Farms, Ranches, Thoughts

First of all, Cynthia Sandberg at Love Apple Farm would like me to post the hours that her farmstand is open: Mondays and Thursdays, from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (Note: to my knowledge, there is no other market or farmstand open on Mondays in the county.) Here is a map to Love Apple Farm.

So. I had thought I realized how globally unhealthy our corporate food is...but nuances and realizations keep turning up in my thinking.

I was with Logan in the Safeway the other night, buying contact lens solutions. He asked me something like, "What's in this store, Nana?"

I told him, "You know what's in this store, Logan? A lot of food that isn't really food, and almost all of it is really not good for you. That's why we buy our food at the farmers markets and at the [natural foods store]. We don't buy food at this store because it isn't healthy, and it isn't clean."

You look around supermarkets and see mothers shopping with their kids, with carts piled high of boxes of stuff they're going to chew and swallow...they might as well be giving their children cigarettes. It's like a subtle form of child abuse.

As for me, I believe in indoctrination. I am clueing him in to the stupidity of cigarettes, motorcyles, and food that isn't real. (For starters.) I've already witnessed him rejecting crap like the kind of food his father feeds him...there is a horrible "restaurant" in town which bills itself as the world's cheapest breakfast. Logan came home with "food to go" from this place: rancid scrambled eggs on top of a hot dog bun...it stunk, and I wouldn't feed it to a dog. And he wouldn't take another bite of it, once his father left.

Fridays are the day I have Logan all day long, and so I try to arrange farm visits then. Last Friday, we went to Crystal Bay Farm, where he pushed this little cart down the aisle and filled two baskets with strawberries. We had a really nice visit with Jeff and Lori Fiorovich out there, and came home with some of the beautiful stuff they're growing...raspberries, carrots, lemon cucumbers, and one of Lori's favorite things.

That would be the zucchini blossoms, picked young, before they're open.

It was nice to see all the varieties of pumpkins ripening, hiding under their giant leaves. We were knee deep in pumpkins and squashes. (See Lori, above, wading through the plants.)

Next we headed out to Deep Roots Ranch,to see the pair of three-month old Freesian lambs who arrived last week. Jean and Bob are adding them to the breeding pool, as Freesians are supposed to have multiple births as well as being good mothers. The male, Kinky Freesian, has a little kink in his tail, hence the name. (The female, herself one of quadruplets, does not yet have a name.)

Jean sent me home with a half-gallon of milk from Nutmeg, fresh that morning, as well as a hunk of some sharp cheddar they'd made. "We're very proud of medium success in the cheese-making department," Bob told me with a grin. (Yum. Cheese and milk. Yum.)

After an hour or so, we went out to TLC Ranch, hoping to photograph Angel, the new dog Jim and Becky got to protect the chickens from coyotes and other predators. (Pictured here are tomatillos, grown by another resident at the ranch.)

Well, I broke one of the rules on photographers everywhere: "Take the picture when you can get the picture." Angel greeted us up by the office, barking loudly: she's a Maremma (aka "Cane Da Pastore Maremmano Abruzzese," a breed originating in Italy over 2000 years ago). Since Jim and Becky weren't around, I didn't think it wise to hang around Angel, but that's when I should have gotten her photo. She looked very much like a slender Great Pyrenees: tall, noble, and serious-looking. She's a beauty.

We went to the house and visited a bit with Becky, pictured at right. By the time we returned to the office, Angel had disappeared. (Jim had gone for a run, and she'd tracked him to the top of the hills near the ranch.)

Five hours: a box full of produce, milk, cheese, and a gigantic garlic clove from Becky...someone had given them a wedding present two years ago: a box filled with garlic. They might as well have given them a money tree.

It was a lovely day, and my favorite way in the world to de-stress.

I have some new photos in the Beautiful Farms and Random Photography albums. BABIES! I love photographing babies!

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: “Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith.” — Henry Ward Beecher

Thanks for visiting.

Comments

[Jennifer]

What gorgeous photos, Tana...Is Logan the petite towhead? Looks like you two had a fabulous afternoon.