We recently got a chance to tour Ninja Cow Farm, a real working cattle farm near Lake Benson outside of Garner. We were able to hand-feed the cows and see the pigs, as well as shop from their home-grown store. This is no farm-style amusement park like Hill Ridge Farms… you’re going to get down and dirty on this farm, poop and all!

The Tour

We started our tour outside of the store, where there are a few tree swings the kids all loved playing on. It was a great way to pass the time while we waited for everyone to arrive.

The owner, Farmer Dan, took us on the tour and he was very friendly and obviously familiar with toddlers. He tailored the tour to fit our crazy bunch so he did a lot less talking and explaining with us, for which I am very thankful!

Once we got started, we walked over to the bee hives and had a great view of the farm. Farmer Dan said they used to farm their own beehives, but now they have a contracted outside farmer who comes and manages them. He said they usually have a clear wall to the hive so you can see the inner workings, but it had been switched out and wasn’t there at the time.

The Cattle

Farmer Dan explained that the cows are rotated throughout the land so they can eat the grass during the summer months as their main nutrition. In the winter when the grass no longer grows the farm has to supplement their diet with hay, but other than that the cows eat recycled produce from the state farmers market! The farm basically provides a trash service for the farmer’s old produce, so both parties benefit from the arrangement!

The coolest part about our farm tour was hand feeding the cows. Those cows knew what was up and were used to tours feeding them, so they started eagerly gathering for us as we were crossing the field towards them. The electric fence that keeps them contained was turned off while we were out there for safety purposes with children, but the cows didn’t realize that and they waited patiently behind the fence until we reached over to feed them avocados. My kids enjoyed feeding the animals, but my 3 year old got a little scared. There was also a lot of flies buzzing around and poop to avoid stepping in: an authentic farm experience!

The Pigs

After the cows we attempted to go see the pigs, but they had already eaten breakfast before we arrived and were busy napping their morning away. Isn’t that the life! You can’t hand feed these animals because they are pretty crazy and would bite you. Farmer Dan explained that pigs are competitive eaters and will always try to eat more than their piggie friends, thus why you can’t ever own just one pig or they will be too skinny for meat.

We did end up seeing one pig sniffing around in the back, but not the up close and personal experience we got with the cows. Farmer Dan said there was another group of pigs across the farm that would probably be more active, but with all the babies and strollers we had he didn’t think it would be a very enjoyable walk to go see them. Thank you again Farmer Dan for understanding life with toddlers!

The Store

Once we had seen everything we made our way back to the onsite store. Farmer Dan’s three home-schooled children usually run the place, but they were unavailable at the time so Farmer Dan let us in himself to do a little shopping.

You can buy all the meat that the farm produces by the cut. Farmer Dan explained that you can buy a whole or half cow, but he doesn’t recommend it and has a whole blog post explaining why here. They also offer homemade items from the children, and other farm products like eggs and cheese. They partner with other farms to sell some of their goods as well, so not everything is exclusively from Ninja Cow Farm.

One thing I really enjoyed was the Kid Corner play space they had setup for the kids. All of the kids immediately ran over to play while the moms shopped!

Schedule a visit!

You can visit the farm on Saturdays from 9am-5pm or during the week by appointment only. The shop alone is open on Wednesdays and Fridays from 2pm to 6pm if you’re looking to buy some local, grass-fed meat and animal products.

While you’re in the area swing by White Deer Park Nature center or go through Ken’s Corny Corn Maze from the end of September through the beginning of November.