New Leaf Market Farm Tour 2012

This weekend was the 5th Annual New Leaf Market Farm Tour.  I don't think we have missed one yet, although the year I was pregnant with my youngest child we only made it to one farm (an alpaca farm that sells beautiful yarn). 

I really like the idea of seeing where your food comes from and in teaching your children that the food they eat does not come from just a grocery store.  So, with a seven year old and an 18 month old in tow, we headed out to four farms this year.  They were picked because they were open on Sunday (we had other plans on Saturday) and because they were all farms we had not yet seen.  Most were in the Quincy area.

The first one was to keep my seven year old happy.  She is a horse lover.  Johnnie's Garden keeps horses on staff to provide manure for their compost pile. 

Horses providing manure at Johnnie's Garden

 

They also have chickens that provide eggs and they grow various vegetables.  They did have information available on their Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program.  So contact them if you want more information.

Eggplants growing at Johnnie's Garden

Next stop we made was Full Earth Farm.  They were doing tours of their vegetable gardens and compost piles.  We had a truncated tour (because of the 18 month old) and were really impressed with their place.  We bought some kale, bok choi, and lettuce from them.

Broccoli growing at Full Earth Farm

 

I was proud of my daughter when she asked to buy a button that supported the Red Hills Farm Alliance that runs the Red Hills Online Market.  They are a great place to buy local food.

 

Next we were off to check out Blue Ridge Farm.  My kids were most interested in their one year old dog that loved to play fetch.  I was excited about their persimmon and chestnut orchard and their hydroponic vegetables.

 

Chestnut trees with a hydroponic greenhouse in the background

 

On our way home we stopped at Orchard Pond Organics and Meridian Community Garden.  We used to be members of their CSA and I really recommend it.  We just couldn't use up all the fresh delicious vegetables in time.  I am really interested in their community garden but am not sure if I have the time to commit and I really fear that I did not inherit my grandma Anna's green thumb.  But I thought the community gardens were beautiful.

 

Meridian Community Garden at Orchard Pond Organics

 

In the end we were all tired out and maybe got a little too much sun.  I am excited about my haul though:

 

Clockwise from the lower left corner:  Chestnuts and persimmons (Blue Ridge Farm); Lettuce, bok choi and kale (Full Earth Farm); and Tatsoi (Orchard Pond Organics)

I have plans to eat a little bit of local food all week long.  I already used the bok choi in a yummy chicken stir fry.  The lettuce will be in my lunches.  I might cook the kale with a little bit of soy sauce.  The tatsoi is tasty with some red pepper flakes sautee'd in olive oil.  I may try pairing some of these with the muscadine grape wines I picked up a couple of weeks ago from Three Oaks Winery and Sea Breeze Winery during a trip to Panama City Beach.

If you haven't been on the Farm Tour with New Leaf Market yet I suggest you try it out next year!

Fall Traditions

When I was a child growing up in Minnesota we went to an apple orchard every fall.  Sometimes we even went to a pick-your-own apple orchard.  I wanted to create some fall traditions with my children here in North Florida.  I have not found any apple orchards here, as this is not the right climate for apples (although a few varieties grow here, as I learned on the Just Fruits and Exotics website).

Last year we discovered Rocky Comfort Farms on the New Leaf Market Farm Tour.  But more on the Farm Tour later....

At Rocky Comfort Farms they have a pumpkin patch where you can ideally find your locally grown fall pumpkin (this year happened to be a bad year and they had to ship them in).  You can also take some cute fall pictures of your kids, provided they actually cooperate.

 

They also have a hay ride to tour the farm where they raise angus beef cattle.

 

They also have peafowl there which was very exciting for my daughter who wants to be a peacock for Halloween.

 

They also have other various fall fun activities for kids including a giant hay slide, face painting, a bouncy house and a millet maze and a corn bin (basically a big box with dried corn kernels in it, I don't know why but kids like it).

 

They are open on the weekends in October for a small entrance fee.

 

They sometimes sell their own honey (since pumpkins are dependent upon bees for pollination) and other products.  It isn't quite the apple orchard I miss from my childhood but it is a nice way to support a local farm while giving my own kids some childhood memories.