Crisp autumn air and rolling rural hills greeted the hundreds of suburbanites who spent a day in the country at the Delaware Nature Society’s Harvest Moon Festival.
The festival, held at the 187-acre Coverdale Farm in Greenville on Oct. 4 and Oct. 5, featured hay rides, craft and plant sales, pumpkin carving and farming demonstrations.
The Harvest Moon Festival, held annually for at least 40 years, is a way to show people where their food comes from, said Michelle Wales, farm program coordinator for the Delaware Nature Society.
This year’s festival featured a new event, “Farm to Fork,” where people sampled dishes made from food produced at Coverdale Farm.
Coverdale Farm has an educational mission because children growing up in the suburbs might never see vegetables before they appear on grocery store shelves and have no idea how milk gets from cow to carton, she said.
But the kids didn’t have to wonder very long; they crowded around Coverdale’s towering red barn while Farm Manager Jim Wolfer led a Jersey cow out into the sunlight and let each kid take a turn milking her.
Showing kids how to milk cows is important so they understand there is more involved than simply a carton and a refrigerator, said Landenberg, Pa., resident Brian DiPietro.
He smiled as he watched his 4-year-old daughter, Sydney, march up to the coffee-colored cow and fearlessly reach toward its udder.
“It’s a growing experience for her,” he said. “I’m glad she is interacting with the animals and learning what they do.”
The cow calmly chewed its cud while the crowd thinned and the families spread out to enjoy other farm activities, like scarecrow making.
Greenville resident Andrea Marvin held up the leg of a tattered pair of jeans so her 3-year-old son, Nicholas, could stuff a wad of crumpled newspaper into it to form their scarecrow’s leg.
They came to the festival to have some fun together and pick up a pumpkin for Halloween, but Marvin said she hopes the experience taught her son something about traditional American farming.
Festival visitors watched two volunteers make traditional apple cider using a 100-year-old cider press at an educational demonstration. A few chunks of ground fruit flew through the air as one volunteer spun a crank to grind up a basketful of golden apples.
Watching the juice trickle out of the apple basket, Brandywine Hundred resident Jay Mandl said the festival was the perfect way to spend a beautiful autumn day with his kids.
“The kids get to run around and be free while they learn a few things about the farm,” he said.
Watch Ceol Mor perform "Maggie in the Woods" at the Harvest Moon Festival
