Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
A HERD of calves rest in the sun on Sunday at the McCarthy farm in Saxon. The calves are some of the cattle that the farm is raising this year and visitors were welcome to pet them.
By MEGAN HUGHES
SAXON, Wis. - Sunday was a beautiful day to be out and about in Saxon, Wisconsin. Local farms had gotten together and organized their "Saxon Fall Farm Market Tour," which saw locals and visitors alike stopping by the three participating farms and getting a chance to win prizes, pet animals and pick a variety of goodies.
"It started as a way to spread awareness to the community, to let them know that we are out here," said Deb Swartz, of the Swartz Family Farm.
Swartz organized the event and was extremely pleased with the turnout.
"Yesterday (Saturday) we only had a few people trickle in throughout the day, but this morning it has been really busy," she said.
The three participating groups included the Swartz Family Farm, McCarthy's Country Cooler and the Ratkowski farm.
"We had gone back and forth for a while trying to decide on a day to hold this, I'm glad we chose this weekend," said Toni Ratkowski, of Ratkowski Catering and Bakery.
As they played host to the visitors, the participating farms were excited for the arrival of fall and the upcoming harvest it brings.
Ratkowski explained that they were excited for this year's honey harvest, which they hope to be the biggest yet.
"All of our hives survived last winter, so this year we should have a lot of honey," she said.
The farm, which belongs to her son, Mike Ratkowski, produces honey with hives they have on the property. Last year, they weathered the hives indoors during the winter to increase the likelihood they would survive.
Mike McCarthy, owner of McCarthy's Country Cooler, took the Daily Globe around and showed some of the cattle that visitors were welcome to pet and feed.
"Right now we have around 130," he said, "But that changes pretty often."
McCarthy's Country Cooler raises and trades in livestock, with all of the butchering and preparation of meat happening locally.
Each venue saw visitors from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and offered door prizes and, in some instances, drawings later in the day.
Swartz explained work at the farms never stopped, even with COVID-19 going on, and that at the Swartz farm they had been selling produce from their farm directly to consumers.
"Ultimately we wanted to let the community know we were here, and that we still had goods to sell," Swartz said.
