning new things with their own house full of kids.

Rockn Rowdy Ranch, Leona TX. The photos say it all but so does this list of animals, “…horses, ponies, zebra, donkeys, Scottish highlander cattle, longhorn, buffalo, llamas, goats, kangaroos , deer and so many more.” See some of these animals from horseback and you can take ‘learning to ride’ off your bucket list.

Mary’s Land Farm, Ellicott City MD. Priding themselves on “beyond-organic standards and regenerative practice”, this farm has chickens, cattle, goats, pigs, sheep and ponies. Since they show a photo of a lamb being held, it looks as if there is some excellent baby animal cuddling in season.

Heritage Farm, Flora IN. Specializing in alpacas, one of the softer woolly animals we know, this is the place to meet and learn all about them. The farm has other animals too, including a recent addition of KuneKune pigs. Cuddle up!

We pulled these few farms off the search results for Petting Paddock. There are about 25 more choices. Of course you can always just search on Goats or Sheep and be pretty much assured there will be babies in the spring to hang out with. Dairies will have cows. Some farms will have donkeys. The list goes on. Oh, and if you search on Yoga, it’s likely there might be a goat or two on your matt.

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Thistle Byre farm is a family farm located in Burnettsville, Indiana with over 80 acres of pastures, gardens, and woodlands. It is owned and operated by Abby Abbott-Rider and her husband Jeff Rider. Abby is passionate about sustainable agriculture, healthy, NON-GMO food and sharing her quiet, tranquil property with anyone who wants to learn about sustainable, healthy living.

Below written by Abby Abbott-Rider of Thistle Byre Farm

I grew up on a farm in Central New York and have been passionate about agriculture from a young age. My play-pen was often put on a wagon and taken to the field so I was not far from my parents as they worked together on my family’s dairy, potato, apple and grain farm. My parents have always loved welcoming visitors from around the world on their farm. Growing up meeting and listening to these travelers and their stories drew me to pursue international travel – especially to farms around the world. Several of the European farms I stayed at were the highlight of my travels and they sparked in me the desire to give others the same opportunity in the US – just as my folks did. It was because of traveling that I was also led to pursue coursework in international agriculture at Purdue University, before settling down to graduate with a more production-oriented degree in agriculture.

Thistle Byre is a family farm where my husband’s cousins were raised. They remember fields of strawberries and watermelon on part of their farm that was about 1 mile from the main farm up a private, beautiful, gravel road. We are located in the heart of rural, northern Carroll County’s rolling, wooded hillsides. The main farm is located on a dirt road but is not far from the amenities of a lake town – Monticello, Indiana – where water sports abound and shopping is available. We are also very close to Purdue University and the Lafayette area; the home of great sports and culturally-diverse offerings year round.

In addition to being a farmer, I am an adult, nurse-practitioner. Although I am a prescriber of medicine, I know the most powerful prescription is clean food. As a woman who has battled autoimmune disease, I know the power of clean food on a cellular level. It is my hope our visitors can learn to appreciate clean food, raised with care and concern for our environment. I believe as hosts we learn so much from our visitors and it is the rich stories shared by my guests that make this fun for me, and in turn, I want to teach visitors about how clean food is grown and raised.

At Thistle Byre, we’re passionate about modeling responsible land-stewardship, growing and raising our food using ecologically beneficial methods, and we strive to teach others about how to grow their own food in a sustainable way for a healthy and nurturing home. Therefore, we humanely raise NON-GMO-fed, hormone and antibiotic-free meats and NON-GMO, vegetables, fruits and herbs. Our sheep and cow herds are 100% grass-fed and pastured. The sheep are Katahdin/St. Croix cross, hair sheep and the cows are also a cross of Galloway/Devon with a bit of Black Angus. These are hearty crosses that can withstand the harsh, winter weather we often have. Our Red Wattle/Berkshire cross pigs are fed NON-GMO corn and a 16% protein NON-GMO hog ration. We are a farrow-to-finish operation and also sell our extra feeder pigs to individuals that want to raise their own pork. Our chickens are a mixture of breeds that are given NON-GMO feed and have exposure to grass in the summer. Turkeys, ducks, and goats can be found here as well. The farm has a large market garden and we like to put our energy into the herbs and veggies our family enjoys canning and freezing.

-Abby Abbott-Rider

The Thistle Byre Farm stay is a remote, peaceful place in the countryside located in a private wooded area – a mile down a country lane to the main farm – and boasts clear night skies away from city lights. During your stay, the hosts invite you to learn about sustainable farming by taking free guided tours of the farm to meet the livestock and peruse the gardens. The farm offers fresh flowers and a dozen farm-fresh eggs and has many additional offerings for a fee: a farm-to-fork, 3-course dinner by a campfire once a month (June-Sept), tours, gardening and canning classes, and a CSA basket for guests who book 1 week. The fully-furnished, spacious farmhouse is newly remodeled with 3 bedrooms, a full kitchen, a reading nook filled with books and games and an outdoor fire-pit (for s’mores!) stocked with complimentary wood.

Thanks to Abby for sharing about her lovely farm and farm practices. If you’re an Indiana native and want a quiet, local getaway or if you’ve always wanted to visit Indiana’s countryside, check out Thistle Byre’s profile to learn more.

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Q: What is the history of your farm?

A: We started farming twenty-seven years ago, following in the footsteps of the family who farmed the land a century ago. In the 1840s, Scottish immigrants settled in the Catskills because the rolling hills reminded them of their homeland Scotland. Dutch immigrants joined the Scots and established homesteads and farms in the Kortright valley. In 1842, the McAuslan (Haynes) family settled in the valley and named the farm Appledorn which is the English version of the Dutch appeldoorn or Thornapple (which grow thickly on the hillsides). Our farm was one of the most successful cow dairies in the valley.

Q: What brought you to offer a farm stay?

A:  We moved from Brooklyn 27 years ago. We established the farm stay to supplement farm income and to ensure that our family had exposure and interaction with people of different race, religion, and ideas.

Q: What do you raise and produce on your farm?

A: We raise cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, poultry, rabbits on pasture. Our pasture raised meat, eggs, and value added products such as soup, pot pies, pates, sauces are offered on-farm and at farmers markets. We raise horses for pleasure, and we have six working guardian dogs on the premises.

Q: What is the setting of your farm like? Tell us a little about the area you live in?

A: Our farm is nestled in a valley in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains. The farm is on a quiet country road with two other farms. We’re located 20 minutes from Delhi and Oneonta, home of New York State University Colleges.

Q: What can guests do during their farm stay, either on or off the property?

A: We offer farm programs such as Tours, Chores, and Farmer for a Day (opens a PDF). We also offer field and farm workshops (opens a PDF). Farm stay guests may opt to participate in a guided tour of the farm and lend a hand with farm chores. Tour and Chores is 1 to 1½ hour program. Farm chores, depending on the season, may include collecting eggs, bottle feeding kid goats, feeding and watering chickens, rabbits and pigs, moving the sheep or dairy goats with the border collies or milking a goat. Tour and Chores is $60 per family (up to 4 persons).

Guests are also welcome to wander the farm, talk to the animals, splash in the stream, enjoy campfires, and soak in the beauty and quiet. Guests can bike and walk country roads, hike, swim and fish in State Parks and environmental centers.

Cooperstown, home to the Baseball Hall of Fame is 40 minutes away. Picturesque towns are within a half hour drive and are ideal for dining, shopping, cider and beer tasting.

Q: Tell us about your lodgings. Where do guests stay, and what amenities do you offer?

A: We have two lodgings – the Farmhouse Suite which occupies the lower half of the Greek Revival farmhouse. Decorated with antiques, it includes an attached library and living room. It has a private entrance and back yard with a fire pit, grill, patio table.

The Farmhand Cabin, located a ¼ mile from the farmhouse is situated in a private spot along the creek. Guests enjoy waking up to the sheep and horses grazing outside the cabin. The cabin has simple cooking facilities including a firepit and picnic table.

We provide farm check-in charcuterie boards, farm + table dinners, picnic baskets and breakfast bags.  The farmhouse suite has wifi.

Our thanks to Tom and Denise for this glimpse of their farm life. Visit the Stone & Thistle Farm listing on Farm Stay USA for more!

(All photos courtesy of Stone & Thistle Farm)

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“Everything we eat has a story. Know what you eat.”
– from the Toddy Pond farm website

The story of Toddy Pond Farm in Monroe, Maine is not one of 2^nd, 3^rd, or 4^th generation farmers continuing in the family tradition. This is the story of ‘new’ farmers, Greg and Heide Purinton-Brown, who decided food and how it is grown was important to them and something they wanted to pursue. So, in 2014 Greg quit his 9 to 5 desk job and Heide, who had been homeschooling their two sons, switched gears to farming.

Flourishing Pastures

Originally planning to be caretakers of an existing farm in Monroe ME just to get their feet wet, they ended up buying it! Toddy Pond Farm, on the banks of Toddy Pond, is a 520-acre property with 30 acres of pasture used now for their cows, sheep, pigs, chickens, and bees. In just a few years, they were able to improve and provide permanent pasture for their livestock with rotational grazing. They don’t irrigate or fertilize their pastures because this would require the use of large amounts of fossil fuel. They don’t till the soil which would release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. They plant clover for their bees. The pastures are flourishing with grasses up to the bellies of the cows.

Humane Dairy Farming

What is even more impressive about their operation is that the Purinton-Browns decided to enter the dairy business, one of the most challenging areas of farming! If you’re going to go down this risky path these days, you need to have a niche. Coming from a background as a vegetarian and an OB nurse before she became a farmer, Heide had a keen passion to make sure her livestock was treated humanely, and the way nature intended. So, unlike most dairies, the farm keeps calves with their mothers for their strong emotional bond, and the cows are only milked once a day.

Milking once a day had additional benefits these farmers wanted in their finished products. The full-fat Jersey milk, higher in protein and fat than from cows milked twice a day, made for a wonderful tasting yogurt, now the farm’s signature product. Offered in plain and vanilla flavors, the Toddy Pond label can be found not only at their farmers market stand and at their on-farm store, but also in local groceries. Of course, there are other products to find at their on-farm store: packaged meats, from ground lamb to pork sausage, kefir, eggs, honey, and ice cream in season.

An Idyllic Getaway

Does all of this make you want to stay at Toddy Pond Farm to get a better feel of farm life…and how taste is grown and finished? Or maybe just kick back at your own private farm retreat in the middle of 500 acres with cows and sheep grazing off the porch, grab a kayak for the pond or hike the many trails through the woods?

Toddy Pond offers the quintessential week-long farm stay in the summer, when the farm is in top production, and three-day stays for the shoulder seasons. Guests stay in a gorgeous, fully restored 4-bedroom cottage that sleeps 7, has a large kitchen, living room, 2 bathrooms, and screened in porch.  It’s the perfect place for an unplugged vacation.

Check out the Toddy Pond Farm listing here on Farm Stay USA… then book a stay and make your own story!

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David and Caroline Owens bought their first farm in 1992 in Pelham, NH as a place to raise their kids and grow their own food. Caroline was a former vocational agriculture teacher with a degree from Cornell now working for a feed company; David was a biomedical  engineer with a degree from Boston University. Soon enough, friends and neighbors were asking to buy meat from them. They were on the cusp of the local, pasture-raised food movement raising sheep, pigs, cattle, chickens, and turkeys. They jumped all in.

Fast forward to 2006 when the size of the Owens’ operation had outgrown the existing farm infrastructure. Caroline and David began the search for something on the East Coast with more acreage, especially in pasture for their burgeoning sheep business. The search led them to the current 112 acre Owens Farm in Sunbury, PA in 2008, and they have been farming the land there ever since. Located in the beautiful rolling hills of the Susquehanna River Valley, they have found their ‘forever’ farm.

The Owens currently raise sheep, pigs, chickens, and turkeys, selling to local families. No small production, they birth upwards of 175 lambs in March, with piglets in April and October, and chicks brought on farm in April to grow into meat birds. All are heritage breeds raised sustainably on a rotational system through the pastures. To help move the sheep flock, part of which spends the summer controlling vegetation under the solar panels at Susquehanna University, the Owens include border collies in their animal count.

The Owens offer classes in Lambing and Sheep 101 for individuals with or thinking about getting sheep, beekeeping and honey making, and a Sheep Bootcamp for Ag teachers. They also offer tours of their farm for a close-up look at how they raise happy and healthy animals in a natural setting without the use of chemical inputs.

As exhausting as all the above activity sounds, the Owens decided to ‘share’ their farm with overnight guests starting in 2015 because they felt the benefit of 24+ hours on site gave a much clearer picture of farm life from dawn to dusk. They also had loved to travel when their kids were young and often stayed in unconventional lodging or looked for home stays.

A former carriage barn became the ‘farm stay’, and the Owens now host guests from mid-March to November when there are the most hands-on activities (and least amount of mud!). When asked about guests’ reactions to their stay, Caroline mentions her conversations tend towards the seasonality of things – that livestock births happen during the months that most benefit survival and production, not everyday on the farm; that summer is the best (and most prolific) time to eat out of the farm garden; that grass grows fastest in spring and summer so animals are rotated through the pastures to keep it fresh and not overgrazed… also when they send out their band of sheep to keep the solar arrays cleared; like that. Additionally, there is great surprise in the abilities of her working dogs to herd and corral the sheep (probably because Rover at home is not so well behaved or interested in a job!)

This farm might be in PA but it’s right off I-80 with guests arriving from New York City, Baltimore and DC in 2-4 hours. So, if you ever want to throw yourself into the middle of a working operation with 112 acres to roam, and you find yourself in Pennsylvania or had a hankering to go to Pennsylvania, Owens Farm just might fit the bill. Take an unplugged vacation, not because there is no wifi but because your electronics don’t hold a candle to this farm experience!  Retreat to the country and breathe it all in. We can promise you your trip home will be filled with stories of your stay and your camera will be filled with the photos to back it up.

Check out Owens Farm here on Farm Stay USA for more information and to book your stay today!

(All photos courtesy Owens Farm)

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