It is the middle of January, and we are ready to harvest our lemons. Three years ago, we planted six different baby citrus trees: lemon, lime, two type of oranges, tangerine, and grapefruit. This year is our second harvest that we are ready to collect. The difference is this year we have many more lemons than in previous years. Awesome!
The appearance of the fruit is so beautiful and had turned completely yellow, so I told my son that it is time to take out a deep basket to collect our lemons. My son asked me, “Can we leave the fruits on the tree and collect them when we need it?” I had to explain to him that nature works differently than our thinking. And if we kept the lemons on the tree longer, their flavor would turn from sweet to tart, juicy to dry, and they would become flavorless.
So my son ran to the garage, brought a basket, and told me hurry up because he does not want lemons to lose their flavor and waste the time 🙂 He is so funny, right? 🙂 While we were collecting our harvest, Gordon asked me, “Mommy, do you know that there are many various fruits that come from the field? Do you know that people who plant fruits, veggies, and other plants work so hard?” I told my son that it is a different reality for farm workers who work in the field each day. Their job requires much patience and physical strength to be able to work under the sun. It differs from when we go to the farm field to collect vegetables and fruits for fun every year.
So while we were collecting our juicy lemons, my son was speculating on planting, growing, caring, and harvesting citrus trees. I always love observing his interests and listening to his thinking. He found a cracked lemon and was ready to throw it away. But I told him that he should keep this lemon, and we can use it to make a lemon tea or flavored water.
I explained to him how it is important to appreciate the harvest. How it is important not to waste food. Because it takes so much time and effort to grow fruits and vegetables or make delicious food. I also explained to my son that when we waste food, we are wasting so much more than that. We are also wasting all the resources and vitamins that were growing in the particular lemon, for example. So we must appreciate nature and the people who make food. Appreciation comes from our souls, and we must be thankful to have it every single day.
I think it is so important for our kids to learn not to waste but appreciate food. We parents must teach and help our kids to respect the nature and labor of what is done in the field. Because the first knowledge comes from family. This knowledge of respect and appreciation will help our kids build strong values and morals and lead them to become a better generation.