This is how food gets to your plate.

Kelly texts me that we have cucumbers ready. She discovered them while checking for cucumber beetles. I text Clayton at The Grey Plume. Does he want them? “Yes! Absolutely!” Tonight, we will harvest them, and they will likely be on the menu tomorrow night, less than 24 hours old. Maybe he’ll pickle them instead.

But let me rephrase something. This is how food should get to your plate. Most cucumbers are grown in a heated greenhouse in Canada or Texas or California and shipped to a distribution center before they are shipped to your grocery store. They travel more than you do.

Seasonal eating means that we will have FRESH cucumbers today, not January. But, we can truly enjoy their cucumbery goodness for what they represent. Plants tended by people you can see, nurtured by the rain, and finished by the scorching heat of summer. We can’t expect food like this all year, but it reminds us of our connection to the planet, both immediate and long-term.