Our trip to the Ananda Marga Organic Peach Farm

Stay up to date on the latest posts. Subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

On Sunday, the hub Baby C and I drove out to the Ananda Marga Organic Farm in Lake Hughes, Ca. Which is not a far drive from our home whatsoever! The Ananda Marga Organic Farm was part of our local farmer’s market. Last weekend was the final market until next June.

I really liked the opportunity of having fresh locally grown produce at my disposal on Saturday mornings. This was the first year our town did anything like this and I thought it was successful. It was nice chatting with the farmer’s and their wives and getting to know the person who is growing the very food on your plate. It’s actually quite interesting to have a conversation with some of farmers. Especially, the ones who are growing their produce organically.

I’m sad the market was over but happy  I was able to meet and greet the local farmers each Saturday! After doing my normal chitchatting I found out the Ananda Marga Farm is open year round to visitors. I had no idea! Finding this out made my entire year. I’ve known about the farm for quite some time but did not know you could buy produce from them directly. I thought you had to be part of the CSA.

Which was definitely one of our goals this year- to get on board with Community Supported Agriculture through Abundant Harvest Organics. I’m still working on it though and visiting the Ananda Marga Farm has given me some inspiration to get something started ASAP. I haven’t really found anyone receptive enough to take on half of the load with us- but still working to find others interested in sharing a box. Keep your fingers crossed for us because it’s the next best thing to growing your own!

Read more

Organic Cherries Glee =)

On Sunday, my sister’s family and I went to Leona Valley (neighboring mountain town) to pick cherries. It’s a yearly tradition and has been since we were young. Ahh, memories. I love going fruit picking. So much fun is had by all. It makes me so happy to pass this tradition onto my son’s.

This year we’d gone to our usual cherry orchards and both were closed. On the way in we saw a sign for organic cherries so we backtracked a little and headed to Leona Valley Organics cherry orchard. It was our destiny!

The cherries were so juicy and sweet we couldn’t stop popping them into our mouth as we picked. They were Bing and Rainier variety. The best part was the organic factor. No need to worry about nasty chemicals entering our system. I remember just last summer in Chico watching the crop dusters hover over the fields. I was in complete shock at how low they were and how white everything was. It was scary white. Nothing was going to survive that dusting. We were driving along the road as the airplane went back and forth across the field. For miles all you could see was white. YUCK.

This is not the case at all (crop dusting), when you’re considering an organic farmer. I had the opportunity to speak with the owners and they were very excited to talk to us about what it takes to be an organic orchard. It is their first season open and we we’re all very impressed. I’m definitely planning on returning with my husband and the kiddo’s. I was thrilled to take home a brown bag full of organic cherries and some buckwheat honey. What impressed us most about the owner was his dedication to organic farming while stressing the importance it was for his children. He recognized that being able to freely pick off a fruit tree without the worry of chemicals was key to producing a delicious yield and keeping your kids safe from toxic substances.

I’m planning to go back and interview the family for a local post in the paper! Green local businesses ROCK! We don’t have many so I get gitty when sustainable practices are being well, practiced!!!

Picking fruits or veggies is a rite of passage during the summer, no? Go outside and be with nature and your loved ones. We were filled with cherry glee!