Down on the Farm

Family Fun Magazine | April 2001

As reported by Sharon Jaffee Dan in  Family Fun Magazine  April, 2001:

“Like many suburban families, we’ve seen our fair share of petting zoos and pony rides. But those few precious moments cuddling a baby goat or sitting in a saddle are never enough for my daughters, Alisa, six and Michelle, four. They want to feed the geese, milk the cows and brush the horses until their coats shine lie polished mahogany. They want the whole farm.

Then I heard about farm vacations, getaways where families can stay overnight on a working farm, help with chores , and spend hour upon hour with a barnyard full of animals. To farmers, opening their homes to guests presents a chance to earn extra money and educate families.

Weatherbury Farm, Avella, Pennsylvania
It’s no accident that Dale and Marcy Tudor and son Nigel, age 19, named their 102 acres farm and year-round B&B after the setting in Thomas Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd.  Weatherbury Farm, with its 1870s farmhouse and working blacksmith shop, takes guests back in time. Families rise and shine to Marcy’s cinnamon apple pancakes. Then it’s off to feed cattle and chickens and help make hay. Young guests can pet the billy goat, Gruff, romp with the bunnies or take a dip in the pool. After completing an educational workbook (or a one-page sheet for little ones), young farmhands receive Official Weatherbury Farm Kid Certificates. Lessons can be reinforced at the near-by Meadowcroft Museum of Rural Life in Avella. Weatherbury’s four guest rooms are located in the main farmhouse and the recently restored Summer Kitchen.”