When it comes to farm life I am completely clueless. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've been to a farm on only one prior occasion. When I was about 4 I visited my dad's friend's parents' dairy farm. All I remember is that I tasted the fresh milk and spit it right back out because it tasted weird. Even 4-year-old Laura knew that farm living would not be the life for me.
My cluelessness was pretty evident by the attire I chose for the day. I knew I would be picking vegetables but for some reason I guess I didn't realize that I would be getting really dirty. I chose to wear a Juicy hoodie, Citizen's jeans and Converse tennies. Not exactly the most rugged choice. At least Samuel was dressed appropriately. I put him in a pair of hand-me-down jeans and boots.
I'd heard great things about Miller Farm so I was very excited to be partaking in this adventure with our church group. I was also looking forward to helping my friend Kerri celebrate her birthday, which was part of the excursion. Allen wanted to go too but was already committed to a volunteer activity for work.
The idea of growing our own produce appeals to both of us since we enjoy cooking (and eating) so much. We would really like to grow our own garden one day. We tried to a container garden a few years ago but that was before we knew there was a book called "Container Gardening for Dummies." If you assumed that the outcome was failure then you would be right. Between the cold weather and lack of watering I think our harvest amounted to a handful of cherry tomatoes and one cucumber. But as I recall it was a damn good cucumber.
Back to the farm....
So after a hearty Subway lunch and cupcakes (for Kerri's b.day) we loaded up in the back of the truck lined with hay bales to start pickin' our veggies. This farm had just about every vegetable you can imagine and for $10 you can have as much as you can carry. Score! I was planning dinner menus in my head as we made our way for the corn stalks.
I set off with Olivia and Jeremy since they both seemed to know what they were doing. I got a quick lesson on how to twist the husk off the stalk and then Samuel (who was riding on my hip) and I set off on our own. It took a while to find ears that were large enough to pick, but eventually I ended up with about 8. I was so proud. Allen loves sweet corn so I couldn't wait to show him what we had picked just for him. I was already imagining his praise. Back on the wagon Olivia started helping me shuck my corn and much to my dismay, every single ear I had, all 8, were infested in worms. Eww!!
I was quite discouraged as we headed for the potatoes. In fact, I was convinced that if we were somehow thrown into a post-apocalyptic situation where the survival of my family depended on my ability to gather, we would certainly all die. This realization made me more determined to make sure that I at least took home something that was suitable to eat.
After digging, pulling, twisting and scrounging around all afternoon, most of it with a 22 pound baby strapped to my back, I harvested a decent size sack of red & white potatoes, about 12 onions, 2 cabbages, several carrots and 2 mini pumpkins. Also, thanks to the generosity (and, most likely, pity) of Olivia, I brought home 4 ears of sweet corn. I also had some help along the way since bending over with a baby can be somewhat of a challenge.
While exhausting, it was also fun being out there with Samuel. I felt like a real pioneer woman since throughout history women have had to wear their babies while they harvested. I even stopped to breastfeed him since that, undoubtedly, would have been part of a real pioneer woman's day.
After workin' in the fields we headed back to the amusement part of the farm so the kids could play. Samuel got to pet a goat, who nipped his hand. Bad goat! We also rode a petal cart made to look like a John Deere tractor. He attempted to climb a giant hay bale pyramid but settled for just chewing a few pieces of hay. He also got to climb through a tractor-tire tunnel and he attempted to push a tractor. That might have been my favorite part of the day. He got behind a tractor, put his little hands out and started pushing with all his might. When it wouldn't budge he looked up at me with an expression that could only be interpreted as, "what the heck?"
Samuel and I had a great time getting dirty. Now that I am the mom of a little boy I know I'll be doing a lot of things I never thought I would do and this will be the first of many times when I'll have to toss aside my preconcieved notions of certain activites and just jump right in to the unknown. I'm sure this won't be the last time that I'll come home covered head to toe in dirt!
