While we are happy with our city life here in LA, there are many days I fantasize about living somewhere where there are more trees, more green, more land for my children to roam, and I especially dream about having a garden of my own. Someday. I don’t think I’m ready to pack it all up and move to the mountains just yet. At this point I’ll settle for a simple backyard. But I hope to find a balance somewhere that will allow for a little of all of it: the cultural experiences a city has to offer, while also being able to feel slightly removed and to see trees through my kitchen window instead of the backs of my neighbors as they eat their dinner. In the meantime, I (we) take what we can with our trips to various farms and gardens to get our hands a little dirty and for the boys to keep learning where their food comes from.
This garden we visited in Malibu last weekend has been cultivating chemical-free fruits and vegetables for over 50 years, and is the oldest continuously running organic market stand in California. They describe themselves, “As an intentional vital link between the chemical-free family farms of generations past (before the advent of agri-business) and the development of socially-responsible and issue-aware extended family vital farms of today. We have no equal. We of Vital Zuman consider ourselves to be the most fortunate of the fortunate.” And how fortunate we are to live in a place where there are still people who value the tradition of family, healthy eating, and taking care of the earth.
