Out to the farm

Another "current event" report that's not quite current, but I'm posting anyway because the photos turned out nicely - we went with our friend Jessie out to our friends the Gao family's organic farm last month when they had their twice yearly open house for their customers.


The kids usually get the media attention in our household, so leading off is a photo of Jane and me and Jessie.



...which doesn't mean that the kids weren't entertaining ...





Here are Xander and friends doing dishes. "Rinsing" the dishes in a basket of old rice husks first gets rid of the grease and eliminates the need for extra hot water - important when everything is cooked over wood or charcoal.





At the time (early April) the 油菜 (youcai - rapeseed or canola) were in bloom, so we were surrounded by a sea of yellow blossoms.



Jane got a lot of good pictures of all things blooming - here are a few:





Spring has since started to head full blast into summer around these parts, but I figure that in a lot of places where people are reading this, it's still going on or just getting started. Happy May, everyone!