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Learning Laboratory: Farmer’s Market

Carlisle Honey

One of my goals for July (yes, I’m posting this a month late) was to visit a Farmer’s Market! And we did it – with fancy (and very tasty) honey and delicious blueberries to show for it!

Farmer's market blueberries

And a hit-and-run on our car in the parking lot. But I don’t feel like that is anything to complain about, considering we escaped damage from Hurricane Irene this weekend. Our street flooded and trees lost branches, but nothing fell on the house or car, and we never lost power for more than a few minutes at a time. We don’t have a basement to flood. My sister as well as my brother and sister-in-law who live closer to Boston were all fine also.

Reading The Gigantic Turnip at the Farmer's Market

The kids were somewhat confused participants in a reading of The Gigantic Turnip – complete with a very large but not quite gigantic turnip:

A large but not quite gigantic turnip

Not surprisingly, my kids were most excited about the craft: painting pots. Surprisingly, Lily was the only child to NOT get paint on her clothes! Look at that concentration!

Lily paints a pot at the farmer's market

Maybe I need to venture beyond small towns?

learning laboratory at mama smiles

My kids learned about a new vegetable (the turnip), honeycomb (in the honey we purchased), and they got to try a couple of locally made cheeses.

Did you visit a Farmer’s Market this summer? Were you in the path of Hurricane Irene this weekend? Our neighboring states of Vermont and New York were hit hard!



MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.

24 thoughts on “Learning Laboratory: Farmer’s Market”

  1. Look at that concentration on your daughter’s face. Love it. Thank you for the invite to link up, I truly do not think I had seen this meme.

  2. Did the children get involved in the news about the hurricane? I’ve become more selective about sharing such information with my children because it circles in their minds, even if it takes weeks or months to come to the surface. :)

    We buy our eggs and sometimes grains and veggies at our neighbors which are organic farmers (where we watch all the different animals) and there are other farmers everywhere else around here. Plus, Robin’s parents with their apple (etc.) trees offer many learning opportunities for which I am VERY thankful. This spring we were able to experience new life all around with lambs and many other little ones being born so close by. New life!

    1. They didn’t watch the news, but they knew there was a hurricane watch (everyone was asked to stay home on Sunday). They mostly saw it as an adventure, because they haven’t seen the destruction a real hurricane can cause. I agree that you have to be careful about what young children are exposed to.

      Your home sounds wonderful, surrounded by organic farming, nature, and new life! Baby lambs are wonderful!

  3. This week, I went on a playdate with a new friend and realized that she actually STARTED a farmer’s market here, and it is now a huge affair. I was very impressed. We may try to go this weekend. We went last year, but haven’t gone this year. There are quite a few out here, which isn’t surprising, I suppose. :) Glad you stayed safe during the storm.

    1. That is very cool! I hear there are some great farmer’s markets closer to Boston; maybe we’ll try one of those sometime when I’m feeling adventurous!

  4. We love the farmer’s market and go every week (except this past weekend, of course!). Glad to hear that Irene didn’t make too much of an impact. We didn’t lose our power at all, which was great.

    1. So far the local farms have a wider array of produce AND better prices than the markets I’ve tried. Maybe if you live in farm country you should just stick to farm stands?

  5. It didn’t affect us at all, not too surprisingly, but it’s been interesting to watch it all from the middle of the US.
    I understand about posting things late, I actually save draft posts for when I have nothing to post.

    It’s too hot to go outside.

    1. My brother had an internship in Texas this summer, and he baked some gorgeous-looking cookies in his car!

  6. I’m glad you and your family are doing fine and weren’t affected by the hurricane. Yikes about your car! How annoying!

    That pic of Lily is so cute, she has a lot of concentration for being so young!

  7. I am glad that you are not hit hard by Irene. The only serious natural danger here where we live are earthquakes, but even that was recently shared by an embattled East Coast. Love Lily’s picture!

    1. I was very glad we didn’t have any significant damage from Irene! Massachusetts has had quite a summer – tornadoes, an earthquake, and hurricanes! None of which have really affected us, and I’m hoping that doesn’t change anytime soon!

  8. Elisa | blissfulE

    Wait a minute… weren’t you hit by a car the last time you went to a farmer’s market, too? I’m glad you escaped hurricane damage and that you all had such fun learning and doing at the market! Super impressed with Lily’s concentration and not getting paint on her clothing. Wow!

    1. This is actually that same trip – it just took me about a month to post photos! And I guess it’s on my mind since we have yet to get the damage repaired (hopefully this week). I did get hit in a grocery store parking lot a couple years ago, with a different car. That time I had parked in the middle of the lot (where there weren’t any cars around) thinking I didn’t want to risk getting hit. This time it was a crowded lot, but I was parked directly across from three stalls. I guess it’s just my luck!

  9. Glad you made it through the hurricane! I really wanted to get to the farmer’s market, but it’s only on Saturdays and I work that day. I’ve heard rumors that the kindergarten class will be taking a field trip to a local farm market. If so, I’m tagging along!

  10. That honey looks amazing! Sadly, we didn’t visit a farmer’s market this summer. So glad you guys are ok. We got word that our house in CT is ok so we’re happy about that!

  11. That honey looks so good!

    Our power was out for about twelve hours yesterday, but other than a messy yard full of sticks and leaves, we escaped any damage.

    1. It’s some of the best honey I’ve ever tried!

      I’m glad you got your power back, and that your damage wasn’t any worse than sticks and leaves!

  12. Glad you are all well and looks like you’ve been having fun learning! It’s been such a long time since I’ve joined in with Learning Laboratory, we’ve been learning lots but I haven’t been blogging so much. This week I posted about a very mini pond Sunnyboy and Nozy made in the garden. :)

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