Hi Ho the Dairy-O

...the Farmer in the Dell.
Remember that game Hi Ho Cherry-O? Oh my word, it was one of my all time favorites. I am sure I owe a lot of siblings, cousins, and friends many apologies for incessantly asking to play this game. But I was really good at getting those little cherries in my bucket.

And we're back...

We have been going down the road, literally, about once a week for the past couple of months to a local farm. And I mean local, as in, it doesn't even have a name. So "backyard" that I have tried to introduce myself to our "Farmer in the Dell" and I can't understand what he says when he tells me his name in response...and I've been raised a southern gal, still can't catch it. He probably thinks I am a stalker, always asking his name.

He has all sorts of stuff: corn, beans, melons, okra, tomatoes as big as your head, cucumbers, peppers, squash, zucchini, cantaloupe, potatoes, sunflowers for a quarter a piece. They are open ten in the morning til sundown and you can buy as much or as little as you want.

Just put your money in the jar that is screwed shut and bolted to the table to which Chris commented, "I don't even know how he gets his money out of the jar," when I asked him if he thought we could make change in the bucket.

And if you buy seven bucks worth of stuff and only have a ten, leave the three extra. It's going directly into local economy. It couldn't be more direct than that. Farmer Dell will greatly appreciate it and it will likely be fruitful for you next season. More money = more seeds = more crops. The plenty is bountiful.

These melons were beyond huge... like 42 weeks pregnant huge.

Corn anyone?

Find a Farmer in the Dell and take your kiddos. They will love it, too. And what could be better than feeding your kid fresh goodness grown in the same dirt you walk on everyday?

Noah is especially fond of the cantaloupe...and his daddy.

And get your canning britches on because your kitchen will be covered in garden goodness...that you can enjoy all year. Local and in season. Legit.