For a while now, I've wanted to buy more of my fruits and vegetables at the farmer's market. I miss the quality of fresh produce my family got when I was growing up. My mom used to buy tomatoes and cucumbers from a roadside stand on the way home. Grocery stores just can't offer that kind of freshness.

I've also wanted to make more of my food. For instance, I love making bread (I don't really care for cleaning up the mess I make) and I love the taste of homemade bread. It has more flavor than what I buy at the store, it's much cheaper than what I buy at the store and I know exactly what went into it. I want to try making my own yogurt. I want to make up "convenience" meals that aren't full of additives, preservatives, fillers and other things that I don't even know what they are.

Basically, I want more control over my food and I want to have fun with my food. I want to enjoy sitting down to a meal that looks good and tastes good and is good for me.

This summer, I'm planting a garden on my deck. I'm hoping to have tomatoes, carrots, spinach, peas, cucumbers, squash and maybe even blueberries. If it goes well, I hope to expand next year to the weedy bit of waste ground beside my apartment. I'm going to grow some herbs in my sunny kitchen window. What I can't grow, I plan to buy at the farmer's market.

I hope to do some preserving at the end of the summer, freezing fruits and veggies so that I can enjoy them during the winter as well.

As a culture, we tend to think everything should be available to us at any time. With that availability and convenience, I think we've lost somethings. We've lost some of our connection to the earth. We've lost some of our connection to the seasons. And, I think we've lost some of our joy about food. If something is available at any time, then there is nothing to make it special. Imagine waiting impatiently for that first taste of asparagus that year or the first tomato.

Speaking of asparagus, my first farmer's market meal: Sapporo Ichiban ramen with fried egg, carrots and sauteed asparagus. For dessert, fresh strawberries and vanilla ice cream.

YUM!