Our daughter has taken to sharing, with anyone who might even mildly be interested, her deep and abiding love for Popsicle.

At the Hands-On Farm, if you are new or she isn’t quite sure you’re aware of the true identity of the calf running around, she will formally introduce you.

On Sunday, she did just that with a group of older kiddos who’d been there a bit longer than we had but looked as if this was their first meeting with the barnyard bovine.

“This is my friend Popsicle,” our daughter told the group. “Hello to Popsicle. These are kids who came to see you.”

The little girl in the crowd was unimpressed with someone far smaller in stature having such pertinent details, stomping off indignantly to check our daughter’s information with the farm hand.

When Jill confirmed that the calf was Popsicle for sure and that our daughter had named him, the girl shooed her away, ran back to Popsicle and proceeded to hang out for the better half of an hour.

She grew quite attached to our Farm Friend and, at one point, asked a stranger nearby what would happen to Popsicle when he got bigger. The man had one word for her, “Dinner.”

While I wasn’t quite sure that was the most tactful way to break the news to an 8-year-old that the sweet calf in front of her might end up a steak some day, it did strike me that a trip to the farm is a perfect time to talk about eating local food - something we work very hard at doing for lots of reasons.

But, talking about sustainability, environmental impact, cost and supporting local business is enough to make any tiny person’s eyes glaze over (mine too depending on the day). So, how do we plug our kids in to thinking local?

Hanging out on a working farm might just be the answer.

During the Summer, one of the coolest and most interesting things the tiny person and I do on a regular basis is make the rounds of local farms that open their doors to the public. You’d be amazed what a phone call or a chat at the CV Farmer’s Market can turn up in terms of folks letting you come out and learn about food and the absolute wonderment picking eggs out of the nest, checking out veggies as they are sprouting or picking beans off of the vine brings out in tiny people.

We’re a bit brazen around our house. I’d call up Santa Claus for a tour of the North Pole if I could find his number. But, I know that isn’t everyone’s speed.

There are a few farms, though, that happily open their doors for you to buy veggies and meat right at the farm or bring the kiddos out and give them a taste of what’s for dinner like:

- Seaview Game Farm in Merville. One of my favourite farms in the Valley. Call ahead for a tour of the greenhouses and excellent petting farm.

- Nature’s Way Farm on Darcy Road is a great place to get organic blueberries and salad greens. Their farm store is AMAZING and staff is wonderful. Call ahead to ask about seeing more of the farm.

- Pattison Farms off the Old Island Highway in Black Creek has an EXCELLENT farm stand, full of organic produce grown right there on the farm. Buying direct from farm stands is a great way for kids to see how things work - and even a bit more down home and direct than the market. I really dig this farm and we stop there to stock up on our way to and from the beach all Summer long.

- ASH Berry Farm in Royston is a FANTASTIC working farm that the McClellan family makes very accessible to families. While you can go out berry picking, there are also other crops as well as pigs and a whole farm of interestingness. They are VERY busy right now. So, if you are more into the farm than the berries, call ahead to see what they can show you.

- CVK Mom Marieke just dropped me a note about their farm. DeeKayTee Ranch. Wow, I can’t wait to go out there and pick up some delicious meat as well as check out the farm. Thanks Marieke!

- I am a BIG fan of Seiferts Farm Market on Knight Road in Comox. EVERYONE there is really great to talk with and rarely will you get an eyeball for stepping out of the parking lot and right out into the fields to check out the pumpkins in process and the corn popping up. Several farmers out there are more than happy to show you how things work. So, a conversation with the farm hands while you are out stocking up on veggies could quickly lead into an interesting afternoon learning about potatoes or other goodness that grows locally. Seiferts is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day and is a fun way to vegetable shop any time.

These are just a few ideas to get you started. Hit the Farmers Market on Wednesdays (Simms Park) and Saturdays (CV Exhibition Grounds) and discover farm goodness all over the place too…and more than likely some farmers:)

Here’s a bit of a Popsicle update for all of you Hands-On Farm fans (open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily at The Filberg in Comox):