Ayo realized that a trip through Idaho would be woefully incomplete without visiting a potato farm. Some quick googling put us in touch with Wendy from Swore Farms.
Two days later, we pulled into the family’s driveway and parked our RV next to a tractor and some other equipment that looked like it could eat Arvie for breakfast. Wendy greeted us and showed us around the land, rapidly taking two city folks from zero-to-sixty in agriculture knowledge. Okay, maybe zero-to-ten but it’s something!
Ayo and Wendy tasting wheat
Massive farm machinery. This one is used for destroying apartment buildings. Or something.
Here are two interesting things that we learned:
1) Swore Farms’ corn maze is planted with feed corn while their corn field is planted with sweet corn. Wendy told us that the cost of sweet corn seed is tens of times greater than feed corn seed.
2) Something pretty wild and decidedly not big-city: For a few months of the year, Swore Farms’ warehouse stand is unattended. They put out the fruits and veggies, a price list and a scale and buyers are asked to tally their bill and place their payment in a bucket!
We left Swore with a massive zucchini (a gift!), two-dozen eggs from their backyard chickens, and a much greater appreciation of family farming.
An added bonus: they had a trampoline! Go visit!
Ayo having fun on the Swore Farms trampoline
posted by yair
So awesome! Both the leave your own payment and trampoline! Sooo… seems like you guys are making your way east towards….Minnesota?
Southward, actually. We’re in Santa Fe now. (Cool city!)
The honour system fruit/vegetable stand is something you see a fair amount in BC, Canada. I’ve heard that the majority of people who have them, have no problems collecting money. It renews my faith in humanity every time I hear of one =)
This looks amazing! We are thinking of adding in Idaho as we have a few days to spare, so I’ll have to see if this would work out for us to visit!
It was tough driving through the Midwest and seeing so many corn crops completely dead from the drought. Once we reached South Dakota, it seems like the rain had picked up to keep their crops alive.