Tag Archive for: SIngh Farms

I love the shade.  There is nothing quite so refreshing as a large shade tree in order to be able to escape the sun on a warm day.  Well, guess what?  Vegetables enjoy some shade as well when temperatures start to rise in May in the desert.

I was fortunate to spend Saturday at a wonderful organic vegetable farm that is covered in a canopy of large shade trees.  My brother-in-law (Farmer Dad from Double S Farms) told me about it two weeks ago and I knew that was where I wanted to go for Mother’s Day.

large shade tree

Now, this farm is located right by a freeway that I have driven on countless times.  It is actually located on the edge of an Indian reservation.  You would never know that it existed – their existence is spread solely by word of mouth.  They do not advertise and don’t even have a website.  They provide produce to farmer’s markets as well as local restaurants. 

large shade tree

And so our day began.  I was anxious to explore this farm with my husband and kids.  To be honest, I can’t think of a nicer way to spend Mother’s Day then going somewhere new with my family.

large shade tree

One of my first glimpses into the farm revealed numerous vegetables growing underneath large Mesquite and Palo Verde trees.  I could hardly wait to get started, but first, my kids had to explore the outside of the store.

my son

This is my son, Kai who loves to explore and is always running ahead to see what is yet to be discovered.

Such as a swing….

large shade tree

My three youngest children, Ruthie, Gracie & Kai.  We are particularly enjoying time spent outdoors where Kai can be active since he will be having another surgery later this month which will leave him wheelchair bound for a couple of months.

large shade tree

The trail beckoned us onwards. 

Now, like most boys, Kai loves to run ahead of us wherever we go.  It is sometimes a chore to keep him close by.  But here, he was free to explore on up ahead of us.  As we caught up to him, we found him exiting an Indian tepee.  

large shade tree

Even though the temperatures were quite warm, it was very comfortable throughout the farm because most of it was covered in shade.

large shade tree

Tomato plants were flourishing underneath this Mesquite tree.

Then we came upon a group of perennials growing.  I didn’t tell my daughter, Ruthie what it was but told her to rub the leaves between her fingers and then to smell them. 

large shade tree

She was quite surprised to find out that mint comes from a plant.  You know, I just love how much kids can learn from visiting a farm.

Now, I have no idea what these plants are…..can someone enlighten me?

vegetables and herbs

Although we saw many types of vegetables and herbs being grown, there were some unusual things that we came across.

For example, three Mariachi singers were performing in the middle of the garden….

large shade tree

 This scarecrow would have scared my daughter, Gracie, but luckily she did not see it.

large shade tree

An open area by the store boasted an adobe oven.

large shade tree

There was even a place for Gracie to have a talk with her dad under the shade of the trees.

large shade tree

As we neared the end of our visit, we noticed something lurking 

outside of the chicken coop…

beautiful peacock

It was a beautiful peacock, furtively sneaking about.  As we got closer, we saw the reason why….

beautiful peacock

This pretty female peacock was inside of the chicken coop and he was stuck outside 😉

On our way back to the entrance, we walked by some huge cabbage.

large shade tree

And beautiful Artichokes…

Made In The Shade....

At the end, we finished off our visit at the little store.  I was surprised when I walked inside to discover that the floor was dirt.

available for sale

Vegetables and herbs of all sorts were available for sale.

available for sale
available for sale
available for sale

But I think the favorite part was the free bread and butter samples that my kids enjoyed.

available for sale

In addition to the little store, there were also some plants available for sale along with fish fertilizer.

available for sale

One of the most popular things about this farm, is their compost.  You can come and get compost in a burlap bag for $16 or a load in the back of your truck for $40.  I will definitely be getting my compost from them in the future.

compost

I had an absolutely wonderful Mother’s Day on Saturday at the farm.

wonderful Mother's Day

 Me and my kids.   Rachele, me, my son-in-law Jeff, Brittney Gracie, Kai and Ruthie.

I hope you all had a great Mother’s Day.

**For those of you who would like to visit Singh Farms.  They are located on the northeast corner of Thomas Rd. and the 101 Freeway in Scottsdale.  They are open only on Saturday mornings from 8:00 to 1:00.

It is a wonderful place to visit.