Return to Petaluma Pie Company + a visit to Green String Farm

We had to pass by the local pie shop first before walking back to our hotel...

We were here the previous night to get a dessert pie.

This time, we would be picking up our lunch...

Wild Willow Farm

Last month we accompanied TC to a volunteer opportunity...

It was in the South Bay...

at Wild Willow Farms, which is a small farm near the larger Suzie's Farm. We were interested in this particular opportunity because it involved cooking...

Return to Tom's Farms

Taking the 15 down to San Diego, I knew we would be passing by Corona...

which has Tom's Farms, a good stop for a quick stretch and also a looksee for snacks or a bite to eat...

McGrath Family Farms

A few miles away in neighboring Camarillo was our next stop...

where we made a short stop before our southward trek...

Summer Road Trip 2014 - Day 6: BobaluBerries

Nearly two years later, this post is finally seeing the light of day...

Heading down from Ventura, we made our way south to Oxnard.

There were a ton of strawberry stands and we decided on this one...

Return to the Strawberry Fields

Has it been nearly a year since the fields were in business?

Why yes it has...
 
If you are so inclined, drive your asses over to south Chula Vista for some awesome strawberries while they're still in season!

Suzie's Farm Stand

This past weekend, Bert and I killed some time while TC was in class. We headed south on Saturn Blvd in the neighborhood of Nestor, which borders Imperial Beach. Egger Ranch (seen below) is a horse ranch.

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...

Riverdale Farm...

So, right across Necropolis was Riverdale Farm, which is right in the middle of an urban neighborhood. It's an actual working farm and it's free to the public.

More of the Farm...

Bert took these photos of their barn...

Bales of hay for the cattle...

TC  and J (C's husband) and Chance the dog (pronounced the French way):

The Farm at Night...

This kind of sucks. I posted this a few nights ago and Blogger had some damn problem where you couldn't even log on. Now it's working but there were three Manitoulin posts that became "Drafts" again.

So here goes...

I'm trying to finish up my last Manitoulin Island posts. Here's a few of the cattle at C's farm. Her husband is THE farmer here. They own over 700 acres of land! These photos were taken by Bert who was given a tour of the farm by J (C's husband).

Forgive me for not knowing what type of equipment this is and what it does...



Haha, we three posed on this our last day here. It became one of our holiday photos we put on our Xmas cards. Bert was allowed to "drive" it for about a foot!


equipment

One of their cows...

C, if you're reading this, please ask J the names of the farm equipment and what they do. I'd like to update this post accurately. Thanks!

Foodcrawl with Bert - Strawberry Fields Forever

Because I couldn't resist...

For you music geeks, this is a different version than the one you'd hear on the radio...

After 30+ years of living in the South Bay, not once had we been to the Strawberry Field on 4th and Main. Well, my friends, today would be that lucky day.

Bert in stood in line while I snapped shots of this operation...

We got a pound of berries which cost all of $2!

As you may already know, strawberries are seasonal so we wanted to get these babies while they were still around...

I've always wondered how they protected the fields from poachers at night...

Look at those luscious berries...drool.

This is one of the last few remaining pieces of farmland in south Chula Vista that I know of.


Each berry was vibrantly red! Unlike the horrible ones you get at the stores where it's yellow or green near the cap end. No, each and every single piece of fruit was fragrant and delicious! The difference between eating a farm fresh berry from a store bought one is amazing!

I love my new camera by the way! Thanks to my husband Bert!

Oh yeah man...cradle this.

I'm so glad I fit into my grey skinny jeans again! And they're loose too! I was ready to give them away to a friend last month but ever since I started eating "right" and cut out carbs, bread and sweets from my diet, I've found myself fitting into a lot of my older clothes! So fkg A! A person could be thin but still be "fat" (believe it or not, I had a tiny bit of a gut or love handles or whatever it's called). Except this time, I'm losing the fat through proper diet and exercise. I am definitely not starving myself. I love food too much to give it up!

Here's another "strawberry related" video...this time from the 80's:

Loved Siousxie Sioux's eye makeup! Well, her's was pretty extreme. When I was younger, I used to emulate Joan Jett and Chryssie Hynde's look (eyeliner-wise).

Here's an article I dug up on the different strawberry fields in San Diego. Turns out that this one is owned by the Kusaka family who moved to Chula Vista from Idaho back in 1945. The type of strawberries they sell at this stand are "giant camarosas".
"Picked, Packed, Perfect" (SD Union Tribune, May 28, 2005)

Next time you guys are ever down south in Chula Vista, stop by the fields for some strawberries!