Beets

Last week, I took the kids to a u-pick farm about 45 minutes from the house.  The idea with u-pick is…that you pick your own food.  Then you end up paying less for it, since you went out there and picked it.  One of the things I really like about u-pick is that the kids know where their food came from and what it looked like before it shows up on their plates.  Another is that they really like eating food that they picked themselves, even if it’s something they might not normally eat. 

We’ve done this with lots of berries, but this was the first time we’d done veggies.  The kids were definitely excited, and the experience lived up to their expectations. 

Simeon wasn’t quite as into the picking, because they had wagons there to take to the fields and bring back your produce.  He LOVED the wagons, and spent most of his time either trying to pull one or sitting in one.  For him, this could have been a u-pull-and-ride outing and he would have had just as much fun.

Hannah wandered in and out of the fields, loving life.  The farming nun thing (did I mention that Hannah is fully convinced that she’s called to be a farming nun?) might be a really good fit for her.  :)  She spent a bunch of time in one of the greenhouses, hunting out tomatoes. 

Naomi quickly got the hang of things, too, although she doesn’t like tomatoes, so she wasted not a moment on them.  Carrots, though.  And beets. 

Once the girls discovered picking beets, they couldn’t get enough.  At one point, Naomi called out, “Look, Mama!”  Turning to look, I saw her holding up an enormous beet – probably about the size of her head!  I imagine it weighed about a pound and a half. 

Now that we’re home again, we’ve been eating lots of beets.  Roasted, soup, in salads, etc.  Luckily, we all like beets.  Michael and I have also been eating lots of beet greens.  In the soup, sauteed, made into a salad, etc. 

We probably still have enough beets to eat them each night this week.  Like I said, it’s a good thing we all like beets.