Fallish

It's fall, which means lots of fall activities around here (and everywhere!).  We went apple picking a while back at Marker-Miller Orchard with some friends and had a great time.  They use integrated pest management which means they do use some pesticides but they make a serious attempt to use every means possible to keep from resorting to them.  





The orchard itself was beautiful, clean, and chill.  They have a market with a bakery and produce area, a wine shop with tastings :) and a big playground by the picnic pavilion.  The big draw is the apple picking, which is the way it ought to be.  We got sucked into trying the big farm carnival for strawberries and it was just not my bag.  There is plenty to do here with the apple picking, wine, market, and playground - we could have stayed longer and probably come another day and the kids would have continued to have a blast.  No need for bouncy things and petting zoos...

The kids were able to play and hang out on the floor next to the tasting bar while we tried something like 25 different fruit wines!  Some were good, some pretty sweet, and some a little odd, but it was a fun time. 

We will be back here next year!

Strawberries

last year berry picking

Last year, I went with Peanut and some of her friends to pick strawberries while Pumpkin stayed home with Daddy.  She was surprisingly good at picking the berries and putting them in her basket vs. her mouth, and we got a huge take - enough for plenty of fresh eating, smoothies, and yogurt toppers for quite some time.  The farm was as natural and plain as we could get - a big field of berries and weeds with a little farm stand - that's it.  We picked, we picnicked, we went home.  She still talks (fondly!) about the ants crawling all over her feet when she stepped on the ant hills to pick the biggest berries.  It was totally my speed - just one activity, nice and chill. 

Come on!

This year, we had the opportunity to go with friends to a big, busy farm to pick our berries.  I'm not one to pack a ton of activities into a day - I like to take it easy and focus - but this place had a ton of other stuff to do.  There were animals to see, a big jump pillow, a spot to get lunch, etc., etc., etc..   I figured we'd go and pick some berries and see how we were all feeling about doing anything else.  Well, it was ridiculously hot, there were a ton of school field trips, and we had to wait for almost 45 minutes to get a hayride out to the field.  That's after waiting in line to pay the entrance fee and to buy a few buckets.  Crabbiness set in, Pumpkin started getting clingy, and I thought about turning around and heading home.  Once we got on the wagon though, we had renewed interest in the day.

mmmmmm!

empty bucket, messy face

In the fields, Peanut continued on her previous streak of picking and saving from last year.  She could have filled several huge buckets in no time flat, but me trying to maneuver two kids and many pounds of berries on a hayride was not my goal.   Pumpkin on the other hand would put a few in his bucket and then stand there eating them.  I encouraged Peanut to fill Pumpkins basket too, and soon we were all filled up.  With the heat and the rapid berry picking and eating, we were done with this pretty quickly.  We caught the wagon back, paid for our berries and decided to stick around for lunch.  During lunch the kids climbed up a a little wall to see some emus (maybe?) and ran around a bit in the fields.  My two were winding down, and we bailed before they could get any ideas about the jump pillow or whatever else there is to do out there.  I'm glad too, because the act of getting out of there complete with a diaper change/potty stop along with the several buses of school children almost made me lose my cool.  A sweet mom at the bathroom door reminded me to breathe - thank you mama.  Once in the car and back on the road, our pace went back to normal and we enjoyed the scenic route home. 

It's interesting to me that I have such an aversion to things like this.  The rushed pace rubs off on me - just hearing people hurrying their children along causes me to hurry even though I have no where I need to be.  Dealing with the hayrides causes me to be unfocused, keeping one eye and ear out for the wagon instead of being present in the moment.  I get easily annoyed and overwhelmed by it all, and keeping tabs on both kids in a little craziness never helps.  I think this gives me a little more insight into how Peanut sometimes sees the world.  I can understand how she just has to turn it all off for a while.  I am glad we went though, as I've felt funny not wanting to go somewhere that so many people seem to really love.  I think I will stick with my fields of berries and weeds though.

Farm Fresh

Along with the changes in our eating habits, comes a change in our shopping habits. We do cook every meal every day 90% of the time, and extremely rarely use boxes or pre-packaged foods. Buying essentially meats, vegetables, fruits, freshness is a tremendous factor. We value organic and grass fed foods, local farming and producing, and seasonal eating. During the summer, we eat from our garden (and the planning has begun for this coming season!) and farmers markets. For much of the year our meat and eggs come from a farm. During the winter, our farm takes a break, so if we haven't stockpiled, we need to find meat and eggs that we can happily eat! We've gotten a bit spoiled in terms of quality.

Instead of shopping once a week at a big grocery, I now shop several times during the week at a farmers market and my local Trader Joe's. Sometimes I go out to Whole Foods, but that's only for stuff I can't find anywhere else that I am willing to shell out some cash for - that place is expensive! I had been frequenting the outdoor market on Saturdays, but with the winter weather, there were many Saturdays I skipped it. Now we have two weekly winter markets, one of which is indoors which makes me super happy.

It does seem a little crazy to make so many trips to the markets during the week, but I really enjoy the fresh, local food I can buy as well as the community. It's similar to shopping in Europe - you have to go to the bakery for bread, the butcher for meat... I like that. So what's the big deal about shopping at the farmers market? How is it different than a nice grocery store? What do people sell in the winter? I know you are just dying to know.

Our markets sell pork, beef, chicken , lamb, winter squash, onions, potatoes, carrots, lettuce, salsa, wine, bread, apples, canned items (pickles, relish, jams), baked goods, spices, coffee, eggs, milk (cow and goat), ice cream, yogurt, sauerkraut, butter... everything you need to cook a meal. I love shopping the market because I know my farmers! I can ask questions about how the animals are raised, what they are fed, what crops are sprayed with, how they bake their gluten free bread, where they process the sausage, etc. I love that I can decrease pollution and gas usage by buying locally. I love that some of the veggies were picked that morning, or the eggs were laid yesterday. I love that my food has no packaging (or very little), and I decrease what I send to the landfill that way.

Isn't it expensive? Food is our fuel. I am perfectly willing to spend money for good nutritious, fresh food that will help me feel great, run efficiently, and stay healthy. That being said, at Saturdays market I spent less than $40 and got a whole chicken, a dozen eggs, a pound and a half of bacon, a pound of potatoes, a pound of carrots, avocado salad (mmmm, that was good!), a few cookies, and some yogurt. Not bad. We had the avocado salad and potatoes last night with some steaks, made mini quiches with some of the bacon and eggs (we use these for easy breakfasts and snacks), and had the chicken tonight with leftovers for lunches tomorrow.

So head on out to the market! Talk to your farmer and eat well!

Foodies

I am creating my own little foodies. We are a bit uppity about our food - we like real food to begin with which seems to be an oddity. Food from a box is really not my thing - it is not more convenient, nor is it less expensive. It is also completely loaded with crap. In my hunt for foods without soy I have been pressed to read labels once again and I continue to be amazed at the unpronouncable things in what ought to be regular foods.

We buy mainly fresh foods and make things from scratch. I love to have Peanut help in the kitchen, at the farmers market, grocery store and the garden so she sees how food begins and how it gets to our table. She knows that chickens are animals and that we eat them and their eggs. I am trying not to hide the realities of food from her just as we are trying to teach her about money - it doesn't just appear and it doesn't come from "that card".

We get most of our meat and eggs from Polyface farm and I will never go back to store bought meat and eggs if we can help it. The taste of happy, appropriately fed animals is second to none, and the eggs are amazing. Here's a picture of breakfast preparation when we had to use store bought eggs in addition to our last farm egg as we had run out. The difference is astounding - and the store bought eggs are organic cage free....etc. so we are comparing equally. Check it out -