Hello! It is hard to believe that Spring will be "springing" up all over our farm soon! Our Educational Animal Tour is a wonderful way to celebrate Spring! Tours begin on April 18, 2024 through July 29, 2024.

Our Farm´s History:

Some of you have toured our farm in the past; others of you are new to us. Please let me take a minute to explain our farm. I am Melissa Bowlander, I am who you talk to when you call to book a reservation. My husband was John Bowlander, his ancestors started our farm in 1863. John was a 5th generation farmer an our two children, John Jr. and Alexandria, are the 6th generation of Bowlanders to live and work on the farm. The rich farming history combined with Melissa´s love for animals is how our Educational Farm Animal Tour began! Our family believes that every child needs to experience our "Hand-On" Animal Farm! We have been conducting Agri-Educational Farm Animal Tours for over 25 years! We are humbled and proud to have been voted 2nd Best Animal Encounters in 2018 by Toledo Parent magazine voters! We were also voted #1 for Outdoor Birthday Parties and Horse Ridding Lessons. We placed 2nd in Summer Day Camps and Family Day Trips as well! We are a large Animal Farm. We also plant and operate a U-Pick Pumpkin Patch, grow general grain crops, bale our own hay and operate Panic in the Pines Haunt. We are inspected and licensed by the Federal Government for our animals (USDA-APHIS). We are very proud of our animal husbandry, their health, and their people-friendly personalities.

Hands-On Farm Animal Tours:

In the Spring, we offer two different tour options. Below is an explanation of them.

Tour Option 1: Recommended for Pre-K through 3rd Grade

Every Student will Milk a REAL, LIVE Cow, not a replica! They will hold Baby Chicks & Ducks. They will see and compare Eggs of different species. See and Observation Bee Hive & learn about pollination, hold Baby Bunnies, feed Large Animals: Llamas, Donkeys, Sheep Mini Cows, Pot Belly Pigs, Farm Pigs, and our Fallow Deer, feed free roaming Peacocks, Ducks, Geese, Chickens and Turkeys. Feed Goats on Goat Mountain, visit the Discovery Barn, which is also "hands-on". See Beautiful Pheasants and learn where they are native to.  Ride on a Barrel Train. All along the tour they will learn animal food, food habits and habitats.

Tour Option 2: Recommended for 3rd through 6th Grade

On this tour, students will Milk a REAL, LIVE Cow, not a replica! They will make Butter and learn butter facts. They will press cider in a 1890´s Cider Press and learn Apple facts. See an Observation Bee Hive and find out how honey is "spun" out of the frames. They will feed the large animals here on the farm. They will take part in the "Producers to Consumers" Discussion concerning crops we grow and how we market them, and they will also visit our "hands-on" Discovery Barn.

Lunch Area:

We have a lovely area inside the barn for lunch and snacks. It is decoratedd for the season. We can heat the area if the weather is chilly. The Candy and Snack Shop is open at lunch time. The items range from chips, candies, pop, water and coffee.

Restrooms:

The farm has flushable restroom and handwashing station. All of our Tour Leaders carry hand sanitizer for the students to use at each station.

Rain Days:

Rain days... do happen. If we feel the rain is too heavy for the students (and adults) to still enjoy and have an enriching learning experience, we will cancel the tour. HOWEVER, with light rain, we always leave it up to your team teachers. We DO automatically cancel if there is HEAVY RAIN and/or LIGHTNING for obvious safety reasons. If you must cancel a tour for any reason, other than weather, you MUST CALL by 9 AM the day of the tour or your school will be charged a $50.00 no show fee.

Tour Costs:

STUDENTS ARE $10.00 each per tour.

EACH TEACHER IS FREE!

ANY ADDITIONAL CHAPERONES are $10.00 each

We do take school check, cash, purchase orders (if necessary, you MUST have PO# with you on the Tour Day), and credit cards. We ask that you have ALL PAYMENTS, including additional chaperone money, ready when you arrive. This saves valuable tour time!

Tour Length:

We can complete a tour in 1-2 hours, if necessary. HOWEVER, we PREFER to schedule your tour base on the amount of time you have to give us! The average tour is 2.5-3 hours! The longer the better, we will fill the time!

WE WANT THIS TO BE A FUN, LEISURELY LEARNING EXPERIENCE!

In order to for your groups to enjoy all the activities at our farm, we ask that you be puntual on your arrival time! We are also taking reservations for spring 2023!

BOOKING DATES AN TIMES ARE FILLED ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVE BASIS, SO BOOK EARLY!

Please call Melissa at: (419) 461-1298 for info to make reservations.

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WE LOOK FORWARD TO SHARING OUR FARM WITH YOU!!!

John & Melissa Bowlander