Hello Friends!

We’re so excited to announce our very first Open Tuesday! Please join us on Tuesday, May 7th from 3pm – 7pm as we open our gates to the public for the first time this season!

• Visit with our animals!

• Play in the straw!

• Make and take home a small craft!

• Themed tour at 4:30, each week is something new!

• Bring your dinner to enjoy at a picnic table, or on a blanket in the orchard!

Spend some quality time in the fresh air, and help to support our heritage site at the same time.

$15 per family, or $5 an adult, and 2.50 per child.

**Open on Tuesdays from 3pm to 7pm, from May 3^rd to Oct 29^th!

Such generosity! Thank you to the Pearson’s. We love Renee and Julie and can’t wait to have them meeting and greeting all the families who visit the farm.

What to do?    Where to send them? 

TO  STECKLE  HERITAGE  FARM!  We would love to have your kids come and have  a day of fun with us.  Our day camps always include hands on time with animals, helping with chores, games and outdoor activities, cooking and much more!

March Break was so much fun we thought we just HAD to invite our friends back for April 19th and May 31st.   All you have to do register online for a place, and let the fun begin!

We’d be thrilled if people that have building experience were able to help us out, but we’ll gladly use any and all hands that want to work. Please send an email to events@stecklehomestead.ca to sign up, and ask any questions. 

Play games, make a craft, learn how to milk a cow, and get your face painted by a fabulous artist from Bre Creative!
We’ll also have Emily Beatty Imagery on site, ready to take some amazing family photos for you, with packages stating at only $15.

Meals and snacks will be available to purchase, so pack your boots, smiles, (and maybe a hat!), and come have a great day with us!

♥♥Entry is free, we hope you will please consider making a donation while you are visiting… 90% of our funding comes from community supporters like YOU! ♥♥

A BIG thank you to our Entertainment Sponsors….. Thanks for supporting us!

www.jpmagic.ca

www.ericktraplin.com

www.bre-creative.com

www.emilybeatty.com

The FARM TO FORK  Family Picnic!

It is a fundraiser where you get to have tonnes of fun AND raise funds to care for our animals!  In the last two years we have acquired and purchased a number of animals that live here full time.  The best part of having animals that are “ours” is that we know them and they know us!  Most farm animals would not be as inquisitive and friendlyas ours, but due to being raised and cared for by us they know that people mean attention, food and care…. and they behave a lot like pets!

Caring for animals takes time and effort, and money.  Just like your dog or cat, our animals are vaccinated annually.  If they are ill, we call the vet.  They have special diets and are fed healthy foods and supplements.  All these cost money!  We spend approximately $5000 annually on our animals for food and care, and this does not include our cost of staff time to clean pens and care for them.  This fundraiser is going to help care for our animals, and keep them here to give children and visitors a chance to experience (in a small way) an Ontario farm.

Get to know our Animal Friends!  Some of our special animals are:

Stan and Stinky the Holstein Steers.  They started out as calves that we bottle fed and walked, kind of like a dog!  They sure have grown, but you will notice how much the love attention and getting their necks scratched.  Freddie the Red Holstein and Hershey the Jersey came as calves in October of 2011.

Ariel, Jasmine, Kasey and Snowy the Sheep.  The first three came (2010) from another farm that ran a camp for kids but had changed their program to horses.  When Ariel got pregnant and had Snowy, we gained a first hand experience with babies on the farm!  Born Feb 1st 2011, Ariel would not nurse Snowy so she lived in the main house and was bottle fed.  After three weeks she moved to the barn, but was bottle fed another month and come spring integrated into the flock.

Peanut Butter and Jam (and Buddy) the Pigs.  It was may of 2011 when we got the two girls from a Baden farm specializing in heritage pig breeds.  The girls are Iron Age and Tamworth mixed breeds and have grown from 50lb weaners to close to 400lbs!  When we introduced the young male boar Buddy, we were nervous.  No need to be nervous we discovered, because Jam was in love!  It was 3 months, 3 weeks and three days later that we welcomed 10 wonderful piglets to Steckle Farm!

Toby, Taffy and Prince the Miniature Horses.  Toby and Taffy came in early winter 2012.  They were born in June 2010 and 2011.  We lent Taffy to Shantzholm Farm in June and borrowed Prince the gelding from them.  These horses are clever, lovable and full of personality!

Snow White, Blossom and Carly the goats came from a farm just outside New Hamburg.  Blossom is Snow White’s baby (2012) and Carly was a kid from the same herd.  While Snow White and Blossom are Sanaan-Nubian crosses, Carly is Nubian-Lamancha cross.  The Lamancha part of Carly is what gives her those adorable “elf” ears.

The Twins and Luigi are always around the lower paddock.  The twins are Pomeranian Geese that were donated to us by Cirrus Hill Farm in Meaford which raises heritage poultry.  Luigi is a peking duck that was raised in a classroom.  These 3 are best friends and pretty entertaining.  The twins are quite bossy, until someone proves to be bossier!

And there are more animals and stories here…..  Just come and discover them!

The Steckle family has a long history of education. Both Jean’s parents were graduates of the University of Guelph. Her mother, Susannah, was the first female graduate of the Agriculture program. Jean followed in her parents footsteps attending the University of Guelph, then continued her education until she achieved her PhD. She was a passionate educator, working with many different people from Ghana to Canada’s north, educating them on nutrition and health.

It was Jean’s dream to use the family farm that she purchased on retirement, as a place of meeting and education. Connecting communities to the land, each other and healthy homegrown food. Truly, she was a woman with vision, drive and a great passion for community. To have a school named in her honour seems very fitting. Thank you Waterloo Region District School Board for your thoughtful recognition of a great woman.

Stinky, Stan, Freddy and Hershey: our resident Cow-Boys! These are our young steers. Stinky and Stan were born in August 2011 and are friendly holsteins who love a good chin rub. Freddy and Hershey were born in October and are more shy. Freddy is a beautiful red holstein and Hershey is a cute as a buttton Jersey.

Ariel, Jasmine, Kasey and Snowy are our Suffolk cross sheep. These girls have always been with people and are like pets. In fact, pet them and you may see their tails wag! Snowy is the youngest and only one born on the farm. She was a suprise arrival Feb 1 2011. Ariel (her Mom) would not nurse her so she lived in the main house for 2 weeks while she was bottle fed every 3 hours. Talk about spoiled!

Gabby and Luigi; you may notice two white birds wandering about. These feathered friends are Gabby a Bremen goose, and Luigi a Peking duck. They are friendly and sometimes Gabby likes a good petting! The funny thing is we thought Gabby was a boy, until she made a nest and laid eggs!

Toby and Taffy; our newest additions are these miniature horses. These guys are brothers with Toby almost 2 and Taffy 8 months.  Not ponies, but actual mini horses! They are not for riding but are quite strong and good at pulling. We hope to train them as they get older!

Steckle and Shadow; our new bossy Roosters. Steckle has a remarkable silky tail and big red comb and wattle.  Shadow is coal black and glossy.  They are young, but friendly!

Bucky, Patches and Checkers are Flemish Giant Rabbits. This kind of Rabbit can get as big as 18lbs! They are calm and friendly but like all rabbits, don’t like having their feet off the ground.