I had such a great day with my son. I woke him up at 7:00 am to head out to the farmers market. He really enjoys coming with me especially since we always make a stop at QT for a doughnut and dan. Nehemiah calls chocolate milk dan, I have no idea why. He gets even more excited when I pour his dan into a coffee cup with a lid. He looks at me with his huge blue eyes, bats his long eyelashes and says, “mi cafe.” I laugh and say, “si papa, tu cafe.”
Once we arrived at the farmers market we started to make our usual rounds. My first stop is at a chemical free farm run by a cute Asian lady from Pella. I’m just getting to know her and she’s starting to recognize me. Next visit, I’ll ask for her name and a picture. She’s a true gem and I am anxiously waiting for the right time to ask her for some traditional recipes from her homeland. I purchased spinach, green onions, cilantro, mint, and Rhubarb from her. Nehemiah and I then made our rounds to Blue Gate and Coyote Run Farm. On our way to Coyote Run, I noticed a small booth called Busy Bee Garden, Chemical Free. I stopped there and was excited to find a huge bunch of turnip greens for $1! The young man was extremely pleasant and took great pride in his garden and produce. A sure sign of someone who’s raising the right kind of food I want to feed my family. Once we were done purchasing produce and eggs, we made our way to Reichert’s Dairy Air. They are a local dairy specializing in Goat Cheese. I was able to speak to Lois Reichert as she explained to me about their new exclusive Italian Robiola cheese. She traveled to Italy to learn how to make it. It was so yummy! I bought some right away and started thinking about what I wanted to use it with. To be honest, it would be divine spread on bread and eaten in the morning over coffee. Once we made our final purchase of cheese, Nehemiah and I packed everything into the van and made our way to a hobby farm. I’ll need to take pictures next time we visit. It was great. Free range turkeys, chickens, and ducks. There were cows and goats and of course that means FRESH DAIRY! After a tour, we picked up some milk and cream and headed home. I’m on a quest to make butter this week and am super excited to use fresh cream. A post to follow soon 😉
After dropping everything off at home, Nehemiah and I headed out again, this time to water our gardens. Nehe just adores his strawberry patch and takes pride and ownership over it. He waters it, pulls weeds, and after the fruit of his labor he is rewarded by eating all the red berries. I’m not sure if we’ll have any left after Nehe tends to his plot, lol! After watering our plots in the community garden and backyard plots we ran home to tend to chickens.
The chickens are doing great and we are excited that both dogs are living in peace with the chickens. The chicken coop door is left open all day long and they go and come as they please. It’s been awesome! I am so excited for them to finally start laying. We’re going to have free range, organic eggs right in our backyard. I’m even more excited to see Nehemiah and by that time Zekie walking to the backyard to collect them in the morning. I mean seriously, how many city kids wake up to fresh eggs in their backyard, lol! I’m sure I’ll have tons of pictures when that finally happens. After all our morning chores, we ate some pb and honey sandwiches and napped away. Ahh… what a fabulous morning!
Having two kids, it was a blessing to have one on one Nehe time. I’m learning so much about him as he grows older. My prayer for him every day is that he becomes a man of God and that one day he will provide for his family and carry them under Christ.
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