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Visiting the Farm - Irvine, CA

After a three-year hiatus I felt inspired to write a new blog entry!  Maybe because it’s Earth Day, or we had a great morning at Tanaka Farm, or because Ian got up with the baby last night and I finally have enough brain energy to write…regardless it looks like I need to update my profile because A LOT has happened since I last posted:


1)  I was hired in the fall of 2012 at the Madison Metropolitan School District as the Garden-Based Education Facilitator which was such amazing work (that continues).  Check out this website to learn more about the GROW Coalition and the outdoor classrooms being built and used in MMSD.  I am really proud of the work that I was a part of with this project - especially the curricula that was written and piloted.

2) We moved to Orange County, CA in the summer of 2014.  Ian is completing a one-year fellowship in Orthopedics Sports Medicine.

3) We welcomed our 3rd daughter on Oct. 5, 2014.  Atalin Conrad (named after the beautiful Santa Catalina Island here off the coast of Southern California) is 6 now months old.  She is such a fun, sweet baby.

We have been living in Irvine, CA for 9 months now and have thoroughly enjoyed the weather, beach, and community.  Although, while I was happy to skip a midwestern winter this year (especially with a baby), I've realized that I missed the changing of the seasons.  After spending 30+ years in the midwest, it must have become part of my core phenology - I measure life through the seasons.  Of course, natives to the OC recognize changes in seasons and appreciate them in a different way than I can.

So, back to the topic at hand - gardening with my girls.  We don't have a yard in Irvine and I've been extremely preoccupied with caring for the kids, so we have not done much gardening in the past year.  But, we have been able to enjoy fresh fruit and veggies all winter.  We have a CSA membership at Tanaka Farms and have visited a number of farmer's markets in an attempt to keep eating healthfully and sustainably.  

Today Caya had a field trip with her kindergarten class to Tanaka Farm to pick strawberries.  A couple of friends and I decided to take our younger kids and do a strawberry tour at the same time (what a great Earth Day activity!).  While it's a pretty contrived farm experience, it was so fun to see how excited Kili was on the hayride, sampling the fresh veggies, and picking/eating the strawberries straight from the field.  It reminded me how important it is for children to understand where our food comes from, how to help them build a relationship with our land and a stewardship ethic, and develop an interest in healthy food.  In my experience with my own kids and with my position at MMSD, kids will try ANYTHING that they have been able to grow themselves, or at least pick themselves.  Happy Earth Day 2015!





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