Tour de Farm Series #2

Raquel and I continued our farm tours today, visiting another of our San Diego favorites.  I have been buying carrots from this farm for the last few months, they are the torpedo-shaped Nantes-style ones I love.  We arrived just in time to find the workers cleaning and boxing the carrots that will be found at the markets this weekend~

While I love their carrots, the specialty of this farm is the strawberry.  This is the third generation of the farm, so they know what they are doing~

They are picked “late” so that the berries are very red and juicy; no problem selling these; they are picked and boxed and carefully shaded from the sun after they are picked~

Rows and rows of raised-bed strawberries, grown on the black film to keep the dirt off, prevent rot, and grab the heat~

The best strawberries are grown on a slope, like the best grapes; this was an impressive planting; at the bottom of the slope here we have beets and spring onions~

Couldn’t resist a tractor shot, the large wheels are nonetheless thin enough to make it down the rows~

Making our way around the farm, towards the end I spied the real prize of the day; can you see it here, framed by the rear-view mirror?

Perched on a rusted door, a magnificent hawk of some kind; looks like a red tail but it had a brown tail; perhaps a juvenile?~

Our tour guide had never seen it before, and it was not a pet and not tied down; it changed orientation on the door to show it’s wing span and tail nicely~

Looking, looking, intently~

Magnificent creature, and I thrilled to get within a few yards of it~

Soon we were off to the next farm, passing by a sweet little flower & vegetable stand with an honor system (“put the money in the box and leave the basket”) as well as a nifty little sign; this puts me in the mood for summer~

Our second farm tour fell through, so we drove around a bit until we saw a gigantic chicken on a rooftop; S T O P ~~

Turns out it is on top of a guitar store, but next door was a great little restaurant~

The wall décor was eclectic, photos of Bobby Kennedy, Robert Duval; Bob Hope, and…..Bozo?  Oh yeah, it’s Bob Bell….aka Bozo the Clown.  Raquel and I both agreed that this face was actually kinda scary to us as children~

I figured out the theme before Raquel did; Sponge Bob décor, photos of Bobs and Roberts and even London Bobbies fill the walls; what else would you expect at Bobby’s Hideaway?

This one was lost on us; Southpark?  The waitress said some people visit for years before they figure out the walls.

Next week we are going further afield to visit yet another favorite farm.  Lots of other great stuff to show and tell you about before then; this has been a very busy week so sorry, not a lot of posts!