Chances are, if you have a kid, you’ve been to a petting zoo. But have you ever been to a petting farm? Did you even know such a thing existed? I didn’t before we stumbled upon the perfectly charming Retreat Petting Farm in Brattleboro, Vermont.
The Retreat Farm is a unique place. Once a private mental health facility, the farm provided food as well as a therapeutic and vocational outlet for the patients. Today the farm provides a therapeutic outlet to the public who need a dose of adorable and furry.
The difference between a petting zoo and The Retreat Petting Farm is that you are visiting a working farm. Walk through the barns to visit and hold newly hatched baby chicks, hand feed a one ton ox, scratch the bellies of the piglets, bottle feed the dwarf goats and maybe even chase the chickens around the hen house a little. The experience much more closely resembles what it’s like just to be a farm kid hanging out and playing in the barn. And what could be a better addition to your Vermont vacation than that?
The Retreat Farm also has miles of trails, including a woodlands interpretive trail. And make sure to cross the yard to the Grafton Village Cheese Co. where you can sample and purchase local Vermont cheeses and wines.
The Retreat Petting Farm is open Memorial Day through Columbus Day. Find out more at theretreatfarm.com.