Touring An Organic Fruit Farm

Abby picking raspberries to take home from the organic fruit farm.

Weekends many times are for relaxing and doing the things that we cannot do during the week, or have the energy to do.  Yesterday our family went to a fruit farm west of La Crescent, Minnesota.  The family and workers were giving tours of their farm to the public, with a chance for us to also purchase some of their produce.  We walked through varying apple orchards that were very unique.  The owner had strains that varied from present day apple varieties to that of those that went back as far as the 1600s.  This farm was also growing raspberries, apricots, blackberries, grapes, plums and strawberries, all by natural methods.

New apple trees.

When touring through the fruit farm our family learned about how they grew and continue to grow fruit using organic methods.  Everything from pest control to fertilizer was covered.  For instance, the approach they used was very scientific in warding off unwanted insects.  By using the natural smells that certain varieties of insects give off, they were able to trap them and produce crops that were virtually insect free. 

Animals at this farm were also used in controlling the unwanted pests that pervade the rural countryside.  Everything from strains of wild turkeys, chickens, and that of using small pigs were collectively wandering freely around the orchards keeping down the natural pests.  There was a harmonious balance of using what God has given to us to create an environment that produced the bountiful harvests, harvests that most farms today gain by using synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides normally not found in nature. The intake of these chemicals in one-way or another must have untold health consequences for us all.  From drinking water, consuming fish caught in polluted streams, to that of breathing, washing, and just living in an environment that poses more and more of a threat to our health each day.  

Farmers recycling.

Adam and Eve, and their offspring (you and me) were given the work, by God, of providing for the care of the world that he created for us.  I believe that we can help improve our world by buying from organic farmers that sell their produce either in a Community Supported Agriculture groups (CSA), or at a Farmer’s Market.  

There are so many positive changes that we have experienced by using our local CSA.  As a family, we have changed our eating habits by consuming less meat, and budgeting more for food and a little less for entertainment.  We have also found that by canning our own fruits and vegetables, we have spent less on store bought canned foods, which have added preservatives that can be an added health risk.  This in turn has balanced out the expense of having organic produce.  Over all, we do spend less for food, and enjoy the organic produce that is raised locally. 

You can go online and do searches for CSAs in your area and/or Farmers Markets that raise organic produce and range free animals.  Start today and see the positive changes in the health of your family.  It also feels so pleasing to be supportive of those individuals who raise these healthy foods.    

Passing By

Will and Abby call him Jack, he and his family visit our feeders everyday.

Summers are always very busy here in Minnesota.  We spend a lot of time enjoying the outside by gardening, walking, hiking, riding and swimming.  In talking to my father-in-law yesterday, who teaches college level students, he spoke of having two pupils from California.  They had told their friends that when living in Minnesota, “One only enjoys three weeks of summer and then the cold weather sets in.”  I chuckled when hearing that.  That of course was an exaggeration, we usually have about 3 good months of summer and then cooler weather starts to arrive.  I imagine coming from southern California where the weather is nice throughout the year, that it must seem like we do have very short summers though. 

Monarch visiting Anne's hydrangea.

In comparison, one enjoys the short season of warmth here in Minnesota, because we have less of it than warmer climates further south.  More people here get outside during the warm summer months than any other time of the year.  They do not take for granted this limited summer season.  

How much more do those with health issues place greater value on what many of us have taken for granted?  Being able to walk, hear or see, knowing that one day soon this ability will disappear for them.  They have learned to place value on what will soon be lost.  Where is your walk today?  Are you taking for granted what has been given to you by God?  Are you passing by and missing out in life?

God has given us a limited life here on earth; we must then use this time to enjoy what he has imparted to each of us.  Do not waste the gifts that are around you, we have only to ask him to open our eyes to the beauty that is so easily missed.  Don’t wait until these things are fast fading from sight to enjoy them.  God will show you what has value, if you ask of him.  

Measure of a Man

God's beauty encompasses frailty with a purpose.

When walking this morning I enjoyed a magnificent sunrise.  The geese were calling to those in the water nearby, and all of nature seemed to be at peace with itself.  As I walked, my thoughts went to that of a life of a man.  How does one measure one's life, whether it was fulfilling or not? The thought came to me that a man cannot measured by how much knowledge he has accrued, it must be gauged by the knowledge he has applied to his life.  I have met many men who were very knowledgeable, but possessed little wisdom. God's word speaks very highly of those seeking wisdom.   James 1:5&6 / James 3:17

To the world it is foolishness, but to the godly, from weakness comes strength.