Meyer's Obstgarten

My friend Susannah has been raving for weeks about a farm near her home, and today I finally had a chance to go there with her. The fallout? I think I'm on the verge of developing a (calorically) expensive little milk addiction.

Susannah's praise of this farm was so justified. If you take the 67 bus line all the way to its end at Dunkelhölzli and then walk just a little bit further, the houses suddenly give way to a gorgeous stretch of farmland, Meyer's Orchard.  And they've opened the farm completely to the public, with welcoming paths leading up from the street, one wide and paved, and the other pebbly but taking you through their promising-looking apple and cherry trees.  There's a farm stand that appears to be in business year-round.  But the sign out front says that, until cherry season (in mid-June), the store is only open only every other afternoon.

Veal, milk, eggs

But they still had a few things to offer until the cherries ripen, because, in addition to the orchard, they keep animals: there's evidence of chickens, geese, and, especially, cows.

So, posted for sale, they had eggs, milk, and veal.  As a second sign pragmatically explained, "without calves, no milk."

Since we visited in the morning, the little store was closed, but we didn't go home empty-handed.  The farm has a system, a wonderful, wonderful system: the milk vending machine!  Susannah says she visits about twice a week for milk, and her little daughter was quite comfortable in showing us how it worked. If you toss thirty cents in the cash box, you can take an empty bottle, and then milk is sold by any fraction of the liter that you desire, but costs 1.20 CHF/L: cheap!

Buying our bottles

The milk dispenser

And it's not just any old milk: this is fresh-from-the-cow, unpasteurized, unhomogenized, whole-fat milk, served icy cold from the dispenser.  I've never had fresh milk before and I've never liked whole milk: I've been drinking skim milk since I can remember.  And I like my milk, but this was another thing entirely. I worry that there's no going back.  It was, in a word, delicious.

Joey's facial expression after taking his first gulp speaks volumes.

We bought a liter, and I gave some to the other kids for lunch, and then some more and some more.  Only by sheer force of will was I able to save enough for Dennis to have a taste this evening.

There's a small bank of coin-operated, refrigerated lockers next to the vending machine, and Susannah says these are sometimes filled with eggs or other produce from the farm: whatever happens to be ripe and ready.  Sadly, these were empty today, or had been emptied earlier.  There was quite a lot of traffic coming through the farm.

A dog, taking a quick bath in one of the public drinking
fountains. All that you've heard about Swiss fastidiousness
is not exactly, precisely true.

 We had a little time, and spent it visiting with the farm's cows, with Joey perfecting his impression of a cow's low. I'm glad to say that the animals looked clean and happy, contented residents of an idyllic little family farm.

Back home, just after Ella and Alex came home for lunch, the kids got a wonderful surprise.  Alex's teacher from preschool last year, his beloved Teacher Doreen, sent the children a box of art supplies: lots of sparkly things and tiny things, as well as a few projects to decorate.  Doreen knows my children so well, and everything she sent thrilled them.  And me, because the kids were completely busy for the rest of the day, first with thank-you cards, and then with all their various projects.

I'm sure Doreen was thinking of Alex when she slipped these
tiny letters in the box, and they were his favorites: he worked
 for over an hour on his "word world" picture.

Busy busy

This evening the kids were excited to share their good fortune with their friend nochElla, and they had a fine time playing with sparkly foam.  I wasn't really paying too much attention to them, but Dennis was and passed along a conversation he overheard.

Alex had invited nochElla into his room to show her his treasures, and she noticed the little Hello Kitty watch on his dresser.  "Alex, are you a girl?"

Alex was completely bewildered. "No. I'm a boy." Of course.

"But Alex, is that your kitty clock?"

"Yep!"

"Alex, are you sure you're not a little girl?"

Dennis was about to step in and sit nochElla down to listen to a copy of Free to Be You and Me, but our own Ella stepped in. "That's his watch. It's just a nice thing for him to collect and have." And then she deftly changed the subject, putting a firm end to the teasing.  Way to go, darling child.

All parents, as they listen to their kids bicker, wonder if they're doing it all wrong. But I've always wanted to believe, when it comes to it, that my kids will stand up for each other.   Oh, Ella made me proud tonight.