close to the land

I want my children to live close to the land. I want them to know that blueberries come from a bush first, then the store. I want them to be able to taste the difference between berries they picked and washed and baked with and the ones in the little plastic boxes. I want them to know that horses or "nay-nay's," as they are also known in our home, eat hay, but love apples and carrots.

I still want them to love bananas, too. But I don't want bananas to cost $4 a pound because we've used up most of our fossil fuels without developing an alternative fuel source. I'm not buying bananas right now. They ripen in 20 minutes and are almost rotten within a day of purchase in this heat. But more importantly, wonderful things are in season here. "MMmmmhhmmm, I love baby squash." "Let's go to the farmers' market." "When do we get to go to our farm, again?"

My children don't know McDonald's--well, that's not exactly true. They only know it as an alternative to Dairy Queen when ice cream is a need. When we say we are going out to dinner, they immediately announce "Let's go to Glockenspiel. I want a fruit and cheese plate." They get a couple of french fries, too, and we get some awesome, perfectly poured beers.