Today was the last of the summer’s farm Saturdays and spent it celebrating the harvest. From baking bread to hiking through the gardens to see the farm’s bursting bounty of fruits and vegetables before harvesting some of our own, our morning was filled with activity and adventure.
We were fortunate to spend most of the morning with Robin, one of the farm’s workers, as he lead us on a tour of the fields to spot vines full of ripe cantaloupes, honeydews, and watermelons. Little did the kids know that he had stashed a big, beautiful watermelon in a cooler to share with all of them later. Robin has a natural ease with children. He was brimming with both knowledge about the farm’s produce and enthusiasm for sharing that knowledge with the kids and parents alike. He patiently answered our questions, plucked fallen, ripe pears for everyone to enjoy as we hiked and pointed out everything from stink bugs to kale to a huge paper wasp’s nest hidden in a pear tree.
He then brought the children over to a section of the garden where they were able to harvest their own grape tomatoes, cucumbers, red and green peppers, and a couple of rogue eggplant they found in the meadow. Some of the kids happily ate their cucumbers like apples, skins and all, warm from the sun and straight from the vine.
With small arms laden with produce, we hiked back up to the farm store where everyone enjoyed their freshly baked bread with butter and local honey from the farm along with slabs of cool, juicy watermelon Robin passed around with a laugh and a grin.
It was a lovely way to end our summer season.
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