Farm Fields of Dreams

All year long, the Tussins plan their vacation on the farm. And after four visits in as many years, their kids now can gather eggs, milk cows and feed goats with the best of them at the Inn at East Hill Farm, a working farm and informal resort in Troy, N.H., that has been welcoming families for 50 years.

“Going to the farm is the best of what your childhood was,” said Naomi Tussin, a creative director who grew up on Long Island, N.Y., and now lives near Hartford, Conn.

“It’s like going to visit grandparents you would only find in a dream,” agrees Anne Hefler, who lives in St. Louis and is already planning a return trip to Hobson’s Bluffdale Farm in Eldred, Ill.

Parents who plan farm visits not only can share with their children a sense of the innocence and freedom of rural life, they also can expand the family’s horizons.

Anne Hefler, for one, jokes that as a transplant from Los Angeles to St. Louis, it wasn’t until she visited the Bluffdale farm that she found the Midwest experience she’d been seeking. “It was one of the nicest, most relaxing times I’ve ever had with my children,” said Hefler, whose kids are 2 and 5.

For one thing, there’s no cooking. Instead, everyone gathers at big tables for hearty home-cooked meals--almost unheard of in most homes these days.

Even the littlest kids can wander around, petting rabbits, presenting eggs they find to the kitchen, feeding pigs, jumping in hay.

Adults have a chance to relax and pat themselves on the back for happening on such a terrific vacation that is within their budgets. (All inclusive farm-stay weeks for a family of four can be less than $1,500.)

“We see the folks come up and unwind as the days go on,” said Dave Adams, who with his wife, Sally, has owned the Inn at East Hill Farm for 20 years.

Dude ranches offer a similar outdoor experience in the Western states and California, but typically are geared toward families with school-age children. (If you are dedicated riders and the parents of young children, there are a few ranches around the country that offer programs for the preschool crowd. For more information, contact the American Wilderness Experience, a wholesaler for dude ranch vacations.)

Farms are a particularly good place for small children, but Naomi Tussin’s teen-age son Josh was happy to spend his week at the farm, alternately snoozing and eating, hanging out in the recreation room at night with other teens.

The younger kids were thrilled just to be able to explore all the new sights and smells.

“It didn’t take us doing anything to keep our kids happy,” agreed Anne Hefler. “They felt great that we weren’t hovering over them. As a result, they were remarkably well behaved.”

When booking a rural vacation, it’s important to choose wisely. Some farms only offer a spartan spare room or two for guests and the chance to help with the chores, leaving it largely up to visitors to decide how to spend their time, fishing or berry picking, hiking or reading.

Others, such as Rockhouse Mountain Farm in Eaton Center, N.H., and the Inn at East Hill Farm or Bluffdale Vacation Farm, provide far more amenities, from canoe trips to horseback rides, even to Bill Hobson’s lectures on Native American artifacts at Bluffdale. (For information, call Rockhouse Mountain Farm at 603-447-2880, the Inn at East Hill Farm at 800-242-6495 or Bluffdale at 217-983-2854.)

Don’t expect lavish accommodations. That’s why it’s a good idea to ask lots of questions before booking, suggests Pat Dickerman, who has been writing about farms and ranches for more than 40 years. Her newly revised “Farm, Ranch & Country Vacations” is a good resource. (Adventure Guides, $19.95. To order, call 800-252-7899.) Dickerman recommends asking about discounts for children.

If you’d like to introduce your children to the Amish or Mennonite way of life, a list of local farms that take in families is available from the Pennsylvania Dutch Convention & Visitors Bureau (call 800-PA-DUTCH).

Some state tourism boards also provide names of local farmers who welcome guests. Try contacting the Iowa Tourism Office at 800-345-IOWA, the Wisconsin Division of Tourism at 800-432-TRIP or the Vermont Travel Division at 800-VERMONT. The California State Farm Bureau recommends calling local county farm bureaus to find those that accept guests. For a list of guest ranches in the state, write P.O. Box 1499, Sacramento, CA 95812-1499.

Taking the Kids appears weekly.