Well, here we are again, on the verge of summer vacation. I have been fortunate to be privy to the excitement of the summer break with my large crew of young Project Pickle farmers.
Hundreds of them have planted over 1,000 cucumber seedlings over the past couple of weeks and they have been happily munching on greens, peas and carrots on their school farms. They are incredibly excited about the summer break and it has been a lot of fun listening to their plans and sharing stories of summer fun.
But what happened to spring?
As I get older, the seasons seem to meld in a big blur and all I really know is that I am losing a battle with time. I can't really remember winter except that I recall Christmas was in there somewhere. My January Visa bill proved this.
My daughter is off living in Victoria so there is little planning needed anymore to think of activities to keep school-aged children active and busy. If you do have younger children at home, there is also the question of whether to keep the kids occupied or to just let them hang out?
I would suggest that a little of both would be a good compromise.
Our family would always spend a couple of weeks on the Sunshine Coast in the summer but when we were at home there was plenty of opportunity for misadventure by just chilling with the other kids in the hood. As long as you had a decent bike and some change in your jeans, you were good to go.
Popsicles were seven cents and a Ton of Gum was 10 cents, which would leave plenty of dough for things like a bag of peas and a pea shooter (read long fat straw). There were plenty of "corner stores" in range to buy these essentials. The five-cent pea shooter would last most of the summer and the 25-cent bag of peas would be good for a whole day.
Whomever invented this past time was a genius. When you are 10, there is nothing more rewarding than filling your mouth with peas and then blasting them out of the straw at the rate of 60 peas per second at your best friend's head.
Riding bikes while pea shooting was especially challenging, but if you could do it, you would gain the utmost respect from your peers.
After a fun day of doing nothing, when the idea of the Internet was barely a concept, pea shooters and bike riders would be home for dinner. On most nights, dinner in the summertime lasted about 3.5 minutes. When you were allowed to stay out until dark, that meant more fun before bed. Mom and dad said dark, not sunset, so factoring in twilight meant you could get up to no good until 10 or so.
We played a game called 6-60 on our block. It was like a team version of kick the can. There were plenty of awesome hiding spots on the block and we would have 20 or 30 kids of all ages playing almost every night.
A lazy sleep in would prepare us all for another day of summer bliss. I fondly remember and miss those carefree days. Honestly, the best days of my life. Make them your kids' best too.
Mike Schneider is founder of Project Pickle and likes to write about growing, cooking and eating food. He is a Jamie Oliver Food Revolution ambassador.
