Codman Community Farm Spring Visit

Now that it’s naptime, the sun is breaking through the cloud cover. But this morning, it was cool and green…that strange, fluorescent green that comes after days of spring rains. In boots and slick jackets we drove the six or so miles it takes to get to Lincoln’s Codman Community Farm. It was our first visit to an actual working farm. We were very excited to see the baby animals that had been born at the farm in the last couple months. A welcome sign greeted us, as did one of the farm’s volunteers out doing some chores. Without offending the nice folks at Davis Farmland, I was relieved not to be shuttled through a gate, with a hand stamp, a bracelet, and a cup of dry food to distribute. Instead, we heard a rooster crow, and we followed the sound, walking around a large white clapboard building to discover turkeys—which gobbled in chorus, starting and ending together. A baby pig kicked up his heels in the distance, and we were delighted to see that we could simply walk up to the pen and watch the hungry piglets lunching with their mother.

The pasture adjacent to the pigs had several varieties of cows. They were picturesque grazers surrounded by green grass and dwarfed by towering, dripping trees in the distance. One cow noticed us at the fence. This giant animal, with deliberate movement, made its way toward us. It was focused, curious, and immense. Parker began to go rigid in my arms, her little legs locked around my waist, rubbing muck on my pants. She was terrified. In all fairness to my two-year-old, I wasn’t entirely at ease next to this animal either. Certainly its expression was one of casual interest, even an academic looking tuft of hair sat atop his head. But there wasn’t much separating this animal and us. A healthy respect for its weight and its free will seemed appropriate. We met that cow on equal terms, and there is something quite tremendous about that, something that doesn’t translate in a zoo, or a commercial farm like Davis.

Parker’s cries of “I no like cows” eventually drove us away, but not the cow. I would swear he looked amused by the mayhem. My daughter’s fear lessened as we put some distance between the gentle giant and us. But the clinging remained for our visit to the goats, the cows, and pretty much all four-legged animals at the farm.

As I tucked Parker into her bed for her afternoon nap, she reviewed what she’d learned at Codman today.

“I no like cows”
“I no like goats”
“I no like pigs”

“I like bunnies.”

It’s a start!

Click here for more pictures of our visit toCodman Farm.