Day 11: Magic with Vegetables

Day 11 of "30 Days of Farm Kid Stories"

A disappearing act in our home broadcasts every evening at about 5:30 (or whenever supper is ready.) 

Getting G to eat his vegetables takes magic.  I blame this on the discovery of Skittles.

I prepare food with hidden vegetables:  sweet red peppers diced in meatloaf, spinach thrown in scrambled eggs.   The real magic act occurs when we eat vegetables straight from our plates. 

“See this green bean, G?” I ask in my best Houdini voice while holding the green bean in two fingers.  “It’s a real green bean, and I’m gonna make it disappear.”

And Voila, I throw the green bean in my mouth and say “Mmmmm.”  G copies me and gobbles down a green bean.   (This is the magic part.)

Our farm story today involves vegetables and some equally sneaky hares.  Tops & Bottoms, by Janet Stevens, is a story best read literally from top to bottom (instead of from side to side).    

The author’s characters wear notable clothing. A bee scarf wraps around big Bear’s neck.  A bright blue carrot adorned hat sits on Miss Hare’s head.  Mr. Hare sports a white, collared carrot shirt. 

Clearly the characters wear what they crave.

 If readers could join the story, G would step into the pages in macaroni and cheese PJ’s and ranch dressing glasses. Momma in coffee bean blue jeans and chocolate sweater.  Daddy in a Krispy Kreme jacket.

Ok, back to the veggies.

The landowning farmer Bear in this book is sleepy (perhaps lazy.)  He snoozes awkwardly on a front-porch chair while the hare family works on his fields.

Agreements on crop sharing involve bear getting the top part of a plant and the hares getting the bottom, and vice versa.   Of course the hares know which location on the plants to ask for: bottom parts of the carrot crop, of course.

With delicious, detailed beet, radish and celery illustrations..  I reinforce how “yummy” these vegetables taste while reading to G.   Sneaky of momma?   Perhaps.  

G’s favorite vegetable this summer was corn on the cob.  What’s your favorite?

Lauren


My Library List:

Preview Day: 30 Days of Farm Kid Stories
Day 1: One Moment
Day 2:  Perfect Pizza
Day 3:  Our Heartland
Day 4: Pasta Fistful
Day 5: One Fast Grower
Day 6: Farmer Seuss
Day 7: Just One Cookie?
Day 8:  Frowns Turn into Smiles
Day 9:  BOO-HA
Day 10: Big Red Barn

Our blogging host Holly Spangler writes  “30 Days on a Prairie Farm” this month on her blog: My Generation.  

It’s a group party, of sorts!  Please join fellow bloggers as they tell their agricultural stories:

Beyer Beware: 30 Days, 30 Things You Never Knew About Food
Black Ink: Beef’s a Trip – 30 Days from Gate to Plate
Confessions of a Farm Wife: Life on Our Farm
Go Beyond the Barn: 30 Days of Farm Life Blessings
Kelly McCormick Photography: 30 Days of Thankfulness
Le Jardin da ma Vie: 30 Reasons Why I Love Being a Farmer’s Wife
Pinke Post: 30 Days of North Dakota November
Rural Route 2: 30 Days of the Not-So-Glamorous Life of This Farm Wife