An hour at the farm: Aarstiderne

I took my ever inquisitive two year old son up to Aarstiderne's Krogerup farm on Tuesday for a stroll in the sunshine and to get some fresh inspiration for future writing. I realise that toddlers are not always the easiest of company but at the farm he is in his element and as soon the constraints of the car seat were released away we went. I decided to let him lead the way, sometimes the best inspiration comes from a different perspective and I was happy to follow his wandering path taking pictures as I went.

There were lots of school children working when we arrived, busy creating a history with the soil as they worked alongside classmates and helping hands. Tempted by the sound of water at the sinks that were being used for hand washing, the little one and I made our way across the courtyard and into the Garden Kitchen. The first time my family used the Garden Kitchen was for an event that encouraged children to choose their favourite vegetables, collect a handful of bread dough and get to work on the outside tables chopping and prepping. Vegetables cooked on the repurposed steel drum stoves until they were tender and sweetly delicious and ready to be the topping on freshly toasted flatbread. Rustic, delicious and oh such proud faces on the children that cooked them.

There was no cooking that day as the school groups were busy cultivating rather than harvesting and it was great to see and hear their enthusiasm as they worked. As one of us was fascinated by the stone steps leading down to the sinks the other was able to take a wonder and some photographs, I’ll let you decide who was who! Planted around the central washing area are raised beds containing mixed herbs, chives, lemon verbena, lemon grass and many more. My companion was fascinated by a pair of ladybirds that we found resting on a leaf so we watched them for a while before taking a look at some of the long beds that are home to various fruits and vegetables, it’s all very inspiring and accessible.From there to the giant hay piles that just beg small people to climb aboard, actually age is irrelevant when it comes to this kind of fun. We had a rigorous game of ‘tag’ at a brunch hosted earlier in the year with some friends and thanks to CrossFit and a heavy training schedule I leapt like an ( admittedly older) gazelle across the bales remembering what it feels like to be a child. This time one of us jumped repeatedly whilst the other counted to three, again I’ll let you decide who.

Before we left we stuck our heads into the farm kiosk to see what we could have for dinner and left with enough vegetables for some topped flatbreads later that day. Although it is not staffed, the kiosk is open all day and once you have chosen your goods you place payment in the honesty box so it is a perfect one stop veg shop.

A very satisfying hour or so spent wondering, exploring and enjoying the farm. If you have more time than we did that day is it possible to go further and take in a tour of the wood and surrounding fields which are often home to the farm machinery that excites children old and young. I left with lots of inspiration and pictures to accompany but I thought this week I would start at the beginning and a walk through the space that gave them to me, after all the roots are where it all begins.

Strawberry Picking

Driving along Roskildevej we kept our eyes firmly on the horizon, each of us wishing to be the first to see the large red and white tent we knew to expect announcing that strawberries were ripe for picking. We were not disappointed as there on our left was indeed a large red and white circus tent and an obligatory sign decorated, should we be in any further doubt, with a rather large strawberry.
Having been forewarned to bring them, we gathered our ramshackle collection of bowls and headed to the tent to have them weighed. I rather felt that the children might also need weighing sure as I was that they would consume ripe fistfuls of glinting strawberry's as they worked. In fact the staff were happy just to weigh the bowls and we were given instructions as to where to find 'our' field.
We drove very happily through the tall wheat fields, our car almost consumed by the tall grains dancing in the warm winds and parked next to our allocated lanes. The children very happily shot out of the car and began their morning's work slathered with factor 30 in the hot sun. To be honest we did have to look for the strawberries and I am not sure whether it is because we were using a field that had already shared much of its fruit or because the fruit was smaller then we were used to from the UK.
Very quickly though our bowls began to fill with red jewels and our pink stained fingers smelled so fragrantly delicious that it was hard to resist the overwhelming urge to try our treasure. We all discreetly tested the produce som with more subtefuge than others maybe! To quote my 8 year old "I just never want to eat a shop strawberry again, these are just so, so delicious and taste of strawberry and they are warm and I just love them", he is right they were some of the most delicious strawberry's I have ever eaten. Can you remember the strawberries of a thousand yesterdays, the ones that did indeed taste of 'strawberry' without disappointing? These were they, small maybe but so delicious.

When we had gathered enough for our needs I woke the sleeping toddler and introduced him to this new experience. His face told me that actually he had awoken in a place invented by Roald Dahl, with bushes waist high brimming with edible pleasure free for the taking with his fat little hands. With a little encouragement he took a fruit and placed it in his mouth. We watched his expression as the warm sweet fruit exploded in his mouth simultaneously reaching for a second in order to prolong the experience. Reluctantly I returned the children to the car and we left our field behind in the rear view mirror, journeying once again back through the fields of wheat and poppies.

We took our spoils back to the desk to be weighed once more. The farmer also has some tables where you can buy fresh fruit and vegetables picked that day and it all looked completely delicious and inspiring so we gathered some vegetables and added them to our little pile of goodies. Our three bowls of fruit cost us only 70 dkk, a lot less that you would pay in the supermarket and infinitely more tasty.

We  returned home having spent a lovely morning together in a field picking strawberry's and talking about the possibilites of what we could do with our harvest. Their t-shirts can be washed alongside their faces and returned to their clean state again, the memories of the day will remain I hope, for a good while longer.
For more information visit the farm website below.
www.vejborggaard.dk