🧀 Dairy farms to visit | Outdoorsy Newsletter

In today’s edition:

☀️ Your weekend weather outlook: It’s a good time to get outside as we slip into more seasonably cool conditions — and it just might rain on Sunday.

— Paola Pérez (outdoorsy@inquirer.com)

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Looking to get your cheese directly from the farm? You have plenty of options in Pennsylvania. There are nearly 5,000 dairy farms in the Keystone State, more than any other state except Wisconsin.

The commonwealth has lost hundreds of them in the past several years due to industry pressures and the costs of production. To keep running their dairy farms, some families sell their products directly to consumers and welcome them onto their land.

Here’s a sample of what you can do at these farms:

🧀 Stock up on local cheese, milk, and ice cream

💐 Pick flowers and relax in outdoor spaces

🍞 Try award-winning honey, artisan wood-fired bread and pasture-raised meats

🐐 See the animals that make these staples possible up close

Plan your day trip to support small-scale dairies and creameries in the Philly area with our guide to dairy farms in the region.

🎤 Now we’re passing the microphone to Jason Nark. You’ll always find his work here.

When a dairy cow as big as a concert piano fell on Layne Klein’s leg about 20 years ago, he wound up with a lot of time to ponder the future of his family farm.

“I had two kids in college, two in high school, and a son on his way to college. We were short on feed and the milk price stunk like it always does,” Klein said on his Northampton County farm recently. “So we sold our milking cows and decided to try going smaller instead.”

Klein, who broke his fibula and dislocated his ankle in the accident, decided to get a Pennsylvania raw milk license for Klein Farms in Easton. He’s been selling gourmet raw milk cheese and raw milk there since 2004.

Raw milk enthusiasts describe its flavor as “grassy” and “creamier.” It typically sells at a higher cost, and Klein said the transition saved the farm.

“If you do it correctly, it’s a fantastic product,” he said. — Jason Nark (June 2024)

Get a closer look at the health concerns surrounding raw milk, as well as existing laws on the product and what could change.

The Philadelphia area is home to some unique fruits you can’t find in the grocery store, like the sweet persimmon and creamy golden pawpaw. I have yet to try (let alone find) a pawpaw, but I recently ate a persimmon for the first time. Suffice it to say, it’s my new obsession.

We’re in season for these elusive fruits, but they are fleeting delights. Both fruits are delicate, highly perishable, and are only ready to eat in specific circumstances. Neither are viable commercial crops. Pawpaws bruise easily and don’t transport well, and the ripening process for persimmons can be finicky.

Fun facts: The botanical name for the persimmon is Diospyros virginiana, which means “food of the gods,” and pawpaws are North America’s largest native fruit. Consider yourself lucky to enjoy them.

I shot this view of the Schuylkill River from the Pencoyd Bridge in Philadelphia.

Shout out to Outdoorsy reader Siddhartha Banerjee for sharing a cool clip with this message:

I live in Chester County. When the seasons change, I like to drive through some of the lovely covered bridges in this area. This one is over Little Elk Creek, near Oxford, Pa. It flows into the Chesapeake Bay, not far from here.

Love little passages like this. It reminds me of the Knox Covered Bridge over at Valley Forge National Historical Park.

Outdoorsy will be taking a break soon. We explored so much of our region together this time around, including:

🧗 Rock climbing, camping, biking, and hiking

🛶 Kayaking, canoeing, fishing, and swimming to beat the heat

🐦 Touring the John Heinz refuge, the Pine Barrens, and the Delaware Water Gap

🍎 Picking pumpkins, apples, and berries, plus goodies at farmers’ markets

🥾 Taking on more intense adventures, then finding peace and quiet in serene spots

🕷️ Coexisting with creatures in nature, from birds to ticks, to oysters and beavers — and the Jorō spider

I want to hear from you. Which activities did you try this season? Email me back to share your experiences or your favorite moment outside this season.

👋🏽 “Seasons don’t fear the reaper / Nor do the wind, the sun or the rain / We can be like they are.”

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