The Egger family is really big in I.B. There is a park named after the Eggers and they own (and used to own) huge tracts of land here. I believe there's even a section of San Diego (down here) that's called the "Egger Highlands". But we weren't here to see the horses...
Directly south of the horse ranch were some open fields...
And across from those fields was this stand:
Although I no longer live in this region of the South Bay, I was never aware of the farms until recently. Darlene from My Burning Kitchen mentioned this place and out of curiosity, Bert and I decided to check it out. The farm stand was run by a very friendly lady named Janelle. In addition to just picked fresh vegetables, they also had fresh eggs, lavender, sprouts, and herbs. All of these vegetables (and even more that probably weren't harvested yet) come from Suzie's Farm, the most southwesterly farm in the U.S., a farm that is right next to suburbia and within a few minutes from the international border of Mexico.
Even though we didn't do a tour this time, it's something we plan to do in the future with TC and her friends. It's $5 for a self-guided tour, or $10 for a guided tour which comes with the added bonus of harvesting vegetables from certain plots.
The farm is about 70 acres and they have so many different kinds of vegetables growing right now such as...
Romanesco and broccoli:
Celery, yellow and red beets, and leeks:
Beautiful carrots (orange and purple):
Close up of the Romanesco . These look so trippy. Can't wait to try ours...
Gorgeous radishes:
Purple kale:
A variety of loose leaf lettuces:
Red leaf lettuce:
Here's my Bryanboy pose with our romanesco! Unfortunately the sign was graffitied a few months ago. The dog is "Suzie" whom the farm is named after.
(The sign "Welcome to Kikitown" will undoubtedly provide many Filipinos with fodder for dirty jokes since "Kiki" is Tagalog slang for the Puh-ssay/Vadge/Va-Jay-Jay. Of course, I'm sure that's not the farmowners intent since "Kiki" is sometimes a nickname or term or endearment.)
To refresh your memory, here's the real Bryanboy's original pose (he's a gay Filipino fashion blogger), which FENDI actually used for one of their ads a few years ago (one that I also did with a loaf of Dudley's Bread during our daytrip to Julian last year)!!!:
(image courtesy of Bryanboy.com - "Fendi: Stop The Fuckin' Presses..."!)
The field on the other side of the road which also belongs to Suzie's Farm:
Janelle helping out some folks who stopped by. She was so nice and really happy to see locals like us come to visit.
Later on, in the car while waiting for Bert and TC, I took some shots of the Romanesco (which I made even wierder at home during the post processing by turning up the contrast to high). Looks like an alien landscape!
Love the purple veins and purple tipped leaves of this kale...
(Yes, that is Echo and the Bunnymen's "Songs to Learn and Sing" in my cd car console)
More o' that kale:
I need to saute the kale tonight as well as roast that romanesco!
You can get produce from Suzie's Farms from various farmers markets around San Diego. Their produce is also used in many of San Diego's restaurants. Or, you can come here to this stand near the Border Field State Park, on Saturn Blvd. It's open only on Saturdays fro 10 am - 2 pm.
Directions:
805 South
Exit right on Palm Avenue
Left on Saturn Blvd
Pass Coronado Ave and keep going
Once you see "Egger Ranch" on the side (it's the horse ranch), you will see the farm stand to your left.
The farm is directly south of the horse ranch.
Official Website of Suzie's Farm
Can't wait to go here to do the tour with the TC and her friends. It should be an interesting experience for the tweens who haven't seen a farm up close and personal. I also like the fact that it's a local farm and it's a community that I know of rather than one that is hundreds of miles away. I like knowing that if we buy their produce, we are also supporting the our local farmers and getting the freshest produce possible.
5 comments:
I love Suzie's Farm produce! I like to get their mixed greens by the pound. All prewashed and ready to go. Sorry, I know you don't like beets but their beets (esp. the golden ones) are soooo good! Did you know Suzie's offer CSA? We loved it when we were getting our weekly boxes. Might have to get back on a plan.
Yellow beets are so pretty! They don't taste that bad either. I think my past experience of canned beets is now behind me. Fresh is so much better! I know they have a CSA but it's a bit pricy for now.
Yeah, the CSA boxes are kind of high unless someone is already buying organic produce at the stores. Then it's pretty comparable.
Ah! Another reason I should head down there. Do you know if tours are only on Saturdays?
hi darlene - self guided tours are every saturday. the guided tours are every 1st saturday (or is it the 2nd? check on their website) at either 10 am or 12 noon. i'd opt for the earlier one so the sun isn't so blazing hot. thanks for letting me know about this place...it's worth a look see.
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