Earthbound Organic Farm started here in Carmel, CA and continues to offer fresh organic produce and flowers.
A brief lesson on 'Organic":
What is Organic?
The USDA's National Organic Program prohibits the use of harmful synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, as well as GMOs (genetically modified organisms) and irradiation (process by which an object is exposed to radiation).
Dirt defines Organic! Organic farming is focused on building healthy soil by building healthy ecosystems in the farms such as cover cropping, crop rotation, composting and planting beneficial insect habitat and host crops.
How do you know what is truly organic?
It has the USDA Organic Seal.
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| The Farm Stand |
We strolled their organic gardens...
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| Map of the farm |
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| Lovely Lavender.. smelled so good! |
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| They had all kinds of berries to pick from all fresh, sweet and delicious! My favorite was the yellow/golden ones. |
I was most impressed with the their Cafe. I had the most delicious panini sandwich and Hannah had two bowls of chicken noodle soup.
Did you know that Earthbound Farm was the first company to successfully launch pre-washed bagged salads for retail sale in 1986?
Their Organic Kitchen is only the 3rd certified organic kitchen in the US serving all handmade foods from all organic salads, soups, bakery treats, smoothies, yogurt and ice cream!
After lunch we had to check out the lighthouse. Since the house was just right across from where we were staying, we had to check it out! It's the oldest 24/7 working lighthouse on the west coast!
Point Pinos Lighthouse celebrates 159 years in operation. It is a continuously operating lighthouse and it's beacon flashing nightly as a guide and warning to ships off the CA coast.
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| Going up the tower.. |
But the highlight of the day was our evening whale watching tour!
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| Traveling on the Sea Wolf II run by Monterey Bay Whale Watch Center |
We were very lucky this weekend because there had been a high influx of anchovies into the Monterey Bay which was attracting a lot of whales to feed on.
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| It was slightly chilly.. Sandy was smart and brought some towels! |
The Monterey Submarine Canyon is close to the shore allowing deep water species of whales, dolphins and seabirds to be near the coast.
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| These are humpback whales that travel in pods of 4-6 mothers with their calves. |
These waters are an extremely productive feeding area for many whales
and dolphins. Plus with the uniqueness of the canyon these beautiful
large creatures can get as close as one mile from the shore.
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| Humpbacks will eat 4,400-5,500 lbs of food a day. |
These humpback whales are 'gulpers', filter feeding as they swim and gulp mouthful of fish as they rise up from the waters.
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| It was so amazing to see them come up out of the water! |
You can see where the pods of whales were. Just follow the seabirds and seals. They know the whales will share their leftovers.
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| Pelicans up above! |
The waters were also abundant with lion mane jellies. Hannah said her and the rest of the kids counted 500 of them at least during our 3 hour trip.
We ended the cold but fruitful trip with an incredible sunset!
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| Heaven's shining through! |
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| Gorgeous! |
LAST ADVENTURE: Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah
6 comments:
Man, the pictures are spectacular. Did you get seasick on the boat ride?
Yes we were thankful that Sandy's camera captured those whale pictures. Matthew's camera battery died! UGH! And he didn't bring a charger. So painful to see those beautiful whales but unable to take their picture! But we got lots of video!
Yes I got slightly seasick going back to shore. It was a very bumpy ride especially in the evening and I only took one Dramamine pill.. next time I'll take the full dose of 2 pills. Hannah gets seasick easily also but she took a children's Dramamine for the first time and was completely fine! Thank you Lord! Can you imagine a nauseous me taking care of a nauseous child? Not a pretty picture!
Good lesson to learn about Whale Watching and the prep before you get on the boat.
so much whale activity for quite some time around here! it is slowing down, though.
I LOVE whale watching. and thanks for the "tour" of the Earthbound Farms. we always drive past it wondering if it's worth it to stop and see if they do tours.
Valerie, we drove through your little seaside town... so quaint and so YOU! (Don't think you will ever leave!)Sorry we couldn't stop and say hi but we were a little bit busy! The Organic farm was nice.. small and you do a self-paced tour and can pick/taste their berries. Their vegetables looked so fresh too. It was a nice day out. The whale watching was a once in a lifetime experience since you never know what you get to see until you're there!
That is very nice blog ! I enjoy it very much.
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