We loved our time at the GalPaca Farm and seeing these mystical creatures. Pronounced Gal-Paca, not…read moreG-alpaca! The owners (2 Gals) were super friendly and interactive with us on any questions we asked. We loved hearing their story and how close the community around them is. On this street alone, you can hit a pumpkin patch and an apple picking farm all 5 minute drive from one another. They currently had a 'Yarn Hop' going on which we thought was so fun. With that, they really put standards in place for COVID safety precautions. At the front entrance, there was someone waiting to understand how many people were in your car (and if there were any children) so that they could contain crowds. Masks were worn and there is specific areas for parking marked. When we arrived, we were given a couple of carrot bags to feed the alpacas. They were all roaming, minding their own business eating the grass, but once you shake your plastic baggy of carrot goodness, they'll start walking to you instantly. They eat with their bottom teeth and are just the cutest things. I'm also extremely jealous of their eyelashes, extensions can't get you that amount of volume! Right next door, they have a another barn with their shop of goods, including honey/bee products. My friend got the alpaca gloves, another got the body butter, and I snagged a GalPaca shirt. There's lot to choose from and they're all labeled nicely. The cutest thing is, if you purchase yarn, there are the names of the specific alpaca it came from. So cute! Even though it's getting a little chillier, I would make my way out here to explore! A short 30-40 minutes from Madison and lots of other farms to see. You can also then go to more of the city area of Mt. Horeb afterwards.

Loved my time at GalPaca alpacas! We went during the local Yarn Hop even though my friends and I…read morearen't avid knitters. It was well worth it to spend some time there and watch the alpacas! Right away as we pulled in, we were given a baggie of carrots and the alpacas perked right up and came straight to us at the gate. Seeing and feeding the alpacas was so much fun! GalPaca Farm Alpacas was very conscious of the pandemic and made sure to ask about the number of people we had in the car and to limit the amount of visitors to make the experience fun and safe for all. Definitely check out the store inside, they have a full variety of items like alpaca wool gloves, socks, and dryer balls. I picked up some wood cutting board balm and some solid lotion bars made in-home and I love using both on a daily basis. Hope to get back out there when the weather is warm again!

Eugster's is one of those pumpkin-picking-apple-orchard-petting-zoo family farms, this one in…read moreStoughton Wisconsin. Coming for "Lavender Days there was plenty of lavender around for sure. Plus goats, cats, kittens, pigs, ponies, donkeys, chickens, turkeys, sheep, etc... Wife seemed pretty happy walking a goat through the lavender field.

We spent a fun morning here this past Monday. They have so many baby goats and for $2 you get a…read morebottle of milk to feed them. These baby goats do not kid around when it comes to drinking their milk and the bottle will be gobbled up in a flash. You can also feed chickens and they have a model cow you can pretend practice milking. Plan to spend at least two hours here. Right now they have a gorgeous lavender field filled with bees. Very picturesque and looks great in photos.

OMG! What an amazing place!! My friend and I went to Baraboo to visit a Lavender Farm. We chose…read morethis location because it offered a relaxing environment access a variety of activities write on the farm. We had no idea what to expect but good grief ... We were blown away! Upon arriving, we were not even sure we were in the right place. This was a very small family-owned farm and we thought we were going to a large commercial business. I was further confused because I had previously visited Provence France where the lavender Fields are miles and miles of purple in every direction. I was sure we were in the wrong place. However, we walked up to a small building and said hello to a young lady standing out front. It turned out we were in the right place and the young lady was the owner's daughter. This young lady, who appeared to be a young adult, stood and talk to us for a while. She welcomed us to the farm and told us we were free to roam around until they were ready with our activities. In the background, we could see someone busy moving around the property as if she relate for an important date. We happily walked off onto the property to get a good view of what was available. What an amazing property! There were miles and miles acres and acres (more than 40 acres of farmland). Every visitor is free to roam the farm until they are ready to leave, but many, we were told never take advantage of the opportunity. Unknown to us, when we first arrived, the farm is still recovering from a major flood 5 years ago where 90% of its lavender fields were wiped out. Our wonderful host explained their efforts to restore their lavender fields. Let me tell you about the amazing host. She calls herself MJ. She hails from Hawaii and says that most people do not correctly pronounce her name so she just shortened it as a kid to MJ. After our wonderful experience on her property, I will dub her Lady MJ, " The Amazing." During the off season, Lady MJ, her husband, and family tend to this farm to get it ready for the very short tourist season. She never knows until March. What the land will yield. Because she is a naturalist, she honors the land and uses holistic practices. Some of her offerings include a lavender facial, a lavender foot, soak, a lavender charcuterie lunch, a lavender picnic basket, and lavender spritzers. She has so many other things to offer on her property. This is a small family business so the entire family is involved. Currently, she is down a chef because her eldest daughter is away on a mission. The rest of the family, however, including the dog seems to be involved in the business. Lady MJ is the spark that keeps the business running. When you arrive you immediately experience time slowing down. There's no rush. There's no push to buy products. Everything just stops and you start to relax. My friend and I chose to do a foot soak, a facial, and the charcuterie board. Board. It was a package deal and we loved every minute of it. When we received our receipt, the time indicated was 1.5 hours for the entire package. Once we got there however, we ended up staying almost 7 hours. We actually wished there was a hotel on the property that we could have just stayed in. I might have even been willing to stay in a tent! If you have a chance to take a trip to a lavender field in Baraboo, Wisconsin, you absolutely must give up going to the larger commercial farms. Support this family! Lady MJ has an amazing product. However, her season is very short. We were lucky enough to be among the last visitors to the farm this season. She warned us to book next year and March. That's when she knows what her season will be and trust us, we will be looking for another wonderful experience at Rowley Creek Lavender Farm! When you come, plan to stay. Abandon your cares. Abandon your plans. Just relax and enjoy the stay. Lady MJ and her family will make you feel welcome just by being there with you. She is truly an amazing woman. I have no idea how she does all the things she does but I'm super glad that she does! Thank you lady MJ! We can't wait to come back next year! We wish your whole family a restorative off season. You're amazing people are we're glad we chose Rowley Creek Lavender Farm! See you next year!!!

Visited during the lavender season for the U-pick lavender bouquet. My husband and I were warmly…read moregreeted in the parking area by one of their roaming chickens. Made a quick walk to the storefront where they gave us scissors and instructed us where to gather from. They showed me how much was considered a bouquet, and when I came back they graciously added to my bouquet as I had not picked enough. The store itself has so many lavender products and a good number of items direct from the farm. I also highly recommend the homemade lavender scones which are freshly baked and so delicious. I believe they require/recommend purchasing a farm visit pass prior to going, it's $5 per car and can be used towards your purchase of $10 or more in the store. It's a small price to pay for an hour or two of enjoying the views and the scents. We walked around the farm a bit and they have a handful of animals you can see from afar and a cute area near the namesake creek. I think they also offer tours and picnics and other events, I highly recommend checking out their website for details but definitely make your way over to the farm after.

I had SO much fun at Schuster's!! We came for Blooms on the Farm but really were surprised with all…read morethe fun little activities throughout the rest of the farm. You can wander around and find fun games, photo ops, and great food. The farm animals of course were adorable. I thought the entry ticket and flower ticket were very affordable for the abundance of beautiful zinneas we picked, access to fun yard games, and super kind staff. Highly recommend holding a baby goat if you can!! We also enjoyed corn hole, the "corn pit", kids playsets, and the jump pads. This is a great place to be summer or fall and there is something fun for everyone!! Worth the short drive from Madison for sure

I was there on a Saturday on October. The place was lively. There were a ton of activities,…read moreespecially for kids. Entree fee includes 2 apple cannon shots. There was hay ride, a kids train ride, corn pit etc. Couple of times a day there was candy canon, where they shoot candies to the people. Apple caramal apple slushie was my favorite food here. It comes with a caramal apple and a cider donut on top of slushie. Hot cider and pumpkin cake were good. There was pumpkin picking in the middle of hay ride. I picked a small pumpkin. Price was reasonable. People were picking huge pumpkins and in larger numbers.

Educational and enjoyable hour spent at Gretta's Goat farm. My group learned about the goats, held…read morebaby goats, were shown the goat soap making process and taught about cheese producing! We also learned about bee keeping and the integral dog and donkey protection of the goats. We tasted and bought yummy caramels and other products. Definitely a worth while stop!

My husband and I went to Gretta's Goat Farm for our second visit. Our stay was amazing. We were…read moreable to experience the quiet stay on the farm, the cozy guest house and THE GOATS! The goats are amazing. We were able to pet them freely as the hosts allow you to interact with them. Especially on the goat hike. I was fortunate enough to do this on back-to-back days. It was so fun to play with the goats as they ran around. The hosts are extremely friendly and so nice. They were happy to chat about the farm and provided a chance to purchase things at their store. We took home everything from T-shirts, to goat soap, to honey. All of which were great. The experience on the farm was calm, quiet and therapeutic. We can't wait to go back:)

Sassy Cow was so much fun!! We had a farm tour which was super educational and fun. The tour guide…read morewas very nice and accommodating to the many questions our group had. We got ice cream afterwards which was to die for. If you're in Madison and looking for something fun to do outside of the hub bub of the city, this is a very great spot to check out!

We went on a Thursday in November at 11 am…read more Food 3/5: if you like grilled cheese and nothing else, this will be your favorite stop. Overall not many options besides grilled cheese. We all got grilled cheese variations with apples, salad and soup as sides. The chicken bacon ranch grilled cheese was overall the best. Both of the salads had rotten leaves, so best to avoid that unless you're ok picking through for good leaves. Service 5/5: the food came quickly and the staff was very friendly. Ambiance 1/5: we were very disappointed overall since they hype themselves up as an experience that includes cows. There were no cows in sight. I know during the summertime they will have baby cows, but overall to me there should be more transparency around not actually seeing cows when you visit the creamery. Other than that there is a small parking lot that can get very busy at times, but plenty of places to sit. We did love the kids playground outside but all of the bikes were broken/didn't work and the bags put away for corn hole. Overall we were really disappointed at this trip. No cows and lunch was just ok. If you are looking for a spot just for ice cream, they have amazing options and plenty of room for the kids to play, just don't tell your kids there are cows because you likely won't see any.

A great place to spend a fall day with the kids. There is so much to do here! Feed or pet goats,…read moredonkeys, kittens, rabbits, pigs, turkeys, chickens, peacocks, geese and more. A bag of feed is $2. Get active on the playground equipment or try and tackle the corn maze. (beware no clues inside!) Then you can take the wagon ride every 30 minutes out to the pumpkin patch and sunflower field. They have food and beverages including hot apple cider and delicious, warm, fresh donuts! Do note that the price of a pumpkin is not included with admission. They are priced separately based on size.

THEY'RE ALSO A WEDDING VENUE!…read more I would not recommend using! The venue itself is unique and definitely fun for people who love the farm and animals. I got married here in November of 2019. When I first went to see the place I loved it, the owner even seemed pretty down to earth and easy going she talked about all the success she's had with previous couples and how she really got to know them. Well, after I signed my contract and paid my deposit, it couldn't have been more different! I had to contact her multiple times to even get a response. Usually a text a few days after my initial call or text "hey did you get my message" I would contact her about once a month with questions or to pay her, so it's not like I was some sort of crazy picky bridezilla. During my engagement I was working full time another part time job and planning the wedding, the owner was of zero help. Until the week before the wedding then most of my questions were answered in a timely manner. READ THE CONTRACT! I ended up paying a little over $7,500 JUST FOR THE VENUE FOR THE DAY!!!! You will be nickled and dimed for everything EVEN FOOD TO FEED THE ANIMALS! The day before the wedding and the morning of the wedding the pipes in the bathroom were frozen. We planned to get ready in the provided barns which they put some space heaters in the one for the bride that barely kept it warm. The groomsmen waited until just shortly before the wedding to go in that provided barn since it was so cold. The bathroom is a trailer that was quite a distance from the barn where your reception is (or where you get married during inclement weather.) On our particular wedding the floors in the bathroom were not kept mopped so, I had multiple guests slip in the bathroom, one had actually mentioned it to the owner and she just said "okay" and then did nothing about it. The barn where the wedding and the reception were was not heated very well either so I had guests wearing coats the entire time and even leaving early because they were so cold. We were also charged a $200 fee taken out of our damage deposit for the heat, that really didn't seem to be working. The owner also stepped on the bottom of my dress as I was walking into the barn and left a muddy shoe print on the bottom of my dress right before I was to walk down the aisle. I will say at that point there would've been nothing we could do to clean it off since there is no running water in the barn, and it was ceremony time, but she could've at least aknowledged it later and compensated me somehow for it. I'm attaching a picture! I will say a positive was one of the employees Megan, she was so kind and helpful throughout the wedding, she offered to get me drinks and even helped with clean up. She was there till the end while THE OWNER WAS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND!!! I felt bad for her since many of the things had gone wrong were out of her control. IF I WAS REVIEWING JUST HER SHE WOULD GET 10 STARS! Since the wedding I have contacted the owner regarding these issues to try and get my money back for at least the heat that we were charged for that wasn't even working adequately. I work in the service industry and I understand we can't always please everyone, and things can go wrong, but It's necessary to aknowledge them and let the people you're serving know that and try to make them better somehow. I'm really an easy going person, and especially a bride. At the end of the day I got to marry the man of my dreams and the love of my life! so that aspect of the day went perfectly. I wish I knew a little more about the particular venue and other people's experiences before I booked it, so I do hope that this information helps a future bride.

Sooo much to do! The giant slide is super fun, and the food/activities are amazing. Highly recommendread more

We have purchased season passes every year since opening, it is a fantastic place to bring kids…read more Our 14 year old daughter and friends enjoy the giant slide, corn maze and mini donuts with hot cider. Our 9 year old son and his friends like the obstacle course, ball games and slide. We also participate in cutting our own tree each year and go as soon as they open. There are tons of opportunities for photos. It is a great family experience.

What a hoot! We did their wine and goat hoof it event after staying a few days in Galena…read more You start out trying out Illinois wines. These are from Fergetaboutit Vineyard, and to be blunt, they were the best wines we have tasted in Illinois. If you like wine and have tried wines from France, Spain, Italy or California, yes, I mean that. The "hoof it" part was fun. You get set up with a guide (don't forget to tip the guide) who lets around a dozen goats out of the pen, and you walk with them on a 1.2 mile hike. It's mostly shaded (so shaded that we didn't wear sunscreen, and I don't tan, I scorch, and got NOTHING, so it's pretty shaded. There is poision ivy on the trail, so if you see leaves of three, let them be. The goats are quite affable, but listen to the guide. At the end before they approach the pens (which the goats will run towards) they let you feed the goats with carrots and you have to show the goats you don't have carrots in your hands (two hands up, open) or they will jump on you to get "your carrots." They stop several times. The pace is best described as "sedate" - you'll have a hard time breaking a sweat. Our advice, stick to the path, don't go off into the weeds. Some other things: Pack in, Pack out - they don't have trash cans, so what you bring in, you carry out. You will get a glass for each person who signs up for the wine event (which has the logo on it) as a momento. We got out a little late. The goats all have names, but you don't have to remember them. But you will. Little stinkers. Another tip: Once they get let out of the pen, they have a tendancy to "dump and run" so watch your step, or you'll get some fresh goat crap on your shoes or feet or LEG.

We were staying in Galena to celebrate our anniversary, and enjoyed participating in this unique…read moreand fun excursion. It was about a 15 minute drive from downtown Galena, the end of which is on a somewhat unpaved road. There were about forty goats on our walk, all of which were friendly and seemed to enjoy the walk as much as the people did! Our host offered helpful facts about the land and goats along the way, and there were opportunities to feed, pet and take photos with the goats during the hour+ outing. Two tips: Don't be late, the tours leave right at the scheduled time. And don't wear a colorful long dress - one of the goats nibbled a few holes through my wife's dress. Overall, a memorable experience that really added to our Galena anniversary trip. Highly recommended!

Heard that Berning Acres was awesome and they did not disappoint! Louis was an absolutely amazing…read moretour guide and an even more impressive young man-- my seven year old and I agree that we would give him 10/10 stars! Immense respect to Natalie and her crew for the tireless work that they do. Lucky to have spent the morning learning from them! Highly recommend!

My husband and I decided to try out the farm tour at Berning Acres while we were visiting Galena,…read moreIL this summer. We had visited another dairy farm in the past and though it was interesting, it didn't hold a candle to Berning Acres. Farmer Natalie reached out in advance and let us know the "ground rules" for everyone's safety. We arrived a little before our tour and waited until it was time to go inside. We were joined by a multi-generational family group, including grandparents in their sixties, their adult children, and grandchildren aged about 2 to 10. There truly was something for everyone. Natalie was very engaging with each age group and made sure we learned all the cool things about their "girls." From the time the tour begins, you are immersed in all aspects of the farm, the cows, the fermenting hay, the workers doing their jobs and the delightful Berning family (we only met her sons but I'm confident that her daughters are just as wonderful) and their other farm animals! We were able to get up close and personal with new born cows, feed three-week-old calves and learn about all of the spoiling that goes into those mama cows as they prepare to birth their calves. We even had the chance, if we wanted to try our hand at milking. Natalie was very candid about the effort and investment involved in family farming, highlighting how advancements in technology help ensure the health and proper nutrition of cows at all ages. Aside from the farm tour, they also offer a farm camp and some really cool adult adventures with craft beers and wines (great ideas for a girls' weekend!), they have amazing Berning Acres cheeses as well. #galenaadventures #familyfarms