“A lot of families bring their kids to pick fruit, so the petting zoo is another fun activity to add to their day,” farmer Dottie Dunn says.
Between the pick-your-own selections, petting zoo and bustling farm market, a lot is going on here. Depending on the month, visitors can pick their own cherries, strawberries, apples, peaches, nectarines and blackberries. Or they can find produce, like sweet corn, peas and pumpkins, in the farm market.
It’s usually the produce that brings people through the gates in the first place. The onsite produce farm market is packed with fruits and vegetables grown right on the farm. You’ll find tables piled high with seasonal harvest alongside homemade pies and apple cider. They also sell flowers, planters and seasonal decorations to brighten up your front porch. But even more fun can be found in the petting zoo.
“We started in 1987 with two goats and a tame turkey that used to hang out in our fruit market and our customers really liked that,” Dottie says. “Since then, we’ve added more animals that are well behaved with children and amongst each other.” Now, there is a full menagerie including goats, turkeys, donkeys, sheep, emus, ducks, chickens, rabbits and pigs.
“You can walk right into our zoo and interact with our friendly animals. As you walk in, they’ll come runnin’ to greet you, hoping you brought them a snack. We have coin machines scattered around our zoo that hold food for our animals. We also sell bags of food in our market,” she says.
Families might come to buy a pie or pick a bushel of peaches, but they stay to hang out with the farm animals. “Over the past few years, we have made a multitude of improvements to our zoo,” Dottie says. “We have added new playgrounds, goat walks, expanded habitats, added a gazebo and more than doubled our pasture space for the animals. We’re always making changes and adding new things to the zoo.”
Baugher’s Orchard & Farm offers an experience in itself— it connects the community directly to agricultural life. Agritourism sounds like a fancy buzzword, but at its core, it just means inviting people to experience farm life firsthand. That is exactly what happens at the petting zoo. Kids who have only ever seen farm animals in storybooks get to stand face-to-face with them. Dottie also has informational signs posted about the animals for people to learn more about them.
Stop by, pick some produce and don’t forget to visit the animals. You may just find your new barnyard bestie.
Hungry for more? Read about Clark’s Elioak Farm. Find more pick-your-own farms.