Last Fall, SMS and I went to Singlethread Farm for a tour. It was a fantastic experience that started with a snack (always a good thing), followed by a tour with some crop picking. I don’t want to brag, but we made our friends’ eight-year old kid so jealous with this adventure. You see, we had stopped by their house afterwards and while we were describing the day, it was pretty clear he was dying to go at some point. I decided then and there to take him at some point. He’s the sweetest, most polite kid. SMS and I have known him since his 2nd birthday party. Strangely, he doesn’t remember us from that rager but he knows us now! He is particularly attached to SMS.
We were on the early side. Ok, we were the first to show. But we were only 15 minutes early! It’s just that last time, they started right on time and I didn’t want to miss anything. We walked around for a bit and with the help of one of the farmers, identified fennel along the path.
The tour started and we walked around, learning a lot about farming methods, crop rotation, planting philosophies, etc. I thought it was super interesting. The now 9-year old said later, “He talked a lot.” Yes, unfortunately, Spring is not the best time for picking produce, which is what he had been hoping to do. He still thought the experience was pretty cool. The highlight was picking the snap peas. These were a favorite snack of the farm dog that walked with the group.
It was either a sick joke or a real “crop,” but we all chowed down on edible flowers. In general, they taste like flowers although one had a real wintergreen note. I suggested that they start wine-pairing farm tours to help identify more botanical flavors in wines. The tour leader’s wife who’s in the wine industry loved that idea. Or she is just really nice.
We ended with delicious onigiri. Between the snacks and the interesting information, I was ok with the lack of vegetables to pick! But maybe we’ll go back in the Fall so our kid friend will have a better experience.
We went to Medlock Ames to pick up wine, which went a little longer than the 2 minutes I had promised. But, SMS and I got to taste “The Flag,” the new, super high-end cabernet so…worth it! Then we grabbed bento boxes at The Taste of Tea in Healdsburg. It is definitely a restaurant worth going back to!
We drove our kid-for-the-day back to his parents house, where we were invited to stay for dinner. We had a great time and feel really lucky to live in such a great area, knowing such awesome people.
Portmanteau Suitcase 