Jammin' in the Kitchen: Visit to Suzie's Farm

Hi friends! Hope everybody is doing great :)

Hubby and I took a trip to Suzie's Farm yesterday for their monthly farm tour. We recently signed up for a CSA with them, so I was super excited to visit the farm where our produce will be coming from! How cool is that? I first found out about the farm from my cooking instructor a few months ago, and had been eager to check it out ever since.

Suzie's Farm is USDA-certified organic and run by a fantastic group of people. They plant a huge variety of fruits and veggies, supply over 50 San Diego restaurants with produce, and sell at a gazillion different farmers' markets in San Diego County. The property is less than 5 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, so it was interesting to think how close (yet so far!) we were to Mexico. The story of Suzie's Farm is pretty inspiring (it's named after a dog), so if you have a minute to check it out, please do so - I think you'll enjoy the read :)

We forked over $10 to play in the dirt for an hour and a half, and both came home with a grocery bag each full of organic, local, freshly-picked veggies - awesome! Our tour guide (one of the farm employees) explained what was growing, pointed out interesting facts about different plants, and invited us to munch away to our hearts' content. It was so much fun!

Here's my hubby John picking kale :) He had a blast. Oh, BTW, he's vegan now - that was an interesting surprise a while ago. For health reasons, John decided to give up meat and dairy as an experiment and eat more fruits and veggies. He's been at it for a little over a week and so far is doing great on it! He says his energy levels are constant and he feels good knowing he's taking charge of his health. You can imagine how excited I was when he was all for joining the CSA :) Rock on, honey!

This particular part of the farm is 70+ acres. They plant a majority of it BY HAND, people. If that's not love, I don't know what is :)

We saw so many different veggies that I couldn't remember all their names, especially since so many were new to me. This plant is similar to spinach and the flowers are edible. I forgot to mention we ate a lot of plant flowers on our tour :) That is our tour guide in the background, BTW (her name is Lauren too :) ).

A close up of the veggie I was picking.

This is just a tidbit of all the produce we brought home. I've cooked quite a bit so far to munch on during the week and it has all been delicious!

Here's some kale, broccoli, arugula, and flowers :)

Leafy greens and more kale!

Rainbow chard! How gorgeous is that color?

Fresh herbs! I love fresh herbs!

Beets!

I was on my own for dinner that night, so I made a flatbread pizza with mozzarella, Parmigiano-Reggiano, chicken apple sausage, arugula, and fresh rosemary from the farm. Fabulous!

I have to say, there is nothing like picking a veggie straight off the plant and eating it in the field. It is a really neat experience and showed me how much disconnect we have from our food every day: where it comes from, who grows and preps it, how it affects the environment, etc. The grocery store gives us the final product and it's often not how it really looks when it's grown. To feel the dirt in my hands, the smell of the farm, and taste the incredible flavors of something freshly picked - it's life-changing. I feel so lucky to have access to this great produce year-round and believe it's something every person deserves to have.

If you are in the San Diego area, check out Suzie's Farm: 619-662-1780

Farm tours: email katie@suziesfarm.com

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