Funky Polkadot Giraffe: Summer Watermelon Tours at Tanaka Farms

Disclosure: We were hosted by Tanaka Farms with other media for a watermelon tour. All opinions are my own.

If were ever a kindergartner in the Irvine Unified School District, then you've

probably been on one of the fun tours at Tanaka Farms. Even though I've had 2

kids go on kindergarten field trips to Tanaka Farms, I had never been one of the

tours. In fact, I am kicking myself that I don't take better advantage of having

such a great source of fresh produce that is picked daily just down the road from

me. I was really excited when Mary of Let's Play OC arranged a watermelon tour

at Tanaka for other local media.

The kids were really excited to go for a wagon ride and take a tasting tour of the

farm on our watermelon tour. The tours are offered daily at various times,

depending on the day, during July and August. They last about 50 minutes and

they end with taking home your very own watermelon.

I really enjoyed the rural atmosphere at Tanaka Farms. As an Iowa farm girl I

sometimes miss the wide open farm lands living here in Orange County. It was

good for the soul to just look out over the farm as the tractor bumped along and

my kids had an experience that they'd never had before. We had fun listening to

our guide tell us about the land, the different types of crops they grow, why they

rotate crops, and how they use the same products and natural methods as

certified organic farms to keep the pests from eating all the delicious produce

instead of harmful pesticides.

Along the way we stopped and tried some of the delicious produce they grow

on the farm in addition to watermelon. Our tour guide invited all the kids to join

the "Try It All Club" and they all raised their right hands and took an oath to try

it all! And they did! Even my pickiest picky Isabella tried a bite of everything! It

made my heart so happy! My favorite was the sweet corn that you could eat off

of the cob raw! I think the kids liked the corn and the Bugs Bunny-esque

carrots the best. They weren't too sure about the cilantro and the cherry

tomatoes, but they each gave it a good college try.

Our last stop was the watermelon tent where we tried different varieties of
melon. It was so delicious! I can't remember that I watermelon with so much
flavor! And have you ever seen a yellow watermelon? It looked like a giant slice
of pineapple and it was my favorite. And you should have seen knife skills of our
tractor driver! He sliced and diced those melons like nobody's business. I wish
I would have taken a video of how quickly and easily he carved up each melon.

No one left the tent wanting for melon - we were all stuffed! I enjoyed seeing the
kids try a few of the melon varieties for the first time. JT and Isabella liked the
seedless watermelon the best, but I think it was too close to call for Grace as she
devoured each of them with the same veracity.

After we were done stuffing ourselves with watermelon, then we got our very
own watermelons from the field! We didn't actually pick the watermelon. Our
tour guide handed us one that had been harvested that day. But we were out in
the middle of the field and we had to carry it back to the wagon, so I'm saying
that we picked our own watermelon.The kids were very happy and couldn't wait
to get home and have their own watermelon for lunch and to share it with daddy
who wasn't able to come.