Farm "food tour" with Gillen

Yesterday, Jesse, and Elizabeth’s son Eli were coaxed into the Isuzu “pup” (the truck that Gillen can drive) with Willie (our new go-to-the-farm-everyday-with-Nicolas puppy) to go on what Gillen called a “farm food tour”.Visiting us between taking in the peppers and the turnips:
For the first time in a while, I was picking flowers, so I don’t have pictures of their adventure. But I do have a picture of some of the last Zinnias of the year:
And of these ladybug-like (but yellow?) bugs who were at it the entire time we made bouquets, moving from flower to flower while they procreated. When we left the barn, they were still together, and still looking for the perfect resting spot. Or maybe this species is like the Black Widow and the male was just being dragged around dead, having served his purpose.

It’s like Wild Kingdom out here.

But for the kids, it was an Anthony Bourdain inspired travel network food adventure that we heard about in detail later.

They started out at the Persimmon tree, no one liking this fruit but Gillen. From there they drove to the peppers, Jesse’s favorite, and grabbed many to eat on the road. Gillen and Jesse love Hakurai Turnips so wanted to share them with Eli. Not finding them in the ground, they looked in the cooler and discovered a full box. Eli declared them edible as they tasted a lot like his favorite, the carrot, if you didn’t look while you ate, and if you only ate one bite. Gillen and Jesse also grabbed a handful of cherry tomatoes.

Next they traveled all the way to the back fields where they ate cabbage, kale, Daikon radishes and watermelon radishes.

Their biggest peril, besides getting Eli to take bites of everything, occurred when Willie the puppy jumped out of the truck and ran into the woods, a very thorny section of the woods. This was great because it meant that they came back to us with large holes in their shirts, truly looking the part of food adventurers.

I grew up in a big city. I never even knew what kale was, before falling for a farmer. It’s amazing to watch my kids growing up able to pick their own vegetables. Not to mention, able to drive a stick shift, something I still can’t do.

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