Farmer’s Market Adventure

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about free or low cost things I can do with Z. The end-of-summer days are still long and she’s just given up her nap. That means Mama’s gotta fill two more hours of daylight with fun and enriching things to do. Or just things outside of our too-small house.

This week we went to the local farmer’s market which just opened up a few blocks from us. On the way, we played a game I made up called the Five Senses Walk. The game goes like this: As we walk, what do you see? I see a bird on that tree. What do you smell? I smell that lavender plant. It’s sort of like I Spy, but focused on connecting her to the world around her through all of her five senses. The idea was inspired by this cute book, Green Start: The Five Senses [LINK to: book on Amazon] that Z loved as a baby.

Me: “I feel the cool breeze in my hair. What do you feel?”

Z: “I feel hungry.”

Good timing. We arrived at the Farmer’s market to the bounty of summer:

And I told Z she could pick anything she wanted to eat. She picked a pretzel.

I tried again and told her she could pick anything she wanted to eat that came directly from the earth and still had some dirt on it. She picked strawberries. Then she spent the rest of the time flirting with the Avocado Guy. Seriously, the girl has moves. We walked away with two free Haas. Perfect for her famous guacamole [LINK to: worry free].

Once we got home we prepared her lunch for the next school day with the fruits and veggies from the farmer’s market – after, of course, cleaning out her lunchbox with a compostable and naturally-derived cleaning wipe [LINK to wipes]. I wouldn’t want her food going into a lunchbox cleaned with anything that left behind harsh chemical residues or fumes. Or that was so dirty it launched a game of I Smell.

Have you been to the Farmer’s Market this summer? What did you get?