Happy Holidays from Mulberry Lane Farm

From Our Home to Yours

May your footsteps be guided by joy, peace and hope this holiday season and throughout the new year.

From the Family and Staff of Mulberry Lane Farm

Photos courtesy of Russ Raddatz

MLF presents Annabelle's Wish

Tour Guides, Nieces, Cousins, Guest of MLF and more enjoyed participating in the annual Appleton Downtown Christmas Parade. Please read the previous blog to understand why we all dressed up as lovable barnyard animals.

Do you recognize any of your tour guides? Farmer Cindy (cow), Farmer Barb (bunny), Farmer Ashley (barn mouse) and Farmer Jeanne (cow)


We had some Peacocks and kittens on the haywagon too.

Christmas Parade

We are excited to announce that Mulberry Lane Farm has been asked to participate in Wisconsin's biggest Christmas Parade! Last year's parade drew approximately 80,000 spectators to Downtown Appleton. Additionally, a television audience of over 100,000 views the parade live and during rebroadcasts on CBS 5, WFRV-TV and WJMN, Channel 3.

Parade entry description:
Mulberry Lane Petting Farm presents Annabelle’s Wish

Our unit is based on the classic children’s Christmas video “Annabelle’s Wish.” A lovable calf named Annabelle born on Christmas Eve and a friendly bunch of barnyard animals befriend Billy, a young boy who cannot talk. Legend has it that Santa gives voices to the animals for one day each year. Therefore, Christmas Day at the farm magically comes alive.

Mulberry Lane’s hay wagon (trimmed in white lights) pulled by the farm’s tractor will be filled with bales of hay with children and adults seated on them dressed as those friendly, talkative farm animals with “Billy” (Farmer Pat) at the helm. Everyone will be dressed as cows, pigs, ducks, horses and more!




Join us on Tuesday, Nov 24th. Parade begins at 6:20PM

End of Fall Season

Hard to believe the fall season has come to an end. Thanks to all that visited Mulberry Lane Farm in 2009. We enjoyed your company! Our farm animals look forward to your return visit next year. Keep an eye on our website for our 2010 schedule...in the meantime, by popular demand, we will continue to post items of interest throughout the winter on our blog.



















Since it is the end of the year we are looking to adapt out some of our lovable kittens. Please contact the farm if you are interested. We have a couple female tortoise colored kittens, 1 or 2 black kittens and several male and female tiger striped. All are very lovable and are litter trained. Please seriously consider two as they have always had many buddies to play with and cuddle with for naps.

One little, two little, three little piggies.

On average a sow will have 10 to 12 piglets. I guess that makes Scarlet above average! She had 14 piglets on Sunday September 20th.

Scarlet is a 4 year old Yorkshire. She was breed to a Hampshire boar.

Open 7 Days a Week thru 10/31/09

If you are like me, fall is your favorite time of year and there's no better place to enjoy it than outdoors in the country.

Come visit the new arrivals at the farm. Scarlet and her litter of 10+ piglets!, Shiny and Violet, our Heifer calves are only 7 and 8 days old, and Speckles our Doe had a nest of bunnies just this Tuesday!

So there is a lot to see and do at the farm along with visiting the Pumpkin Patch to pick your own FREE Pumpkin. The only hard part will be deciding which one to pick!

Caramel Apples

New this fall we are adding to are famously delicious sliced caramel apples, caramel apples on a stick. Whether you like them plain or with peanuts you'll love fresh caramel apples made with apples from Sprangers Orchard. Made fresh right at the farm.

Can you say yummy?

Did you know?

At MLF, "learning can be fun!"

Here are just two fun facts...
Did you know that chicks are born with an egg tooth? An egg tooth is a temporary tooth that projects from the beak used to break out of the egg. Within 12 to 24 hours after the chick hatches the egg tooth will dry and fall off.

You can see the mark on this little chick left after the egg tooth fell off.

Fact #2...
Only the male peafowl is called a peacock. The female is called a peahen. Here Farmer Aaliyah is holding a peachick. Together peacocks, peahens and peachicks are called peafowl. So next time you see a peafowl don't be quick to shout "there's a peacock!" You just may be looking at a peahen.

Oh well, I can't control myself. Here's another fun fact...Fact #3...The easiest way to tell between the peacock and the peahen is by their neck feathers. The India Blue peafowl, the peacock has a blue neck with the peahen having a green neck.

See how much fun that was! :)

Pumpkin season begins Sept. 26th

Rocky, born August 5th, will be just two months old when you visit him this fall. Beginning September 26th through October 31st the farm will be open 7 days a week.

Along with the full tour of the farm, (hayride, pony ride, milking Elsie the cow and more!) included in your admission is a trip to the Pumpkin Patch to pick your own FREE pumpkin.

Click on the logo to the right to visit our website to learn about your tour, the animals and our hours of operation.

Bolga Baskets

Our Bolga Baskets are hand-woven in the historical town of Bolgatanga, Ghana in West Africa. The Weavers of the Bolga Baskets are mostly farm families from the historic town of Bolgatanga. To supplement their unpredictable crop income, the families have been weaving and selling these handcrafted works of art for generations.

These sturdy, all natural baskets are made from elephant grass with goat hide handles. They are strong and flexible and can easily be re-shaped by getting them wet with water and re-working them with your hands.

The "Bolga" baskets are for sale in the farm's Granary. It's our way of Wisconsin farmer's supporting African farmer's! They have been purchased for wedding gifts, Mother's Day gift, display guest towels in, to store yarn in...your imangination is your only limitation.

Oh yes..."Nine Lives" isn't included. :)

You're Invited!

Our God is an AWESOME God and it is no more evident than on a farm!

Home Church invites you to their Sunday, August 16th, 10:00 AM service at Mulberry Lane Farm. This will be their 3rd annual service, pot-luck and family day at the farm.

Come and enjoy high energy worship and sharing of the word with Pastor Bruce Daily.

Bring a dish to share and join us afterward for a pot-luck meal followed by a tour of the farm including milking a cow, pony ride and hayride!

ROCKY it is!

And the winning name suggestion is....drum roll please....ROCKY!

Suggested by MLF's very own tour guide, Farmer Wendy. We had many, many suggestions from Snickers, PayDay, Bam-Bam, JuJuBe, Carney, Bandy, Brandy, Andy and more, but none jumped out and grabbed us like Rocky did.

Farmer Wendy said she got her inspiration from the old-time favorite "rock candy." Appropriate being that Rocky's mom is named Candy.

Thanks Farmer Wendy for your creativity.

Hinnie or Mule?!?

Our miniature horse Candy gave birth to the cutest little guy early this morning, August 5th. And yes, he's a mini-mule. The mule is a hybrid. The offspring of genetically different parents. In our case the cross of a miniature horse and a miniature donkey, producing a miniature mule.

Many people believe that mules are stronger and more intelligent than horses or donkeys. The combination of the horses agility and the donkeys strength makes the mule highly sought after for hard labor jobs.

His daddy is Barney our miniature donkey. Did you know that you can tell a purebred donkey by the cross on it's back? (The strip of dark hair that runs down his spine and across his shoulders forming a cross.) Many believe that Jesus blessed the donkey with the cross because it was a donkey that carried the Virgin Mary into Bethlehem.

Did you also know that a donkey's ears are fully grown at birth?



So if a mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse, what is a hinnie you ask? A hinnie is the offspring of a male horse and a female donkey. Opie is a our miniature hinnie. You can see how short he is compared to the horse behind him.

One of the simplest ways to tell the difference between the hinnie and the mule is to look at their face. They tend to take on the facial appearance of the father. So the hinnie's facial features are more of a horse where the mule's facial feature is more of a donkey.

Farmer Barb's Red Currant Jelly

Mulberry Lane Farm is so excited to feature Farmer Barb's Red Currant Jelly for sale in The Granary. Not only is Farmer Barb a great tour guide, she can cook too!

When Farmer Pat saw that the farm's currant bush had a bumper crop of red currants, we asked our guides if anyone wanted to try their hand at making jelly. Farmer Barb stepped up to the plate (or should I say stove?). Farmer Pat picked the ripe berries and Farmer Barb (with a lot of help from her family) made the yummy jelly.

Red currants are rather tart so are cultivated mainly for jams and cooked dishes, rather than for eating raw. You can even test taste the jelly in The Granary on crisp Wheat Thin crackers before you purchase.

Thank you Farmer Barb for all your hard work!

A sea of pumpkins!

See'm? Every pumpkin flower you see is a future pumpkin!
Well....sort of. If it's a female flower anyhow. Male flowers will not produce a pumpkin. Notice the difference below? The female shows signs of the future pumpkin fruit, the male doesn't.

Female......... Male

Just like our hens need a rooster in the coop with them in order for her eggs to be fertile. The female pumpkin flower needs a male flower present to pollinate her. However, being that they are just flowers, they need our help! We can pick the male flower and self-pollinate the females but this would take Farmer Pat an awful looonnnnng time to do 6 acres of pumpkins, so we depend on bees.

In fact we have a local bee keeper bring a pallet of bee hives to the farm to help in the pollination process. I'll try to remember to take a picture and post the hives. Hope I don't get stung...ouch!

Happy, Happy Birthday!

Summer is always filled with birthdays to celebrate. If you are looking for something new, memorable and fun too, Mulberry Lane Farm is where you want to celebrate your child's special day. You'll have use of the Hay Mow for your party, pony rides, hay ride and full tour of the farm. Take the hassle out of planning a party, we have it already done! Plus each of your guest will receive a FREE souvenir.

Mulberry Pie

Now you see it...


Now you don't...
On Saturday, July 18th we gave away FREE Mulberry Pie samples until supplies lasted. Needless to say, they didn't last long. Many asked for the recipe so thought I'd post it here for all to enjoy.

Pastry for 2 crust pie
4 c. fresh mulberries
1/4 c. water
1 c. sugar
3 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 tbsp. butter

Line 9 inch pie plate with pastry. Mix sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon. Mix lightly through mulberries, lemon juice and water. Pour berries into pastry lined pie plate. Dot with butter. Cover with top crust which has slits cut in it. Bake until crust is nicely browned and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust. Serve slightly warm, not hot. Temperature: 425 degree (hot oven). Time: bake 35 to 45 minutes. Serves 8.

Three Generations

Shivers (black & white) is a long time resident nanny-goat at Mulberry Lane Farm. Behind her is one of her kids from last year. Shiver's grand-kid is along side her born on June 24th.

Kitten Barn!

Watch video and turn up sound to hear about the new kitten barn.

No, you aren't seeing double!

Freckles (bull) and Speckles (heifer) are twin calves born on Monday, June 22nd. As cute as these two are you'd think they are perfectly normal. Unfortunately when mixed-sexed twin calves are born, the heifer is a "freemartin." This phenomenon causes infertility in the female and she will never be able to reproduce offspring.





Hillary stopped in the barn to check out the new arrivals. Hillary is a Shetland Sheepdog, often known as Sheltie. Many mistake her for a Miniature Collie. When you visit the farm Hillary and her sister Sara (not shown) will likely greet you before you even make it to the Granary. They LOVE people!

Northview students name bunnies.

When Farmer Barb toured Ms. Rabe's kindergarten class from Northview Elementary, Howards Grove, on May 22nd they asked her the names of our bunnies. Since they were still so young we hadn't gotten around to doing so. Therefore, Farmer Barb gave the students the big responsibility of naming them for us. Well, we received the notice via email today. They are named! Thank you Northview students!

Cutie - Buttercup - Fuzzball
Not pictured, Fluffy.
Did you ever try to get four bunnies to pose for a picture?!?!

Nesting Turkeys

Farmer Pat placed a hollow log in the turkey pen so our turkey hens (females) can lay their eggs in private. A hen will lay about 12-18 eggs and then sit on them. The gestation of the turkey egg is about 28 days.Yikes, we'll have a lot of poults (baby turkeys) running around soon.

See the minature turkey in the center of this picture? You're right, it's not a turkey, but don't tell her that. Last spring one of the guinea hens laid an egg in a turkey nest while the turkey hen was out eating. The turkey hen returned and hatched out this guinea with the rest of her poults (baby turkey). This winter we had both turkeys and guineas penned together but come spring when we left the guineas free range and penned the turkeys in their outdoor living quarters, she found her way back to the turkey pen and hasn't left since.

Quadruplets...oh my!

Half&Half had 4 kids! The old gal was awfully big so we knew she'd have twins or triplets but quads?!? 65% of all nanny goats will have twins with the remainder having single births or triplets. Quadruplets and quintuplets are rare.

Now that's a hand full!

Know what Grace has in her hand?

Milk of course! Farmer Bonnie helps Grace collect the milk from Elsie the farm's Holstein cow. Holsteins are the most popular cow in Wisconsin because they produce the most milk. Do I hear a Moooo.......?

Not to be out done by her big sister, Evelyn proudly holds one of the farms' full grown hens. Now I'd say that's a hand full.

Who can resist those cute little kittens.




Thank you to the Annual Pass holding family who shared these photos with us.

Early Morning Delivery

Farmer Pat was happy to see our mare, Blondie finally have her foal. This cute little filly (girl) was born about 5:00 am this morning, Thursday May 19th. Her mother (mare) is Blondie and her dad is Prince (stallion). Visit our March 30th posting titled "Thunder Storm" to see a picture of Prince. Unlike Storm who looks more like dad, you can see Princess looks more like her mom.






Perhaps we should have called her Long Legged Sally?!? Will her body ever catch up?










Princess was exhausted after having over 270 students visit her today on her "birth"-day. Both Blondie and Princess enjoyed the sun filled day.

Welcome to Mulberry Lane Farm

What is Mulberry Lane Farm (MLF) all about? Many may think we just have tons of farm animals. Well, as much as that is true, MLF is so much more. We take pride in preserving the country farming heritage throughout the farm. I thought I'd give you a sneak peak at just one small area of the farm...The Granary.

Come on in...we are glad you came.

Right inside The Granary to the left you will see a bedspring from the original Schwaubenlander home where we have displayed different farm tools.

Canned Goods from Door County for Sale.

And of course Souvenirs

Old farm kitchenware display and more!

Barn hill leading to Hay Mow. I've kept the doors closed on purpose. You'll have to come to see for yourself what's inside.