CSA Orientation

Sophie and I went to our CSA "Orientation" on the morning of May 19th.

We're obviously already "oriented" but Sophie hadn't been to the farm yet (Will went last year) and it's more of a welcome party to meet-your-farmers-and-see-the-farm anyway.  So it was fun to go again.  :)  This year, they included a skillet breakfast to go along with the tour. 

Riehm Farm is in Tiffin so it's about a 45 minute drive from our house.  Sophie passed the time with a couple favorite library books.  This one is definitely her fave:

Diane greeted us at the entrance and invited us to take a self-guided tour of the greenhouses.  There were a LOT more people in attendance this year compared to last, so that first part of the tour was on our own.  But we still got a hay ride with farmer John later (in staggered groups) to view the rest of the vegetable-planted acreage.

Many of the greenhouse items will remain in the greenhouse throughout the whole season.  This allows us to get tomatoes in June and lettuces in September in our weekly bags.  But some of the greenhouse plants will be transplanted to the fields later on. And, as always, it's all organic and chemical-free.

Tasting a strawberry from the patch.

"Johnny" the tractor is the farm mascot of sorts.  In our weekly newsletter, we get blog updates that are written as from the perspective of Johnny the tractor.  :)

Hay ride through the fields with farmer John.

At first, Sophie was a little unsure of the jumpy movements of the wagon.

But she was quickly over it and on her feet to peer over the edge.

Everything is nicely irrigated so that lack of rain is almost never a problem.

Explanation from the awesome Farmer John.

Checking out the goats.

Love this one.  :)

A couple months ago, Diane asked me for some ideas on what sort of activities they could do at orientation this year.  I suggested they let the kids go into the chicken coop and collect an egg.  They went ahead with that idea and it was a big hit!  I didn't get any pictures of Sophie collecting because she needed me to "be the leader" as we entered so that she could hide behind my legs... and then hold her up to select an egg from the shelf they were sitting on.  She was very proud of it immediately upon exiting though.  ;)

Sophie was afraid the goats would try to take her egg, so she made sure to hold it behind her back when she went back to visit them again.

Our invitation asked us to bring our own folding chairs for the casual, camping-style, skillet breakfast they were serving on the lawn.

Guests waited in line for skillet fried eggs and potatoes along with some juice and I think fruit?

Sophie and I ate before we came and the line was very long, so we opted to sit in the shade and play with our mini-etch-a-sketch toy for awhile instead of eating.  She had me draw cows, chickens, goats, Will, daddy, etc.  And she was so pleased no matter how terrible they looked.  Haha!

Thanks to some outreach we did with Toledo Hospital staff during lunch time in the cafeteria one day a couple months ago (I went over to the hospital to help John & Diane and a couple others spread the word about this awesome opportunity), we have acquired enough members to merit a pick-up location right there at the hospital in one of the new side entrances.  Last years pick up spot was not far at all, but this is even closer to me for pick up after my work day!  So excited about that!

I just picked up my first bag this past Tuesday, so I'll elaborate on that in an upcoming Dinner post.

Thrilled to begin another season with Riehm Farm CSA!!!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was busier than I would have preferred, but we did get to see both our mothers and my grandma (as well as sisters and aunts) so that was nice.

Mom and Casey and I got out on Friday of that weekend for a girls night to celebrate our motherhood.  :)  We made a trip to The Buckle at Fallen Timbers and all shopped for a new pair of jeans.  I'll tell you what... the girls that work there are denim geniuses.  They know WAY more about the perfect fit of jeans than I ever would have expected!  We all came away successful (Woot! Woot!) and had a lot of great help in making our selections.  Hooray for great new jeans!  After our shopping trip (which also included a visit to Charming Charlie) we had dinner at Granite City. My fish tacos and pomegranate margarita were fantastic!  Yum!

On Sunday, grandma invited everyone over for lunch and nearly all my extended family came.

We took some pictures outside and I was laughing in this picture at the way Craig was standing (with one foot on the sidewalk and one on the side of the house sort of leaning over a bush) just to take this straight on.  ;-)

A goofy pose with my sibs and mama.  ;)

Happy Mother's Day to our beautiful, awesome mom!!

This is the best I could get with my own kiddos.  And they barely sat still long enough for this!

My Goddaughter Stella gave me a very sweet card and even a gift card!  Wow!  Thank you, Stella!

After lunch and visiting (and no nap for kids, of course), we stopped at Craig's parent's house to visit with them for a bit.  Grandma had just purchased these roller racer toys so Will and I tested them out.  :)

Reminds me of these pictures from a few years ago (May '09) shortly after Sophie was born when Will and I had some fun with some other hand-me-down toys that were given to us.  I just can't seem to grow up, can I?  ;)

He was having more fun "pushing" me than riding.

Weee!

While we were there, we hopped in the back of Craig's truck and took a ride (just through the field) out to what Craig fondly refers to as "the triangle" (a ~5 acre triangular piece of land framed by a triangle of trees) where we will one day build our forever house.

It's a field right now and will remain that way until we're ready to build.  One day it will happen.  We'll get there.  Craig likes to come out here and daydream about where the house will set and how the driveway will run along side the line of trees and cross a small bridge over the crick before meeting the road about 1/4 mile away.

I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but we've had plans drawn (and frequently tweaked) since before we were married.  I'm so grateful that we've had the time to really live together and think through what aspects of a "dream home" are important to us.

I'm in no hurry to move forward with this.  I LOVE our little home.  But it is fun to daydream and think toward the future.  And some day we'll be ready.

My favorite thing about this spot is the quiet.  It's the same at Craig's parent's house and his sister's farm.  Just so peaceful. 

The tree lines are beautiful too, although there are many ash trees that need to be cut down because of the emerald ash borer that have brought disease to so many ash trees in Ohio.  We're hoping to plant more trees along the triangle (before we even get to building) to keep the "frame" thick with trees.

On that note, my father in law bought me an apple tree for mother's day!  :)  We're going to plant it along the triangle instead of at our current house in hopes that we get to enjoy it there in a few years.

I also got a cute card and sweet, stone plaque with a saying about motherhood from my in-laws that I'll post once I hang it.

Other Mother's Day lovelies:

A homemade vase from my preschooler.

And a suncatcher that the kids made with our babysitter.

This keychain was also made at the babysitter, but Sophie brought it home only to insist that it's "hers".  So... we're sharing.  Haha!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there!