Gardening is fun. Not everyone has the chance to do it. Not everyone wants to do it.

I'm not going to sneer at you. I've never done a farm vacation myself (I have a garden), but it sounds like fun. But leisurely vacations are fun, too.

I'm unclear why you want to write a whole post saying you don't like the other kind of vacation. It's a bit goofy.

Kind of reminds me of the movie City Slickers. Different activity, but same principle.

In a similar vein, many orchards allow people to come in and pick their own fruit. You pay an entrance fee, and pay by the pound for what you take home. It doesn't make economic sense, since you can usually get the same fruit for less per pound at the supermarket. But it's fun. My wife and I have gone cherry-picking almost every year we've been together.

I'm wondering why anyone thinks the people in the south of France are any better than, say, Georgians.

It might be the same ridiculous snobbery that insists Democrats are poorer than Republicans, or that Mainers or New Yorkers don't marry their sisters as often as Alabamans.

Allstede farms in NJ allows this kind of fruit and vegetable picking. It may be boring for adults, but its a lot of fun for kids. Plus it is not really as difficult as picking fruit on a real farm since the fruits are very close to the ground. There is no entrance fee and all you have to do is pay for the fruit you pick and do not eat on the farm itself(of course,you are not supposed to eat the fruit there, but hey, whos checking?). If ppl want a good, low cost timepass where you can get the kids to kill about 4 hrs doing some non destructive outdoor activity, this is very much the right choice. If by vacation, you mean 2-3 weeks of doing this 9-5, then probably nobody would be doing it. This may just be part of a vacation where this part of the vacation takes about 4-6 hrs.

This kind of activity could become more common if our country finally puts its collective foot down and send all the illegal aliens back to their homes.

Hey, kids, instead of getting drunk on the beach, you can go work your butt off picking crops for once in your life.

Have you eaten the food in Georgia and eaten the food in France?

I have eaten food in Georgia; granted, it was in the Atlanta airport. I've never been to France, but I have eaten in French restaurants. I liked the airport food much better.

Food tends to be better tasting in other countries.

It has to do with how odd the modern American palette is thanks to parents being lazy (fast food). Things are not seasoned properly. Too much sugar is such a problem. It makes cakes taste gross, drinks too. I only go to Asian bakeries because they just make things more in the Euro tradition.

Haven't you guys noticed kids don't know how to eat? Well neither do the adults.

I've traveled enough in the US to know it's the case, though things are getting a lot better.

Even street food is sooo much better and so much healthier a lot of the times in other countries.

I have had real French food and I'm with Amy. Though to be honest real real Southern cooking is AMAZING. Standard Georgia food ain't so great.

Oh and picking fruit is fun! As long as it is not a job.

Gardening, farming etc. are all very relaxing so I can see why people do it for vacation (I used to help my grandpa do it).

And I say this as a city girl, who loathes camping.

Well I was sent to a three week survival school by the USAF. One of the comments made was that later on in life we wouldn't have to pay for the same abuse.

I never looked into it before you posted this but there is a survival school that this is there front page:

BOSS, the Boulder Outdoor Survival School, is the oldest and largest traditional living skills / survival school in the world. Since 1968, we have offered adventurous souls the chance to learn indigenous skills in an active, hands-on environment. Courses range from 3-28 days in length and take place in the spectacular landscape of Southern Utah.

And that was the short one. They have nine month courses out there.

I have a coworker who took his wife (then gf) on his yearly trip with a bunch of buddies and their gf/wives. It's a canoe trip to a primitive island campground, 3-4 days of camping out, then the rest of the ride down the river. She enjoyed it enough but won't go it again. But she has no problem with him going, even now that they have kids.

So what you consider a vacation isn't necessarily wrong, but running down someone else for it may be. And if he/she doesn't want to do it jointly, then I would look at insecurity or incompatibility signs from the author.

"So what you consider a vacation isn't necessarily wrong, but running down someone else for it may be.}

I guess I missed the part where anybody ran down anybody. I admit I'm a bit confused because when I looked up agri-cation it seemed to be combining agriculture with education, not vacation.

Anyway, something for everyone, I guess. A few years ago I was appalled when I read about luxury camping. Where you have a real bed, even a butler to turn it down. Someone baits your hook for you, cooks your meals, wipes your ass, you know, whatever you need.

So an agrication just seems to me like the pendulum swinging the other way.

A few years ago Gourmet ran an article about a place in the Carolinas that offered this type of vacation. They were strictly organic but also anti-mechanization, double-digging every field by hand. I was incensed by this example of a New York journalist extolling the romance and eco-virtues of this type of agriculture. How in the world does she think a society could support having specialized jobs like freelance writers if all our food was harvested by hand? How romantic would she find this vacation if she was trying to dig up Texas clay by hand rather than Carolina bottom land?

Yep. Popular-media snobbery. Food? As THE gauge of an area? You drank the Kool-Aid.

I can show you a backwoods hick with no degree, no schooling, who will have you eating until you burst.

And snooty people will insist he's a bitter, gun-owning redneck child-molesting product of incest because he's not from New England and not gay.

"Have you eaten the food in Georgia and eaten the food in France?"

Forgot to answer this: YES

And in both cases, it depends on where you are.

I'm not a foodie, yet I can remember the four best meals ever. The winner is a sea bream in Portland, ME, prepared by a once- homeless chef whose use of sauce and spices makes me say Severus Snape is not only real, but still alive.

I am taking the kids to a farm owned by a writer friend of mine. We are going to work there for the day. I don't consider this a "vacation" but a learning activity.

First, it will be the largest tract of land they've probably ever walked on without cars & houses blocking the view - I want them to appreciate just how big our land, our state, our country is. Second, while I do have mandatory chores for everyone, I think suburban and city kids don't really know what "work" feels like. Not that it isn't working to, say, deliver pizzas, but to recognize what it means to use your body to accomplish something. I hope it gives them an appreciation for "civilization" as Amy sees it (as opposed to the disdain some see in civilization). Lastly, I want them to be able to meaningfully help another person. The friend is getting married and part of our work will be prepping the farm for the wedding. Weeding and mulching and hanging lights are things even small kids can do.

All that said, I'm still going to take them to pick our own produce this fall. Primarily because I think they'll enjoy it, the fresh air, and the stuff at the store is usually a week old or more before you get it (and it tastes better fresher).

Still, none of this is a vacation. To me, this is just parenting. If I want my kids to appreciate things - the differences between cities and rural areas, fresh produce, whatever, I have to take the time & effort to show them. It is work to me - planning ahead, making arrangements, packing snacks, and parenting the whole time we're there.

Living in farm country, I can safely say that farming is only fun for city slickers. To us, it's hard work, blood, sweat, tears and horseflies the size of your fist. City slickers have the luxury of picking vegetables from a bin after all the hard work has been done; and being on the other side of the fence, it seems like a lark!

I still don't understand escargot. Or caviar. Why would you want to eat something that belongs on a fish hook?

Cuisine is too much of a personal choice to make blanket statements. I've eaten in France. It was good but I wouldn't count any of it as among the most memorable meals I've ever had.

My preferences in food run towards Mexican, Italian, and Atlantic seafood. Which kind of makes me a pariah in both France and Georgia.

I grew up in a semi-rural area. Spent hours and hours every week helping my mom garden, take care of the horses, etc. It was all for fun, we didn't need to do any of that stuff to get by.

Now I live in an apartment building just outside of a small city. I have a balcony with potted plants. I *miss* the dirt. I miss digging in it. I miss pulling things to eat out of it. I miss the way clean dirt smells. I even miss the way your body aches and stinks and then you take the most amazing shower afterwards.

I would love a vacation that let me get back to some of those memories.

"I don't eat till I burst thanks to learning how to eat in France."

What? You were some kinda sow until you got to Paris the first time? Wow.

Nope. You haven't touched anything my man Wayne has cooked.

Again: it's not just where you are. I suggest there are Masai, and Tongans, who can teach the average Frenchman OR Georgian something.

"Primarily because I think they'll enjoy it,"

Think again.......

"Probably something that we've overcivilized such as the way children are raised, but you're trying very, very, very hard to defend a position you don't have experience with: food in France."

As I mentioned, I've been there - and I'm not a foodie. Have you been to Norway? That doesn't mean you don't know what a real scallop looks like. Had fish & chips in Gourock, Scotland? Nope, can't get 'em most places over here. Doesn't mean you can't do it yourself.

I simply think it is complete snobbery to suggest that one region contains all the delicacies on Earth. And you apparently don't think the Masai or Tongans can cook. I simply suggest that a civilization older than all of Europe might have that clue...