* 10th annual Skagit Valley Festival of Family Farms continues today

Bundled up in coats and colorful rubber boots, children, parents and visitors braved the fall chill for a closer look at the origins of their food Saturday.

As they walked through smelly puddles to visit the milk cows at Bow’s Golden Glen Creamery, they sucked on ice cream bars.

“The opportunity for kids to get in touch with where their food comes from is getting rarer and rarer, so the experience will become more precious,” said Heidi Fish of Alger, who was with her niece at the 10th annual Skagit Valley Festival of Family Farms.

Twelve farms participated in the event, showcasing their produce, dairy, meat and seafood. At Taylor Shellfish Farm, children learned about the habitat of shellfish, then sampled clams and oysters. At Golden Glen Creamery, they milked a fake cow, petted dairy heifers and ate ice cream.

Seattle couple Aaron Zeichner and Erica Phelps came to the festival, and in particular the Golden Glen Creamery, on a more serious mission. The two former Wisconsin residents were searching for the perfect cheese curd. 

“It’s not easy to find a good cheese curd here,” Zeichner said. “We’re just hoping they’re squeaky.”

Fresh Wisconsin curds are known to squeak when bitten. 

Another visitor, Jeanelle Jonsen of Burlington, said she frequents the creamery when she needs milk for white sauces.

“It’s just way superior,” Jonsen said.

Vic Jensen, longtime owner of Golden Glen Creamery and a dairy farmer for 54 years, said the company has become known in the region for its artisan cheese and glass-bottled milk, which are sold in a number of co-ops as far away as Issaquah and Bremerton.

The creamery has seen a recent increase in business as more people are buying local foods, Jensen said. The farm now produces about 80 gallons of milk per day from 50 cows, and continues to expand.

Jensen, who has participated in the festival for four years, said he enjoys teaching children “from the ground up” what farmers do to get food to families.

“It helps give us exposure to the consumer and it feels good to be part of a program for the community,” Jensen said.

In one of Jensen’s barns children milked a fake cow, watched a video about processing milk and petted Prince Hamsome, Rosemary and Muffy Buffy — baby pig, cow and rabbit, respectively. 

Before Saturday, his third birthday, Cade Cox had never been on a farm.

Cade spent the day finding out where his food comes from, riding a pony, racing zucchini cars and running around hay bales.

The toddler doesn’t speak English yet — he was adopted seven months ago from China — but his mother said she could see a difference in the boy, who rarely smiles, as he rode a pony around Hedlin Family Farm in La Conner.

“It really calmed him down,” said his mother, Lisa Cox of Oak Harbor. “He’s normally just really busy. He’s calm today.”

His older brother, 16-year-old Jordan Cox, screwed wooden wheels onto a small zucchini to race down a track held up with a stack of hay bales. Unfortunately, his vegetable racer met its demise at the end. 

“My squash just squashed,” Jordan said as he picked up the two parts of his severed car. 

The Festival of Family Farms continues today. A number of area restaurants are participating in the event, serving food from local farms. For more information visit http://www.festivaloffamilyfarms.com.

• Tahlia Ganser can be reached at 360-416-2148 or at .