You just have to tap the right vein to find gold and the best place to go mining is, of course, Emily and Lara Asplund. They get credit for my new favorite field trip. Little did I know that there is a magic egg house right in West Provo where you can step into an 1890's farm house, leave a little money in jar and help yourself to colorful organic eggs. (They also have an assortment of honey, homemade candles and the like.) It is the perfect place to take kids and grandmas to go time traveling back through a bygone time of Utah County. There is something heart-thumping about opening a stranger's door without knocking -- even if a sign says to do so.
"Are you sure we can just walk in?"
After letting yourself in through the front door, wander back to find "The Clifford Family Farm Store: The chickens determine the size of the eggs." Being surrounded by twelve inch wood molding and little willow chairs makes you feel the perspective of stepping into someones storybook. Even the light coming through vine covered glass coats the most precocious child in an aura of virtue. Put it all together and it is marketing genius. I dropped $3.00 on a dozen eggs and didn't miss the sample ladies from Costco.
I can only imagine my kid's great grandmas, all of which grew up on farms just like this one in Provo, Kanab and southern Alberta. What would they think? I can see them gathered together -- peeking over a dusty Utah sunbeam -- watching me from heaven with my dusty little sunbeams. (By now grandmas Favorite and Ina are great gal pals.) I know just what they are whispering to each other.
"Ina, look at that girl. She just plunked down THREE WHOLE DOLLARS on a dozen speckled, miss-matched, pathetic eggs with out even checking to see if they were cracked!?!"
"Oh, Fay. You and I know both know it's not the eggs that's cracked." (twinkle, twinkle)
... and, ladies, I'd do it again.
If you want to give your agricultural ancestors (who may have past on to that great hen house in the sky) a good laugh too -- drop by Clifford Family Farm at 1461 N 2100 W in Provo. Look for the "FRESH EGGS" sign on the west side of the street, right where the Grandview Hill road turns sharply to the north.
8 comments:
OH! BEAUTIFUL POST. Is your grandma really named "Favorite"? Julie Clifford is the provider of the organic grains we feed our fine feathered flock.
Thanks, Raquel. Her name was Mary-Favorite. I think she was named for an aunt named Favorette who must of been the little version of previous Favor. It was a derivation of a name like Charity, Faith or Goody ... as in Good Favor. Grandma always went by "Fay".
wow--beautiful pictures. i will swap you city for country for experiences like this! there is something so healthy about getting food from the source. the farmers market doen't hold a candle to being at the acutal home of a farmer. so cool.
wow, so neat! how fun to find great places like this around Utah. I'm excited for Saturday--but we're not picky about gifts...don't even worry about it. See you soon!
i'm so glad you went and liked it. isn't it cool? and those eggs taste so good.
also, i'm going to name a child good favor; i love that. i want my children to be really puritanical and virtuous and self-righteous.
Brooklyn - OK, OK, I will stop my complaining.
Rissa - What do you get the girl who has everything?
Emily - sounds like just your kind of kid.
Hey--aren't the eggs the most delicious things in the world, and totally worth 3 bucks a dozen? I love, love, love their arugala and spinach, too, but haven't been able to get any lately. Your grandmother dialogue was perfect.
Lara - I didn't even think to ask about other produce. I think we should go together sometime.
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