Hooray, April finally ushers in the spring, we’ve all been waiting for. Off goes my winter boots and packing up my sweaters and wools for storage gives me great pleasure. All of a sudden the family worktable a.k.a the kitchen table is filled with paints and glitter to paint Easter eggs. My kids and I clumsily dunk our eggs in boiling water filled with bright pastel dyes.

Each year, we come up with a theme that resonates from their activities and interests. Funny words, vacation places, favorite foods, their favorite music and of course, their names written in their current handwriting style adorn their Easter eggs. I like to take my children to our local farmer’s market to search for the best eggs to paint and to see what else we can find to fill our baskets.

We love to arrive at the market right before it opens. My kids love to hear the horn as it signals the farmers to open for business. The trucks are lined up, the stalls and tables are well stocked with beautiful ripe seasonal produce. I realized how privileged I am that I can purchase produce picked 24 to 48 hours prior to coming to market. There is a difference in feel and taste to fruits and vegetables that stay on the vine, ripening and sweetening to their fullest. Children notice this difference immediately. They have a keen sense of what is fresh or not. Once you gotten accustomed to eating fresh picked produce it is very hard to go back to the supermarket. Taking your kids to a farmer’s market is the start of educating them about where food comes from and how it is grown. Letting our sophisticated urban children smell the dirt still on the vegetables and happily take a fresh piece of fruit from a farmer’s hand can make a profound impression.