If you didn't grow up tending to cows and crops, you likely had to wait for a special field trip, the kind of school visit that coincided with the month your class spent on agriculture, the seasons, and how food grows.
But waiting on such a visit when you're no longer heading to class each day? In a word, it's fruitless.
There are some farms that offer tastings and tours, now and then, but to find a full sweep of informative walk-arounds happening in one region over one day is a very rare and lovely thing, for sure. That rare and lovely thing, though, is headed to Ventura County on the first Saturday in November, when the 5th annual Ventura County Farm Day sprouts, with leafy panache and flavorful to-dos, at over 20 farms throughout the wider area.
It's a choose-your-own-way kind of day, so going over the participant list, and deciding on three or four farms you'd like to visit, is probably key (if you get a super-early start, you could do more, but digging deeper will require longer stays at those properties you do call upon).
Houweling's Tomatoes of Camarillo, Pine Tree Ranch Demonstration Grove of Santa Paula, Earthtrine Farm in Ojai, Rincon Vitova Insectaries, and Alpacas at Windy Hill in Somis are just five of the long list of interesting, animal-filled, fruit-laden, onion-tastic, olive oil-yummy places you can visit on Saturday, Nov. 4.
And did we mention the price to take part? We didn't? Oh, we'll correct that at once. You see, it is...
Totally free, though you may want to bring money in case you choose to buy some produce or olive oil or some other goodies along the path you choose. And if you're around earlier, on Friday night? Hoppity-hop for the Agricultural Museum of Ventura County for a screening of "Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit." A ticket is five dollars.
