Craig and Sara Jane Underwood are farmers, but first and foremost they are parents to Suzannah and Megan and grandparents to Laird, 3, and Luke, 7 months. Though both [are]in their late sixties, they are far from retirement. Passionate about continuing their family business and exposing kids of all ages to healthy produce and a healthy lifestyle, they directly connect folks, both inside and outside their family, with the food they consume. It comes as no surprise that "fresh" is the order of the day for the Thanksgiving table.
Some of Mrs. Underwood’s favorite holiday dishes are spinach salad with persimmons, green bean salad with pomegranate seeds, and butternut squash with cranberries, most of which are harvested on Underwood Family Farms. "I like serving these recipes at the holidays or anytime for that matter because they are healthy, beautiful, and festive as well as easy to prepare," she says.
In order to spread the couple's message, Craig Underwood, a fourth-generation farmer, has become a man willing to use nontraditional means, far different from his father’s and grandfather’s conservative school of farming. Underwood Family Farms has not only an animal center geared toward teaching young children, two produce stands in Somis and Moorpark, California, and an annual Fall Harvest Festival, but the husband and wife team transformed the business into a year-round "pick-your-own" destination. Kids and their parents and grandparents can get outright messy in the dirt and learn about the source of the food they eat.
"You can come out and get a feel for the land," says Mr. Underwood. "You can actually harvest the food that you are eating." This is extremely beneficial for young kids, adds Mrs. Underwood. "Kids who come out and pick their own will generally eat what they pick. They become invested in it. But if they go to the store, they may or may not eat their fruits and vegetables," she says.
Growing produce in Southern California gives the Underwoods a more diverse palette of produce then growing in the colder parts of the country. Their autumn produce includes fresh carrots, beets, lettuces, spinach, cilantro, arugula, tomatoes, and peppers. They also carry varieties of gourds, winter squash, pumpkins, and Indian corn.
One of her top choices for beloved fall produce is the pumpkin, and Mrs. Underwood is known as a local pumpkin expert. "We grow all our own pumpkins," she says, everything from Sugar Babies to Big Macs. They have even grown gourds that weigh as much as 400 pounds.
For Mrs. Underwood, the vegetable is a hallmark of the holidays with dishes like pumpkin bread, pumpkin soup or roasted pumpkin. While Luke and Laird are not old enough to help their grandmother in the kitchen, Laird is already expressing an interest in the farm’s fresh fruit and vegetables, such as broccoli, a favorite for its resemblance to little trees.
"Working on the farm," says Mrs. Underwood, who encouraged her children to choose their own paths. "The kids learn their limits, so I hope the boys will spend summers working the land or the farmers' markets, like my daughters did. I’d like to see our farm continue, whether or not it remains a family business. I don’t care what direction the boys take, as long as they are happy with what they are doing."
Continue to the recipes: Green Bean Salad With Pomegranate Seeds, Spinach Salad With Persimmons, and Pumpkin Soup With Ginger
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