On the Farm

We had a family outing this afternoon to our co-op farm. A few months ago we signed up for a winter CSA. I am so excited about this! Today, "our farm" had an open house and we drove out there to visit. We had a ball! This is a family run farm - two brothers and their families - and we were given tours of some of their fields and greenhouses. The big girls got to each pick a carrot right out of the dirt, and we were given a fresh head of romaine lettuce and a turnip (which none of us have ever eaten before). Then, we walked around one of their greenhouses. Inside were all their herbs - dill, chives, onions, basil, thyme, cilantro and several others that I can't remember. The girls were shown how to shake the seeds out of a chive plant into a baggie and we now have some seeds here at home so we can start our own little plant. :)

Next was a hayride which the girls loved. We rode back into their field and picked persimmons and hickory nuts. I had never tasted a persimmon before either - the ones that had fallen on the ground were ripe and ready to eat. (Apparently the softer/mushier they are, the better!) The ones on the tree which are hard are not ready to eat ... trust me on that one. Travis and I tried one - yuck! :p The ripe ones were delicious and had an unusual flavor - sort of like an apricot, but different. We had to wait until we got home to try the hickory nuts since we needed a nutcracker. They tasted just like a pecan to me - yum. :)



After the hay ride, we just meandered around a little bit more. The family had built a bonfire and had a large bowl of seasoned popcorn and hot apple cider to enjoy. N1 found a friendly goat to visit with and enjoyed feeding it a bit of grass. N2 stumbled upon a bowl of apples and this was how we saw her enjoying it. :)



Several hours later, we loaded our little farm treasures and three tired girls in the car and headed back towards home. Travis and I have already had a salad with our fresh romaine - delicious! :)

Oh, we tried the turnip, too! We asked how they suggested that we eat them and they suggested raw, sliced into small pieces and put in a salad. It tasted like a radish and I like the flavor of it. I'll be eager to try roasting it when we get more over the next couple months. :)