When Ed Cande was growing up in Massachusetts, he often did his share of chores on his uncle’s and grandfather’s farms. “I helped out in the fields and the milking before going to school,” he said.

Now, he spends a few hours a week volunteering at The Educational Farm at Joppa Hill – and joining him in caring for the animals and doing chores is his daughter, Ally, an eighth-grader at Lurgio Middle School.

They are among the several volunteers who clean up stalls, groom animals and get a chance to experience a different kind of lifestyle – all right here in Bedford.

“I love animals, especially horses. I work with them over the summer at my aunt’s,” said Ally, who has been riding horses since she was 6 years old.

The Educational Farm at Joppa Hill is a nonprofit, organic, working farm, where you can buy fresh milk bottled daily, take horse-back riding lessons, volunteer and learn how to be a junior farmer during vacation and summer camps.

You can also make some new friends like Tom the turkey; dwarf goats, Sammy and Bear; Shirley the horse; and Junior, the mini-mule. And, there’s a cow named Jazz and her newborn calf.

Lin L’Heureux, executive director of The Educational Farm at Joppa Hill, said the animals need constant interaction with humans to keep them docile.

“People come in with their kids and it’s great seeing them get involved with the farm and the animals. It’s a whole new world for them,” she said. When the calf was born Feb. 25, L’Heureux was able to call some of the volunteers who had been keeping an eye on the prenatal cow.

“They had a chance to see delivery of the calf,” said L’Heureux, who has been with the farm since December 2006, moving up from program director to director in March 2007. The calf is not the only interesting thing to do and see around the farm.

There’s hens and chickens and China, a 300-pound pig that was rescued from a Chinese Restaurant in Boston.

“China thinks she’s a golden retriever, said L’Heureux. The farm can also transform people as well, giving them a sense of community and a differrent aspect on how their actions affect the environment.

In season, the perennial garden blooms with flowers and the organic vegetable garden offers fresh produce. The new meeting room, also built by volunteers, has a woodstove that welcomes volunteers and those taking part in the many programs offered throughout the year.

“We have a good crew here,” said L’Heureux.

Part of the crew is one of the farm’s newest volunteers, Chandler Gabel, a software developer, who received his introduction to the farm as a milk customer.

“I’ve learned a lot just by being here; totally different from what I do during the day,” he said.