Farm tour

Our family had a great, fun-filled weekend! Friday night we celebrated our kids' accomplishments with a dinner at Claim Jumpers. All three of the kids had coupons for free kids' meals that they'd received for different reasons and we finally found a free night! They better remember it well, since we would never take them to that restaurant if we had to pay full price!

Saturday, we started our morning with a drive out to north-west Madera to visit T & D Willey Farms. For over a year now we have received a weekly box, full of organic fruits and veggies from this local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). A couple times a year, they give tours of the farm, so we finally signed up for one! It was great for our kids to see EXACTLY where most of our fruits and veggies come from. Do you know where your food comes from? It was also great to meet the farmer, hear his passion for the land, and his views in general. A couple interesting facts...their small, 75 acre farm sends vegetables to over 800 families each week (about 30% of their crops), sells to over 200 specialty stores in and around the valley (about 70 % of the crops), and employs almost 70 farm-workers year-round, thus allowing them to become established in the community, and keep their kids in the same school all year! That's only a little over an acre to support one full income, and 11 families with fruits and vegetables...AMAZING! Sitting on the tractor-trailer, with a fresh carrot for a snack, ready for the ride around the farm! Halfway through the tour, we stopped to pull some English peas straight off their plant, opened 'em up and popped 'em in our mouths! Super yum! All the rain and cold weather has been good for the snow-pack and the underground water table, but has kept the spring/summer crops a couple weeks behind schedule. They have had to tent a lot of their vegetable to protect them from the cold and the rain and hail. Rows and rows of red La Soda and Yukon Gold potatoes. A gorgeous, Spring day! We finished our tour and they had fresh-picked strawberries waiting for us! Could it get any better than a sunny spring day with a fresh strawberry?

Saturday evening we enjoyed the cool breeze as we sat in Grizzlies' stadium, watching a baseball game as a family. Sunday was just as relaxing, with a morning outing to church followed by a lunch of cinnamon rolls, asparagus, spring onion and goat cheese quiche, and fresh strawberries. Sitting at the table, I munched on my strawberry and said, "This is so yummy, all this fresh food." To which Isaac replied, "My favorite is the cinnamon roll" (of course our sugar-loving child would say this). Audrey retorted, "What? That is a processed food! It is NOT better than this strawberry! Or mom's quiche!" Could I be any prouder on a day like Mother's Day?!!! Ah, the wonderful sense of fulfillment that if I have taught my kid only one thing, they have at least learned it well!

After lunch, Audrey and I made a fresh strawberry cake to have after dinner. Randy's mom also joined us in the evening for a dinner of BBQ steak, mashed parsnips with spring onion, a green salad, and fresh bread. What a wonderful weekend!

Footnote: To find a CSA near you, check out localharvest.org. If you are interested in learning more about T&D Willey Farms and their weekly deliveries, check out their website or call 559-ORGANIC. Tell them you heard about their farm from the Mack family!