Peter Piper Picked a Peck...

This summer has been truly great so far. As you all know- Hailey is quite the handful and so I try to keep her busy each day with new adventures, learning experiences, books, movies, games, foods, etc. Well one of my favorites recently is picking our own fruits and veggies! We've been to two spectacular farms recently for "pick your own" seasonal produce. The first farm we went to was called Frog Eye Farm. They only have blueberries... but WOW are those blueberries AMAZING! I am not usually a blueberry person. But this farm has converted me. They were so fresh, so sweet, and sometimes tart (which I kinda like!). And they had TONS! It was perfect for Hailey too because the bushes were just her hight! and she could eat what she wanted (they don't spray chemicals on their bushes). We went with my two youngest sisters, Elise and Brooke, and my dear cousin Abbey and her younger sister Allie. It was a blast... but also ridiculously hot! Collectively we picked about 1.5lb in 30min and we were so sweaty we had to call it quits. But it was only $4.50 for for 1.5lbs!!! WOW! Such a good deal!

(Allie, Elise, Brooke, Hailey)

(eating whatever blueberries she can get her hands on!)

nom nom nom

(Hailey and two of her Aunties)

(She pretty much IS a blueberry!)

The second place we went to is called Rock Hill Orchard. And OH MY GOSH! I was AMAZED! THey have pretty much everything you could want in a garden! We picked: strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, tomatoes, okra, eggplant, green bell peppers, and jalapenos! I also picked up a $1 carton of 3 large cucumbers and a $4 carton of 5 nectarines! Then we went to the flower rows and picked a bucket of zennias of all colors for $7.50. All of this was only $20ish (can't remember exactly). What an awesome deal! In a grocery store $20 wouldn't have covered most of that! The fruits alone would have been over $20! Anyway, the farm also had blueberries (not nearly as good looking as Frog Eye Farm's) and tons of herbs to pick! Overall- I HIGHLY recommend this style of grocery shopping! :) It was a great experience and Hailey thoroughly enjoyed drenching herself in berry juices!

(eating all the strawberries I so diligently picked!)

(she loved looking at the huge flowers... they are bigger than her head)

(tired of picking haha)

(the reapings of our labors)

Fruit Salad anyone??

(salsa??)

My beautiful Zennias!

Any good okra or eggplant recipes out there???