SHEDDEN — It’s not every day that a farm cooks 5,800 slices of bacon for company.
Ed Donkers of Donkers Family Farm at Shedden near St. Thomas was the host of Farm & Food Care Ontario’s seventh Breakfast on the Farm event. A record 2,500 people attended this year, and that doesn’t include the 200 volunteers and exhibitors.
Volunteers — all wearing blue T-shirts with the words “Ask me a ? I’m a volunteer” — also served 312 cartons of white milk, 1,200 cartons of chocolate milk, the equivalent of 9,120 large eggs, 24 litres of maple syrup and 200 litres of apple cider.
Before entering the barn, visitors walked on a small container of sawdust and a biosecurity solution. While this helped keep the goats safe from diseases, it also served as an educational tool for non-farmers, said Kelly Daynard, interim executive director of Farm & Food Care Ontario.
Barn guests were also treated to the birth of a kid, of the goat variety.
Donkers milks 900 goats and the milk is used for the production of specialty cheeses.
Farm & Food Care Ontario will be holding another Breakfast on the Farm Sept. 26 at Doug and Dave Johnston’s Maplevue Farm at Listowel. The Johnstons have 60 cows and 1,500 acres of crops. Tickets are free, but must be reserved online at www.FarmFoodCareON.org.
