Local Flavor!
This is the beautiful interior of Seed Savers, but we'll get to that. Please peruse on ...
First: Pinter's.
My parents visited this weekend from Kentucky, and short of driving multiple hours to see things when they've already driven over two days to come up, we checked out the local garden farms, one for pumpkins and hayrides, the other for heirloom events.
The looming, big-sky clouds after a mini exploration and lunch in Waukon.
Pinter's from the front and panorama.
They've got a nice pool. Made sure my boy got to pet the biggest fishie.
Plenty of space for families to play and pick out pumpkins come fall. Even a Halloween maze!
Fun fact!
You're not allowed to enter the general grounds if there isn't an event. What did my mom do, exploring with my boy, when my back was turned to take some of these? Poke around the gift shop? Nope!
To be fair, there were no signs, but she totally broke into a petting zoo. Worth it! She's just a dedicated, fun-loving grandma, and my son was safe, besides.
We were kind of escorted out.
Next day: Seed Savers.
This is the place I've mentioned before that acts like a living vault of heirloom seeds. And you can buy them! Beautiful land, too.
Seriously. Look at those little tags. Each one is a different kind of rutabaga.
A small sample. I'm not even making this up.
Have you ever even heard of that many kinds of radishes!?
Seriously, look at the variety of tomato.
And peppers.
Even corn!
If you have land, you can restore the prairie. Iowa is currently sitting at .01% native flora, so every little bit helps.
The very well-kept interior. Those crazy varieties of seeds are along most of the walls and on several stanchions. They grow almost all of them there and you can try them at tasting festivals!
My boy was up for some exploring, so down we went through the flower garden, where bees are nurtured and thrive.
Hoo, boy, and now some fowl. Ducks, geese, chickens, and turkeys bred for oven-size.
Your bonus drive home and hand-o-God storm clouds west of us after the boy said bye-bye to his grandparents.
Thanks for coming along!
Check out the previous entries for the Driftless Area below!
1. Decorah-La Crosse
2. Decorah-Waukon
3. Decorah-Cresco
4. Lansing-Upper Mississippi
5. Winneshiek County Fair
Iowa Sucks for Vampires (short fiction)
6. RAGBRAI in Waukon
7. Nordicfest in Decorah