Down on the Farm

Recently we went on a field trip to a farm just northeast of Nashville. It was a beautiful drive & the kids and I enjoyed getting out of the city. The only drawback was the way it hit Sweet Pea's & my allergies. Oh boy! Even though we suffered some with sneezing & itchy nose and eyes we had a great time. The people at the farm were extremely kind. We learned a lot and had fun playing around on their beautiful grounds.

This lady taught us all about plants. How they grow, what they eat and why they are important to us.

Boo was selected to help out. She was Miss Chlorophyll. =0)

Next we went to pet some animals. Some were biters so we left those alone.

The boys loved feeding the goats.

Elvis talked to the turkey telling him how tasty he looked. Lol.

Milking the cows was a big hit!

Some learning opportunities

It was 90 degrees that day so many of the animals stayed in the shade.

We oohed & ahhed over the pretty patterns of these piggies.

The tractor ride was a nice break. I liked how we were caged in. Less worry about the kids!

The boys made sure to get seats right up front.

This thing was really cool. It inflated from an air pump in the ground. It made for a giant "bouncy house" type of thing. They called it the 'Corn Popper' and the kids certainly popped around like popping kernels!

Boo skips along. (in the green)

I love Elvis in this one!

Sweet Pea poses by the cotton plants.

This was our favorite place. The corn bin!

It was a nice, cool place to relax.

The kids loved the corn. They swam in it cracking me up.

Princess wanted NONE of it.

She cried, clung to Sweet Pea & tried to climb up her big sister to get away from it.

Sweet Pea tried but Princess was not giving in. I guess it was too strange.

At his request we buried Elvis.

Then of course Bugs wanted a turn.

Finally after 15 minutes or so of sitting in my lap in the corn bin Princess decided to give it a try. We laughed b/c after crying & being terrified she did a complete turn-around. Suddenly she was crawling all over the place!

The now brave Princess playing with the corn.

Fun!

As we were driving away I took this pic from the top of the hill. Gorgeous!

Oh, and several weeks later I am STILL finding corn in the house! LOL!

Berry Pick'in

Saturday we decided to take a chance on the weather & go strawberry picking. It had rained most of the week & rain was supposed to arrive again. It was sunny when we started out & beautiful so we loaded up the van & took off. Elvis was really excited to go as he LOVES strawberries. We arrived, gathered our plastic baskets they provided & headed out into the fields. I had Princess in the snugly sack and strapped on. There were only 2 other couples picking and I was surprised. Back in MA when we would go it would always be crowded. The kids did a great job picking & followed our instructions on which berries to pick. I mainly spotted & directed as it was hard to bend over with Princess strapped on. Plus she didn't like being tipped over. We left with 4 baskets full & tummies full as well.

Walking to the strawberry fields.

Cute sign.



The bee hives we passed by on the way to the fields.

Boo & Sweet Pea got right to work.

Dave helped Bugs find the right strawberries.

Elvis did a great job filling his basket.

Boo checking out an odd shaped berry.

Bugs had juice all over his face. He enjoyed eating them much more than picking! Lol!

These fields were set up very nicely with an irrigation system and raised beds.

It was nice not to have to bend all the way down to the ground or wade through straw. My allergies really appreciated the latter.

Sweet Pea finds the perfect berry.

We heard thunder and finished up very quickly. As we drove away from the farm we saw the dark clouds coming fast. We knew God had timed it perfectly for us.

We stopped on the way so Dave could take this photo. Isn't it neat? We wanted to take more of the scenery as it was beautiful farm country but it grew dark too quickly.

Dave put up all the berries that were left after the kids got to them. I think they ate at least 1/2 a basket or more! Dave, Boo, & Elvis returned on Monday night to pick more berries for jam. I can't wait to give it a try!

Summer Blessing

We have been blessed again this year with a CSA Family Share. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. We were given this both last summer & this summer by our local WIC program. Isn't' that amazing? With all the chaos of putting the house on the market & Dave leaving for his new job we missed some of the first pick ups. We have attended the last 2 weeks and are enjoying the tasty produce. This week the kids went with us. They love it at the farm. We are enjoying it even more so this year as time has not allowed us to have a large garden this year. We miss our garden but do enjoy tooling around in the farms' huge garden. They even have flowers we can pick & take home! This week in addition to the flowers we brought home broccoli, 2 kinds of lettuce, peas and fresh basil.





Elvis called to the chickens as we descended from the van. They must have understood his clucking b/c one immediately came running over. Soon another followed. We got a big kick out of it!


Doesn't it look like Dave is protecting the children from the lone chicken? Lol! Really they were stopping to watch & "chat" with it.



The shed is where you go to select your picked produce. There is a white board listing all that you can pick for yourself in the garden.

The boys thought these were quite beautiful.

While we stopped for a picture Dave & the girls trooped on ahead to pick peas.

One of the barns

A Perfect Place for the Boys to Run Freely

Sharing freshly picked peas with her brothers.

Picking peas to take home.

I was thrilled to find this little guy.

Bugsy found an insect on one of the flowers. He proclaimed, "It's a bumblebee, Mommy!"

A View of the Garden

The Boys Had a Great Time Picking Flowers

Beautiful Bouquets

Hanging Out in the Shade

Daddy & Bugsy Check Out the Chickens

Walking Back to the Van with Our Harvest