On Friday we had the special treat of going out to Oliver Creek Farm to hang out with my friend Justine, her daughter, Rachael, and the Struckmanns. (You can read all about my first visit with some background and links here!) It was a gorgeous day to be outside!
The last time we visited the garden was still in winter mode, so we were excited to see all that Justine grows!
She had dozens of herbs with a variety of medicinal and nutritional benefits as well as culinary herbs like stevia! I had never tried a fresh stevia leaf before, but boy, was it sweet!
The kids loved picking ripe black raspberries for our lunch! They were SO GOOD warm from the sunshine right off the vines!
Mazen has never been interested in raspberries, but he tried them and loved them!
We also picked lettuce and some herbs for our lunch salads.
The kids were excited to taste the lettuce right from the garden and had some at lunch too.
Then it was time for lunch! YAY!
Justine sautéed garlic scapes and beef from the farm. They offer beef shares in a variety of quantities, including a ground-beef butcher box, and if you’re interested you can get in touch through Facebook! The farm’s beef is 100% grass-fed, and there are no biosolids, herbicides or pesticides on their fields. Justine topped the steaks homemade herb butter! The beef tasted amazing — tender and rich and buttery!
We had lunch on the porch and enjoyed steak salads (everything in them was from the farm!), homemade kombucha, and berries.
For a sweet treat, Justine had made some frozen black raspberry puree from the berries she picked the day before and blended them in the Vita-mix with whole milk yogurt to make little smoothies (“milk shakes”) for the kids.
They were so fresh!
We were rushing to get Sawyer home for his nap, so I didn’t get a girls’ picture, sadly. We had such a lovely time visiting the farm! Follow along on Justine’s Instagram.
Carrie this fit chick says
Oh my gosh, how fun! I wish I could grow my own food- maybe one day! That frozen puree treat looks delicious!
Sam Vander Wielen says
So pretty!! Thanks for sharing!!
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog says
Your outings in nature always make me wish I wasn’t living in the city. I would’ve loved to have a day like that when I was young!
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Justine Platt says
Thank you all for coming to Oliver Creek Farm. We loved it!
https://www.facebook.com/bluebirdcottageva/
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/5094847
Cindy says
Amazing – how did you make the purée?
Justine Platt says
The puree was just black raspberries cooked with a little water and mashed with a potato masher a bit then pushed through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds. I froze them to have it ready to mix in the vita-mix blender with some yogurt to make smoothies. Very easy and so delicious!
Linda @ the Fitty says
Speaking of butter, have you heard of browned butter? It has a nice burnt caramel like flavour 🙂
Faith says
The food looks & sounds fabulous–the steak looks amazing! And to end with those yummy smoothies would be so tasty & refreshing!
We are going to pick strawberries soon, & the kiddos are looking forward to it!