Rakhi took her children to strawberry picking in New Zealand, where she stays. It gave her kids a first-hand experience with fruit and farming. An exclusive for Different Truths.

One summer afternoon, we were eating strawberries. My little one asked my son, “Where do strawberries come from?” My son replied we got it from the supermarket. I jumped into their conversation and told my daughter, strawberries are grown on the farms but we buy from shops. She got bemused by this answer and asked what is a farm?  Who gets the strawberries from there? Sometimes it’s hard to explain to the kids so, I thought to take them to the farms the very next day so they could get an understanding of where strawberries and other food comes from and how farms look alike.

In New Zealand, many strawberry farms allow people to visit and pick the strawberries. We went to one of the farms where the entry fee was $5 per person for above 10 years old and $8 P.Y.O (Pick your own). This was cheaper than the supermarkets where we buy strawberries in gms at higher prices. On farms, people can pick and eat as many strawberries as they can. Sounds interesting. Right? They provide you a basket to collect your strawberries. We took our baskets and headed towards the farm. There were already many people on the farm who were picking the strawberries.

We entered the farm and chose a row to pick strawberries as strawberries grown in rows. It was a hot sunny day. Strawberry plants were low in height so we had to bend down to pick them up. The plants were looking extremely beautiful as filled with dark red strawberries. We almost cover the whole row but were able to pick a few. We moved to another row and start picking the best ones.

We all were tired after going through the big rows. The sun was bright, we were sweating, and because of heat our faces got red, with continuous bending and looking down for so long my back and neck start paining. My son said to me, “Mommy, I am feeling so hot and it’s difficult to pick them.” I told him, “Son look how difficult is to grow plants and look after them. Think about those who do for us so that we could eat. We should respect food. You take no time to say, I don’t like this or don’t want to eat this. We should respect food because it takes months to grow with the help of many people who sweat themselves day and night.” He replied, “Yes, Mom. Now, I can understand how farming is done and farmers and people who do picking in the farms takes so much time and effort. Truly, it’s not easy at all.”

I realised that if we would tell something valuable to kids while we are experiencing something new then they could easily relate and modify their understanding through their experience as we were on the farm and were picking the strawberries. These simple explorations leave a long-lasting impact on their mind. Kids were delighted to see the number of strawberries they collected in their bucket. Our buckets were full so, we headed to the counter. The lady at the counter weighs our strawberries. It was 2.8 kg. “Kids did a great job,” she said. Kids got happy and gave hi-fi to each other. We paid according to the weight.

I wanted to give this experience to my kids to understand how fruits come from and what farms are. What farmers do and how much hard work is there to grow any fruit or vegetables?

In my opinion, kids should visit these places to see the facts and to explore new experiences and understanding which help to expand their knowledge. It connects them to the real world These places give them a unique experience to share.

Photos by the author and visual by Different Truths

Rakhi S. Jalota

Rakhi S. Jalota likes to write poems, quotes, and short stories based on life experiences. She reads anything that catches her eye and interest. She lives in a beautiful country New Zealand. She has more than a decade of experience in the education sector. Her passion is to bake cakes and dance in her free time. Being a fun-loving person, she loves to capture the moments on her camera.

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