Meet the Animals Along the Circle Farm Tour in Langley, BC

Images by Michele Mateus
Words by Alexis Baran

The heart of local food that brings all the greens, grains, produce, cheese and meats to our plate isn’t often in our urban centres – it’s mainly found in the people and animals who work the fields and farms. There are several places within Metro Vancouver where you can bring the kids to meet the producers and see farm animals, and a scenic place to start is Langley along the Circle Farm Tour.

At Milner Valley, a fifth-generation heritage farm, they specialize in a variety of artisan goat cheese.

There is a whole crew of adorable goats to visit on Milner Valley’s farm, who are milked to create the cheese you can buy in their shop.

All of the ogling, petting, and taking photos of the goats can get exhausting, so cool yourself with hand-made goats milk gelato, served up in the warmer months. For those sensitive to dairy, goats’ milk (and cheese) is generally easier to digest than cows’ milk, since the composition is slightly more similar to human milk. If you have a slight sensitivity with the dairy of cows, it might be worth it to give goats’ milk gelato a try.

Ariya, who works at the shop, is there to help you choose your bring-home bounty.

At Kensington Prairie Farm, the alpacas roam, and if they’re close to the fence you can reach through and give them some pets right on their floofy hairdos.

We were lucky and got to go a bit further in and feed them.

Although their focus is mainly alpacas, Kensington Prairie farm also raises chickens for farm-fresh eggs, as well as cows.

All that Alpaca wool gets made into socks scarves, sweaters, and other cozy clothing. Alpaca wool is super soft, and great for retaining heat – think of all those people in the Andes who’ve relied on alpaca to keep warm for centuries. They certainly know what they’re doing.