I grew up in the boonies rural Pennsylvania. My grandparents tended a 3-acre garden, and my parents tended one nearly that big. We grew our vegetables, picked our fruits locally, and my mom and Grandma canned it all so that we could eat during the winter.

It’s just how things were for my family.

These days, Joe and I could afford to buy 100% of our produce in the grocery store, imported from all over the world, if we wanted to.

We could, but we don’t want to. We prefer to eat local food, raised by family farmers. It’s healthier, tastier, and better for our earth and our consciences.

For some months, I have been reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. I have really enjoyed it.

In the first chapter of her book, Barbara Kinsolver mentions that many people are totally out of touch with agriculture. She recounts conversations in which adults don’t know that potatoes come from plants, and children believe spaghetti to be a vegetable.

Did you know that peanuts grow under ground?

I find that ignorance astounding. To not know that potatoes come from plants? Really?

My daughter shall not be among the ignorant. She’s already helping in Daddy’s garden – picking rocks, poking seeds into the ground, pulling weeds.

She even has her own big pot of broccoli seedlings to tend. They’re all Grace’s. Joe put the potting soil in for her, but then she spread the seeds (a whole packet!) and has been watering and pulling the weeds from the pot. It’s her broccoli, and she is delighted to see that it’s growing.

She’ll be even more delighted to eat it.

This evening, we stopped by my parents’ house to visit, and found my dad and sister working in their garden. Grace immediately joined in, pulling seeds and poking rocks into the freshly tilled soil. (That’s not a typo.)

I grow ‘cumbers in mah garden!

I grow ‘matos in mah garden!

Like mah nice garden?

Pappy! Help mah garden!

Grace was excited. Nobody bothered to tell her that it’s Pappy’s garden, nor that she was doing more harm than good.

Grace’s Kitchen Friends

Please join in Grace’s Kitchen Friends! To play along, all you have to do is fill out Mr. Linky below. (If Mr. Linky isn’t there, leave your link in the comments.) You can link up any post that talks about kids and food:

• feeding kids
• cooking with kids
• play with food or play kitchens
• crafts with or about food
• and probably a lot of other kids and food things I’ve never considered (like growing food with kids!)

I’m easy like that, Dear Reader. The only thing I ask is that you link back here to Grace’s Kitchen Friends in your post. I can’t wait to see what your kids are doing!

Click the image below to add your link.