Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/40669
live with family Down on the Farm, Family Style For a little end-of-summer fun, local farms offer activities aplenty. Here are just a few to try today! Feel like produce pickin'? Located just south of town, Carandale Farm offers raspberries ripe for the pick- ing in August, followed by concord grapes later in the fall. 5683 Lincoln Rd., Oregon; carandale.com Also to the south, Blue Skies Berry Farm in nearby Brooklyn lets you pick organic red raspberries, yellow and orange berries, and a bounty of other fresh goodies that harvest in the fall. 10320 N. Crocker Rd., Brooklyn; blueskiesfarm.com Feel like animal pettin'? Check out Peck's Farm Market west of town, which boasts a petting zoo full of exotic woodland friends, including deer, pot-bellied pigs, pheasants, swans, ducks, pygmy goats, llamas, bunnies, buffa- loes and elk. 6445 Hwy. 14 Spring Green; pecksfarmmarketeast.com Schuster's Playtime Farm east of Madison has a menagerie of animals you can meet including chickens, miniature donkeys, goats, sheep, llamas, pot-bellied pigs, rab- bits, ducks and kittens. 1326 Hwy. 12 & 18, Deerfield; schustersfarm.com Schuster's Playtime Farm Feel like gettin' in on the action? Pay a visit to Eugster's Farm Market and Petting Farm a short drive to the south and you'll get to help feed hungry sheep, cows, turkey, geese and chickens. You can even bottle feed baby goats! 3865 Hwy. 138, Stoughton; eugsters.com Hinchley's Dairy Farm just east of Madi- son is the real deal. Come ready to hand- milk a cow and feed chickens, pigs and goats. 2844 Hwy. 73, Cambridge; dairy- farmtours.com Ask Doctor Mom There's a fungus among us…. By Dr. Elizabeth Goetz I usually draw inspiration for my column from issues at home. With three daugh- ters separated widely in age, I usually have a plethora of topics to pick from. This month I had been at a loss until bath time last night, where inspiration struck in the form of a red scaly patch on my youngest daughter's back. Aha! I discovered a fungus among us. Ringworm (a fungus, thankfully not really a worm) is a common skin condition that affects people of all ages, but is especially common in children. Ringworm is caused by a fungus called tinea and can be found on the body, the scalp, the groin area (aka "jock itch") and the feet (aka "athletes foot"). The fungus causing ringworm likes to live in warm moist areas and is contagious. It can even be passed from objects to people or pets to people. Ringworm often appears as one or several red, itchy, scaly patches with well-defined borders. Often, the patches are reddest around the outside border creating the look of a red ring. Though other, more serious rashes often look like a ring, these rashes (including Lyme disease) tend to look more like a target with a central area of redness. Ringworm does not cause any symptoms that affect the whole body like fever or fatigue, but a doctor can usually diagnose ringworm by looking at the rash. Luckily, treating this commonly occurring fungus is easy. Daily applica- tion of an over-the-counter anti-fungal powder, lotion or cream for up to four weeks should clear the infection. If the rash does not respond within that time, prescription antifungal medication may be needed. A common complication of ringworm is bacterial infection caused by scratching. Watch for signs of bacterial infection like worsening redness and fever, and always remember to call your doctor if you have any questions. Elizabeth Goetz is a local pediatrician at UW Health and the mother of three girls, ages 1, 4 and 8. Hinchley's Dairy Farm 24 BRAVA Magazine August 2011 Photos courtesy of Schuster's Playtime Farm (above) and by Ralph Grunewald (below)