Apple & Berry Picking

This weekend we went to a local farm where you can pick your own apples. Way back in the day, Brett and I used to go to an orchard about an hour's drive from Chicago to pick apples every fall. It was huge and they had lots of different varieties for picking. We both have really great memories of going there. Sadly, a year or two before we moved away, urban sprawl caught up with our beloved orchard: it had been sold and was to be transformed into a suburban neighborhood. We were so bummed! This was the first picking excursion we've made since then and, though the "orchard" was really pretty small and there was only one variety ripe for picking, we had a good time anyway.

Larson was very intent on carrying the basket himself! It would seem that he still could learn a bit about discriminating which apples are good to pick and which should be left on the tree, but overall he did a great job. We also had fun looking at all the other vegetables they had for picking: lettuce, greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, herbs - you could even dig your own potatoes! A very cool concept.
Here's the little guy: rain boots on, ready for puddles and mud! He's sporting his "Larson Family Winery" hat that we picked up in Sonoma last year.
They had these fun wood cutouts all over the place for taking photos...Larson was a little confused and wondered why he couldn't "get on" the tractor. :) As you can see from above, Cora spent her first apple-picking excursion safely tucked in the baby wrap. Hopefully next year, she will actually be cognizant of what is going on!

Below you'll see Larson learning to shuck corn for the first time. I decided that this was definitely an outdoor activity :) He loves to eat corn on the cob and does a pretty good job at it, too. We got four ears in our farm box last week. Sure makes me miss the yummy corn that we used to be able to buy direct from the farmer on the way to our Minnesota cabin while growing up. The Northwest definitely has some food greats (fish, berries, etc), but nothing beats sweet corn grown in the midwest. Speaking of berries, Cora and I hauled in a large container of blackberries yesterday, picked from the side of a running trail near our house. Yummy!!!

On another food-related note, we received information in our CSA newsletter today about the Slow Food convention held recently in San Francisco. This is a movement to raise awareness about local, sustainable agriculture, to pass on these values to our kids through education and to promote healthy eating through maintaining nutritious variety in our diets. Anyway, they have a petition they are gathing names for to present to the federal government that outlines the movement's goals/values called the "Food Declaration." I'll put a link to it in the sidebar, if anyone is inclined to sign it. You can also read more about the movement here. Hope everyone has a great week!