U-Pick Tour–Walnut Drive Gardens, Mogadore Ohio–peppers and red raspberries

U-Pick 1 Response »
Aug 312011
 

Today we traveled to Walnut Drive Gardens in Mogadore, Ohio.  Mogadore is southeast of Akron and it is about 55 minutes from our house in Mayfield Heights.  Usually, we keep our picking to 45 minutes or closer, but we were meeting friends to pick and I like to go to Duma Meats a couple of times a year.  They are only a couple of minutes further than the farm.

We arrived at the farm at exactly 9AM.  I thought we were going to be late between an empty fuel tank and a need for the ATM on our way to the highway, but the traffic was reasonable.  The kids loved the market building since there was a sand box at the entrance.  It kept them quite busy.

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With Nick still in potty training mode, a restroom with running water is also a plus.  Soon, we were at the raspberry bushes.  The picking was plentiful and so were the mosquitos.  I was glad that I had the bug repellent with us, but the kids still had a few bites near their feet and necks.

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We also wanted to pick peppers.  The pepper picking was at field two.  We paid for our raspberries and headed over the other field.  It was about 5 minutes down the road.  The fields were marked with the type of pepper.  I was interested in yellow sweet and some green peppers.

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They give you a 5 gallon bucket to use to pick and then you transfer the peppers when you are done.  It was really quick picking!   Our friends Debbie and Sarah are pictured with their buckets.

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I ended up picking 2 buckets’ worth.  They were $9 a bucket.  I think that is a great price, especially for gorgeous peppers.  The raspberries were $3.25 a pound and we paid $8.29.  So, we picked about two and a half pounds of berries.

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All in all, it was quite a successful outing.  We had a great time.

U-Pick Tour–Secor Nursery, Perry Ohio–raspberries

Adventures with Nick and Sally, U-Pick No Responses »
Jul 222011
 

Yesterday, we returned to Secor Nursery to pick blueberries.  We first visited Secor back on June 21st to pick strawberries.  Now that we are getting more familiar with farms and their locations, I have realized that there are at least 3 U-pick farms within 5 miles of each other in the Perry area.

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Nick, Sally and I had made plans to meet up with our new friends Paula and her daughter.  They are also in the Fresh Fork CSA and I met Paula through my CSA blogging.  I quickly figured out that we had a lot in common (couponer, 3 year old and CSA) and we decided to meet up for picking.

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Here’s a photo of me with all 3 kids.  It was a really hot day, but the sky was extremely blue.

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When we arrived about 8:15 AM, we found out that U-pick was closed for blueberries.  I know we should always call ahead, but I was surprised that they were closed to allow for more ripening so soon after opening this week.  We like to get to the farms when they open, so I should get in the habit of calling the day before the check on crops.  They were going to let us pick anyway, but we opted for raspberries.

We got lost trying to find the raspberries and called the market from the field.  I’m pretty good with directions, but had no idea where east was from where we were standing.  One of the farmers came out in a truck and pointed us in the right direction.

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I had never picked raspberries before.  They have prickles, but it wasn’t too bad.  They are pretty easy to pick, but they are also highly perishable and pretty expensive.  Some we just ate plain and the rest I put in the freezer for ice cream, raspberry lemonade or other treats later.  When later season berries come into season, we’ll probably splurge and pick for jam.

I ended up spending $8.52 on these raspberries.  They were $3.89 per pound, so I ended up with 2.19 pounds.  I was debating cucumbers from the market and Paula was buying some, so we split a basket of them.  I think they were seconds and 10 were $2.  Paula gave me half and told me my money wasn’t any good with her.  Thanks Paula!

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It was a great, hot outing with new friends and I have a feeling we’ll be meeting up with them again soon.

Geauga Family Farms–week 6

CSA 2 Responses »
Jul 192011
 

Today we had another pick up for the Geauga Family Farms CSA.  It’s week 6 already.  The amount of produce has really picked up the last couple of weeks.

Here’s what we received in our family share:

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Let’s take a closer look.

Black cherry tomatoes, cucumber

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Pickling cucumbers, potatoes

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Blueberries, green onions

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Onions, peppers (probably hot!)

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Cabbage, red raspberries

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Lettuce, Swiss chard

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Tomatoes, zucchini

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Yellow squash

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Personally, I’m not much of a tomato fan (unless they are in BBQ sauce, ketchup or pasta sauce), but the black cherry tomatoes were my husband’s favorite last year, so I was happy to see them today.  The pickles we made a couple of weeks back should be ready, so we’ll eat them this week and make some more with today’s share.  I bought some whole wheat lasagna noodles at the beginning of the season.  I think this is the week for veggie lasagna with squash as the highlight.

Some of our raspberries were moldy,  I sorted them and used the good ones in raspberry lemonade this evening.  It’s so refreshing on a hot day like today.  The blueberries probably won’t make it past breakfast in the morning.

I’m going to assume the peppers are hot.  Last year, almost all of the peppers that we received were hot.  I had a tough time using them since my kids and I don’t really like HOT.  For the most part, I ended up chopping and freezing them and then putting them in crockpot recipes like chili a bit at a time.

Have a great week!

Geauga Family Farms CSA–week 5

CSA 2 Responses »
Jul 122011
 

Today was our 5th pick up for the Geauga Family Farms CSA.  I think we have entered the heart of the growing season.  Based on what we received today, it looks like the crops are doing well despite such a wet spring.

Here’s what we received in our family share (not pictured are raspberries):

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Let’s take a closer look.

Red raspberries, green leaf lettuce

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Red leaf lettuce, large onion

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Yellow squash, zucchini

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Tomatoes, broccoli

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Pickling cucumbers, beets

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Green onions, kohlrabi

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Potatoes, sugar snap peas

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Cucumbers

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This looks like a pretty easy week to use everything.  I may freeze the onions, but I suspect everything else will be used as we prepare meals this week.