Underwood Farms

Farm to Table

Three of my favorite things: Fresh air. Fresh berries. Fresh Flowers. I visited Underwood Farms in Moorpark at the end of August and it was such a lovely experience. I haven’t gone berry picking since I was a little girl and I remember being scared of the bees. Now, all grown up, I’m still scared of bees but that didn’t keep me from diving into the fields to pick berries and vegetables. Wandering through the fields I quickly realized, I have never seen what the plants look like that grow the produce I see in the supermarket. Leafy vines taller than I am with thick stems that weave through the sky, it was like heaven on earth and a much needed escape from the lulls of being at home.

The pictures below are some of the highlights from my visit. I picked and harvested: carrots, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, raspberries, blackberries, string beans, and passion fruit. Since strawberries were not in season at the farm, I ended up buying some at the local market stand. Everything else I show in the photos I picked myself!

Sandwiched in between aisles of vines and foliage, I looked high and low for the ripest raspberries. A lot of the vines were already picked over, so the only berries left were still green and not ripe enough for picking. I gathered as much as I could then headed over to the blackberry patch. There were a lot more blackberries growing on the vines but the berries were not quite ripe enough to pick. With the berries that I gathered, I’m thinking of attempting to make some fresh jam.

My favorite vegetable that I picked was carrots. They make a slight popping sound when you pull them out from the ground and they have the most beautiful stems that you never see in the supermarkets. I’ve been trying to grow carrots of my own in a pot but they’re just taking so long to sprout, so I was thrilled to pick some at the farm.

Some freshly prepared veggies! Picking my own produce definitely gave me a greater appreciation for the produce we eat and how long it takes to gather it. One day, I’d love to grow a garden with seasonal produce but I know it’s going to require a lot of patience and skill. My sad assortment of veggie plants tells me that I’m not quite ready for that just yet.

xx

Ella Kol