Faith the cow didn't mind she was standing in front of the crowd at Dakin Dairy's Harvest Festival Sunday.
She had to relieve herself, and she did, both ways.
The children in the crowd laughed at the splattering sound.
"Splashdown! When you have to go, you have to go," said Dakin Dairy's Jennifer Griffith, who was in the middle of a milking demonstration.
"And that first part, we use that here for fertilizer."
For those who didn't get to the Harvest Festival Saturday or Sunday, the festival continues every Saturday and Sunday in October.
Griffith went ahead to allow the children who wanted to hand milk Faith.
How was it?
"Pretty easy," said Inglewood 5-year-old Benjamin Wojcik with a big smile.
"It's important that we give the community a chance to see the animals," said Grant Dakin, one of the co-owners of Dakin Dairy Farm in Myakka City. "It's important they see what we do. And this is something that we would want to do with our family."
Families had a host of activities, including interactive opportunities with farm animals, a huge playground, large slides, apple and pumpkin launchers, cart rides, pony rides, live music, and more.
"This is so great, the playground, the milking," said Scarlet Linn. "They put a lot of effort into this. The kids love it."
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Lakewood Ranch's Jenna Ziegler works quickly to move as much water as she can with a hand pump at the Dakin Harvest Festival Oct. 12 in Myakka.
Photo by Jay Heater
Lakewood Ranch's Rick and Kristen Emmons talk a little turkey at the Dakin Harvest Festival Oct. 12.
Photo by Jay Heater
East County 5-year-old Cole Bailey checks out the cart course at Dakin's Harvest Festival in Myakka.
Photo by Jay Heater
Lakewood Ranch's Stephanie Pufall and her 3-year-old daughter Millie get to know a Dakin Dairy cow at the Harvest Festival.
Photo by Jay Heater
Meanwhile, down on the farm during the Harvest Festival, Myakka's Chase Lehmann, 3, drives his tractor through a wall of hay.
Photo by Jay Heater
Sarasota 17-month-old Leah Theriault and her mom, Courtney Theriault, are having a ball at the Dakin Harvest Festival Oct. 12 in Myakka.
Photo by Jay Heater
When the Harvest Festival signals fall is here in Myakka, local turkeys begin to get nervous as Thanksgiving approaches.
Photo by Jay Heater
Safety Harbor 6-year-old Alden Kunzig covers his ears as his dad, Phil Kunzig, shoots the apple launcher during the Harvest Festival Oct. 12.
Photo by Jay Heater
The apple launcher was a hit at the Harvest Festival where apples were launched at targets.
Photo by Jay Heater
Dakin Dairy's Jennifer Griffith helps Englewood 5-year-old Benjamin Wojcik milk Faith the cow during the Harvest Festival Oct. 12.
Photo by Jay Heater
East County 3-year-old Cole Dobson is loving a hay ride into the fields to visit with the cows.
Photo by Jay Heater
Scarlet Linn tries out the slide with her 18-month-old son, Rowan.
Photo by Jay Heater
Myakka's Eaden Patterson, 8, speeds down the Harvest Festival slide.
Photo by Jay Heater
Sarasota's Leah and Courtney Theriault are having a ball at the Dakin Harvest Festival Oct. 12 in Myakka.
Photo by Jay Heater
Sarasota's Maddie Silk, 2, is riding high at the Harvest Festival at Dakin Dairy in Myakka City Oct. 12.
Photo by Jay Heater
Festival goers ride a cart into the pasture at Dakin Dairy during the Harvest Festival to visit with the dairy cows.
Jay Heater is the managing editor of the East County Observer. Overall, he has been in the business more than 41 years, 26 spent at the Contra Costa Times in the San Francisco Bay area as a sportswriter covering college football and basketball, boxing and horse racing.
