Family Day at the Famers Market
A fun-filled, family field trip for this time of year is the farmers market. A bountiful harvest of raspberries, tomatoes, zucchini, and green beans, among other homegrown delicacies, is a delight for the senses. Roaming the stalls in the warm autumn sunshine, filling a basket with jars of honey, and munching on just picked apples are fabulous ways to usher in the new season.
Make it a family adventure. Not only can children take part in choosing what’s for dinner, they can meet the farmers who actually grow the food they eat. This is particularly good for kids who don’t have a backyard vegetable patch or access to a city garden.
Here are a few suggestions to make the trip enjoyable for you and your children.
• Make a plan. What vegetables, fruits or flowers do you want to grow? How much space is needed? Where can you build a trellis for plants (morning glories, peas, beans, mini pumpkins, cucumbers)? Encourage your children to draw a garden plant. If you’re creating a container garden, follow the same principle. A pot for a mini salsa garden with a tomato, pepper, and cilantro plant can be just as much fun to tend as a large garden…and less weeding!
• Before you leave home, check the weather. Toss an umbrella in your bag just in case. Pull up the website to get directions and hours of operation. Special events are often listed too.
• Give kids a few dollars to spend and a basket or bag to carry their purchases.
• Encourage youngsters to pick out fruits or vegetables that are not familiar. Kohlrabi or parsnips might just end up being a favorite!
• Point out how wonderful God is to have created such a wide variety of food to eat.
• With little ones, identify colors and shapes. Count tomatoes on the vine. Older kids can manage their money, calculating the price, and paying for their purchase.
Grab a basket, load up the kids, and head out on your gardening adventure. It’s a great way to spend a spring afternoon!
Then God said,
“Let the land produce vegetation:
seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so.
The land produced vegetation:
plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit
with seed in it according to their kinds.
And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:11-12
© 2019 Becky Danielson. All rights reserved.
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