Outstanding in the Field
A year ago Marla and I took a night off, away from the kids to attend a farm feast by the fine folks at Outstanding in The Field at Sage Mountain Farm in Hemet, CA.
A year ago Marla and I took a night off, away from the kids to attend a farm feast by the fine folks at Outstanding in The Field at Sage Mountain Farm in Hemet, CA.
Cousins Bailey and Madison joined the CA Northcutts for a family trip out to Broad River Bison the day after Thanksgiving. We set out bundled against the cold for our traditional hay ride around the farm, touring Bailey’s Bottom, Madison’s Meadow, Emma’s Pond and Henry’s Hollow snuggled in scarves and stocking caps. Uncle Paul fed the buffalo a few tasty apples and received a slobbery finger for his trouble.
Nothing beats a berry straight out of the field.
We’ve belonged to the CSA program (community supported agriculture) that South Coast Farms in San Juan Capistrano runs for almost five years now. Every other week we get a giant basket of yummy fruits and veggies, largely picked straight from the farm that day.
I played hooky from work one day to go with Henry’s pre-school class to Centennial Farm at the OC Fairgrounds. Â His teacher, Mrs. Carrie, laid down the ground rules prior to us entering the farm and then we were off!
Emma and Henry went on their first fishing expedition this year. Granpa and Henry had gone on a special shopping trip to prepare and came back with a fishing hat and a fancy Spiderman rod. After practicing his casting at the farm the previous day, Henry and Emma were ready to rock.
Our last visit to Broad River Bison was an exciting one. The bison were grazing in a brand new pasture! On previous visits we’d seen them in nearly-bare pasture. With two pastures available rotation is possible, which gives the grass a chance to regrow. The gorgeous green hillside made for some dramatic photos. (Patchy cloud cover helped, too!)
If you’ve seen “Band of Brothers” then the name Currahee will be familiar. Easy Company was forced to repeatedly run the mountain while training for WWII. While we were in Toccoa for Christmas I decided to tackle Currahee Mountain myself. Continue reading
If there are two things Henry love they are cars and tractors. He was in luck, then, on this last visit to the farm where he was able to ride both on Granpa’s tractor and do a little digging on the backhoe. Continue reading
I visited Broad River Bison earlier this summer during a surprise visit and met my Dad’s bison for the first time. They were a little scrawny in the heat of the summer so I was excited to see what they would look like with their winter coats on. Continue reading