I had originally planned an
outside date for our alphabetical date inspired by the letter O, and we were going to have said date during our visit to the lake this summer. But then we didn't get to go to the lake, so I had to table it until I could figure out a Plan B.
My Mom actually suggested this one to us, and I'm so glad she did! It was creative, different, and not only was it
outside, it was an
open house for an
oil farm. Not like motor oil. SUNFLOWER
oil!
We went this past Saturday, after Ryan got off work to the
Healthy Hoosier Oil Farm, over by Converse. (If you're not from here, that's not too far from Kokomo.)
The people who run the farm have been farming for years and years, but they needed a way to reinvent the use of their land and crops, so they started (three years ago) planting fields of sunflowers and processing their own oil there at the farm. (They also produce canola oil.) They held an open house that featured tours through the sunflower fields, samples of food cooked in their own oils, crafts for kids, and tours of the processing area.
It was a very cool date!
Samples!
Onion rings, among other things. :)
Farm animals. Horses and (as my mother put it for the sake of the date)
oinks. I hope she didn't include me in that part.
Oral exam, perhaps?
Someone had a little fun on the farm equipment...
We sat in on the demonstration of the oil processing. Fascinating to learn how they actually make oil, from start to finish. (Including the crop rotation, bee pollination, and pressing.)
We also went on the riding tour of the fields...and we walked around some in the fields, too. They said peak beauty had come about one week before, but I still thought the fields were awfully pretty!
(Here are the beehives at the farm. The bees work the fields!)
Thanks, Mom, for suggesting such a fun date. If you're from this area, I recommend this next year! (And they said the fields are open for photography if you want to come have a photo shoot!)
(To see the full list of all our alphabetical dates thus far, look
here!)
6 comments:
What fun was that!!
We were in Converse last Saturday but knew nothing about this. Rats! Do you have the address for this place? I looked on their website but did not see it. I hope you will post an announcement next year when the open house is. We can't really count on our local newspaper for an announcement on anything interesting of this sort.
Thank you and your Mom for sharing this awesome idea! Looks very interesting!!
Tamar - It was!
Karen - It's right on SR 18 just west of Converse...kind of across from the little airport. It's on the north side of the road. (It's easy to spot in season because of the sunflower field!) They have a Facebook page: Healthy Hoosier Oil, and they did have an announcement on there that I found after Mom told me about it. So I liked their page in hopes that I can find out in time next year to go again! :)
Shari - She did great, didn't she?
We wanted to go to this, but had other commitments. We've known the family for a long time. So fun to drive past the fields.
I would have loved this! I love field trips and ones where you get to find out interesting things in a beautiful setting are the best!
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