• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Dear Sabrina

  • Family
  • Happiness
  • Life in Sweden
  • Beauty
  • Thinking
  • Miscellany
  • About
    • Now
You are here: Home / Beauty / A Morning at Denison Farms (Photos!)

A Morning at Denison Farms (Photos!)

October 31, 2017 By Jodi

Raspberry bushes at Denison FarmsIt’s probably hard to believe that a couple weeks ago, I absconded one morning to a cafe for an hour of blog-planning and latte-sipping, no babies on board. I had more than a dozen ideas for posts I was excited to write—and then life happened, as it always does. Since that glorious hour of alone time, I’ve had no time to sit and write. All the normal life stuff got in the way, as did almost buying a house (!), and receiving all of our stuff from Sweden (far more stressful than anticipated, yet somehow at least half the boxes remain unpacked).

Alas.

But here I am now, stealing a quiet moment while Zoë sleeps.

We joined a local farm’s CSA (community support agriculture) program a couple weeks ago, and I’ve been thrilled with the produce. We get a fantastic box of local fruit and veggies every week along with a sheet of recipes. This is something—local farms and CSAs—that I really looked forward to as we prepared for our move to the Pacific Northwest. Ever since leaving California so many years ago I’ve been longing for the fresh, local produce of the West Coast.

Yesterday Zoë and I went out to Denison Farms to check out where our fruit and veggies come from. We spent a lovely hour wandering the grounds, peeking in greenhouses and enjoying the fresh morning air and views of the mountains. Here are some photos, if you’d like to see.

The boys would have loved the tractors, so it's probably best that I didn't try to bring them along.

Tractors at Denison Farms
There's something about railroad tracks, am I right? When I was a kid, we used to go to the Kalamazoo Nature Center with my grandmother several times every summer. Railroad tracks traversed one of the hikes we would take, and I used to daydream, even as a kid, about carrying a knapsack on a stick and using the tracks as a guide to walk across the country. Railroad crossing at Denison Farms
I bought several pints of these raspberries at the farmers' market last week and took them to the kids as an after-school snack, and then to our weekly neighbor dinner. The kids all went crazy for them (if only we could hand out fresh raspberries instead of packaged candy on Halloween tonight!)Raspberry bush at Denison Farms Strawberries at Denison Farms Strawberries

I found something so captivating about the fallen fruit and vegetables, decomposing on the ground, never to be harvested.
Unharvested red peppers at Denison FarmsGreenhouse and mountain view at Denison

I hadn't realized until this day quite how beautiful fig leaves are.
Back of a fig leaf

How lush is this Swiss chard photo? The ground thick with leaves that won't be harvested, and all that green and purple and yellow and pink? Rainbow chard before harvest Red stalks of chard before harvest

I'm a sucker for orchards. Why are they so beautiful? This was a small persimmon orchard on the edge of the property, and I found it so inviting. Persimmon orchard at Denisom Farms Bird house at Denison Farms

This lettuce! I hope it's in our farm share box this week. Seeing these gorgeous rows reminded me of a salad I ate years ago at a restaurant called Vermont in LA. Green butter lettuce, avocado slices, orange wedges, manchego shavings, and hazelnuts in an orange vinaigrette: it was divine. Funny how walking around a farm can take you back to a meal, a man, an era of life so long past.Red and green butter lettuce heads Red and green butter lettuceA bed of spinach at Denison Farms

Have a fun and yummy Halloween, everyone!

For more pastoral pics, check out these from my in-laws' place in Devon, England, or this old abandoned dock we used to walk by almost every day in Sweden.

All photos by me.

Share this:

  • Email
  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Related

Filed Under: Beauty, Natural Beauty Tagged With: Denison farms, farm, fruit, organic, produce, veggies

Previous Post: « Prefering Privacy: A Story of Infertility and Miscarriage
Next Post: Repatriation: Some Thoughts »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Holli

    November 1, 2017 at 1:40 pm

    Gorgeous photos and what a lovely way to spend a morning!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

About Jodi

I just repatriated from Sweden to the US with my British husband and three young kids. I started this site while living in Sweden to build the conversations and community we've had with loved ones around the world, and to create a space to share thoughts about life, beauty, motherhood, and everything else. read more →

Connect & Follow

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Receive the weekly newsletter

* indicates required
/ ( mm / dd )

Recent Posts

Four Fun Words

December 28, 2016 By Jodi 2 Comments

Definition of vernal

I love words. In high school, my English class was roundly chastised by our teacher for not being intellectually curious enough to look up words we didn't know (while reading Crime and Punishment—I sort of felt getting through that tome was task enough without having to stop every page or two to look up new words!). Since that day,...

Read More

Asking for Simple Support

November 22, 2016 By Jodi 2 Comments

Roofs of Chulmleigh on a cloudy day

I didn't mention that we've taken a quick trip to England. We booked tickets last Wednesday, then flew on Saturday! We're visiting my husbands parents in the county Devon, in the southwest. We head back to Sweden tomorrow. Yesterday we had a pint in a pub in Chulmleigh, the small town near my in-laws' place. I wanted to...

Read More

A Great Thing Sweden Does For New Babies (and Their Families)

March 20, 2017 By Jodi Leave a Comment

Listening to the nurse at baby's first home visit

I remember the first time we went to the pediatrician when August, our first, was born. It was within the first week of leaving the hospital, and it was our first excursion out of the house with the baby. It took us at least thirty minutes to get ready—we had to pack the diaper bag, get...

Read More

Do You Write in Books?

February 10, 2017 By Jodi 6 Comments

Writing in the margins of my favorite books

I love a brand new book. I love the unbroken spine, the sharp corners, the fresh smell. I love knowing that I'm the first person to open the book and turn each page. I remember in high school, when our English teacher would hand out the next reading assignment, I'd always hope to get the best copy. I'd...

Read More

Categories

  • Beauty
  • Family
  • Happiness
  • Life in Sweden
  • Miscellany
  • Thinking

Follow me on Bloglovin'

Follow

Instagram

Footer

About Dear Sabrina

Welcome! Dear Sabrina is a lifestyle blog for the thinking woman (and man, if men read lifestyle blogs). I hope that visiting this site gives you something to think about, makes you laugh, or shows you something new. If you want to further connect, find me on one of networks below or send an email.
Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think. More about me…

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Copyright © 2023 · Jodi Elliott

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.