It's a national phenomenon happening from the White House to local schools to your own backyard. It's one of the hottest food trends happening now in our country. I'm speaking of the "interest spike" in growing your own vegetables. There are several reasons for this mass appeal of vegetable gardening and growing your own food:

One, the current economic landscape has many people with extra time on their hands and looking for ways to save money.

Two, we are looking for green ways to improve our lives and environment.

Three, it is very rewarding to be outside, in touch with mother nature growing something great.

Four, you have control over how your food is grown, picked, and raised before you ever take a single bite.

Five, food from your backyard is simply as fresh as you can get it. You can pick it at its optimum ripeness, when you like. It doesn't have to travel by states and countries to reach you.

Six, home-grown food, cultivated and tended by you tastes like no other. Flavors are incredible, and scream "delicious".

Seven, chances are you will be eating and cooking healthier.

Eight, growing your own food sets you up for eating seasonally, which further creates many other wonderful ripple effects.

Nine, growing your own food will enhance your entertaining, cooking, baking, and dining experiences-- taking them all to another level.

Ten, did I forget to mention it is just "plain fun".

If you have children, gardening and vegetable gardening in particular, is an especially great way to teach them many of life's lessons. You must first "plant the seeds", be patient, and watch your dedicated efforts grow into fruition. Sometimes "less is more" when it comes to thinning your seedlings. Never be surprised if your best efforts far exceed your wildest imagination. Even your best efforts may be a failure sometimes, but look for the "something positive" that will come from it. Some of the best things in life are "free". Many hands lighten a load. Sharing with others is a beautiful thing. Mother Nature is awe-inspiring and incredibly unpredictable. Want to engage your children with enthusiasm. Instead of buying pumpkins this October, why not plant pumpkin seeds now of several different varieties and watch them evolve.

The rewards of growing your own food are many. It is certainly an important part of my life and lifestyle. Many of you are probably veteran vegetable gardeners, if so, what got you started? What was your motivation? If you have space constraints, don't let that stop you, think containers. This mass appeal of vegetable growing is fueling wonderful and very creative ways of vegetable gardening, like going vertical, hanging tomato containers, use of buildings and their accoutrements. The sky is the limit.

I would encourage all of you to visit your local, regional, or state fair this summer. Fairs are a slice of Americana, a part of our American culture. School is out, and the summer lifestyle has switched into gear. If you have a passion for something, like our wine-making, enter it in the fair, you might be surprised.

There is judging on flowers, garden displays, woodworking, artwork, chickens, cows, pigs, sheep, baked goods, jams, you name it. It is a great way to connect with others in your community with the same passion, and also to stay in touch with what others are doing in your particular area in the community.

Our local fair is the San Diego County Fair, always mid-June through the Fourth of July. There are rides, outrageous fair food, exhibits, judging of all kinds of categories, concerts, in other words something for everyone.

The wine judging contest at the San Diego County Fair is popular, and has a wide range of categories from Cabernet Sauvignon to Fruit Wines. There is also judging on wine labels, and the coveted "Best of Show".

This year we entered three wines in three different categories. We won a "Blue Ribbon" First Prize, for our "Le Vin de Garage" Syrah 2007, in the "Syrah Category", on Sunday, June 21, 2009, Father's Day. It was a total surprise, and a little surreal when our names were announced. Needless to say, it was a special treat for our dads.

These grapes are not from our own syrah vineyard quite yet, but grapes that we purchased from the pristine Guadalupe Valley in Baja, Mexico to practice making wine, until our vineyard was three years old. Many thanks to our friends and family who helped us bottle this wine last fall, and for your ongoing enthusiasm.

Do you have a wonderful summer fair near you? Do you have a "Blue Ribbon" story to share? What are you passionate about that you could enter in the fair next year?

I've been lost in writing about Provence for nearly a month. If that is not proof enough of how special Provence is to me. I have so many more postcards to send you from Provence, but my own garden, in my own Mediterranean climate is beckoning me home.

I'm going to end "Postcards from Provence" mentioning two very special restaurants in Provence that completed our visit. It is hard not to get a truly delicious meal any where in Provence. All of the bistros and restaurants are just divine. You can't go wrong. The menu and ambience's of Les Abeilles restaurant in Sablet, and Le Mas de Tourteron restaurant outside of Gordes, are however, special dining experiences.

Les Abeilles Les Abeilles in Sablet, centrally located to many places of interest like the famous village of Gigondas and its hearty Rhone wine, as well as Mount Ventoux, one of the highest peaks in the area, and famed as a route often on the cycling Tour de France. Les Abeilles is also a small hotel, restaurant, and bar. We stumbled upon this gem towards the end of our visit, and couldn't ask for a better dining experience. Chef Johanes and his wife Marlies, make sure everyone has a wonderful dining experience and visit.

Our dinner at Les Abeilles was something like being in the midst of an ongoing "three-act play". I have never had that dining experience before. Each table in the tiny restaurant had its cast of characters and drama. Although my husband and I were into our own dinner and dining experience, we couldn't help but observe the other tables and their perspective dramas unfolding. Maybe there is a play to write, about this dining experience in my future.

Besides having a wonderful dinner, we happened to meet a new lifetime friend that night, just part of the ambiance of the evening. A young German doctor, who is also a serious bike rider, and enthusiastically rides Mount Ventoux, whenever his vacation time permits. Restaurant Les Abeilles, 4, rue de Vasion, 844110 Sablet, (tel) (0)4.9012.38.96, Les Abeillles.

Le Mas de Tourteron Le Mas de Tourteron, like the Bistro du Paradou, was also a restaurant we had tried to dine at on our first trip to Provence, and eventually succeeded in having a Sunday lunch there, our second visit.

Le Mas de Tourteron is a very unique and romantic restaurant, owned by self-taught chef, Elizabeth Bourgeois, and her sommelier husband. It is a lovingly restored centuries-old mas, (farmhouse), which also use to be the site of an old silk cocoon farm.

Elizabeth is near legendary for her farm recipes, and has a large kitchen garden. Le Mas de Tourteron has its own garden setting, and just exudes romance. My husband and I were celebrating an early anniversary Sunday lunch, but I could imagine someone's very special evening, and "being proposed to" here.

Inside the restaurant, Elizabeth's antique and vintage bird cage collection hung throughout on its stone walls, woos diners with charm. Le Mas de Tourteron is very special, and very pricey. I suggest reservations, as days and hours vary slightly throughout the year. For a treat, dine at Le Mas de Tourteron, chemin de St.-Blaise, Gordes, (tel) (0)4-90-72-00-16, Le Mas de Tourteron.

Salut Provence! Your magic, beauty, and charm simply astounds me! I hope to return, once again, as soon as I can.

Lower Rhone Valley and Town of Sablet

Provence is so large and diverse, it really is hard to describe it all. When traveling by car, one is often fooled by the distance and time it takes to get around. Although there are some highways, a lot of the roads, are secondary roads which meander and wind through the small villages, towns, and countryside. In fact, "the mode" of getting around Provence seems to support the relaxed tempo of life here.

Approaching the Medieval Village of Gordes

In the Luberon region of Provence, the large regional Luberon Park protects the countryside from random development and preserves its wonderful valley floors and rising Luberon foothill views.

The wind can be a factor in Provence. There are actually several winds which occur in this region. The mistral, probably the best known, originates in Siberia and barrels towards Provence through the Cote du Rhone valley, sometimes with violent force and sometimes for days. During a mistral wind, everyone has a favorite legendary "mistral story" to tell.

Overlooking The Village of Bonnieux

Many of the hillside villages are from medieval times, and some started as Roman beginnings, when that was the best way to defend yourself from invaders. Often well-preserved, and with commanding views, these villages have wonderful bistros, weekly markets, honey-stone churches to explore, village tradition, artisan crafts, and lively local culture to take in.

Provence is soothing and peaceful visually. How can you not be moved looking out at its verdant quilted patchwork countryside, gentle rising foothills, valley floors, and vast blue horizon, seemingly untouched for centuries. Incredibly, you can still experience fields of happy sunflowers, acres of scented lavender, flocks of sheep migrating, producing olive groves, and noteworthy vineyards, as part of normal everyday Provencal life.

Springtime in Provence, when these photos were taken, show how simply beautiful the countryside is. Much of the landscape in spring consists of budding vineyards, gnarled mature olive trees, towering cypress, blossoming fruit trees, climbing roses, blooming wisteria, and the dramatic red poppy in mass.

Have you been to Provence in the spring? What is your favorite memory?

Plane Trees In Cucuron

One does not travel and explore Provence, especially if you are a gardener, without noticing its beautiful and awed plane trees. Plane trees are found everywhere in Provence. They line its country roads, often approaching and leaving a town or village. They are a focal point in many a family's courtyard, providing umbrella-like shade, and a spot to place an inviting outdoor table. They are often strategically planted in village centers and town squares. They can create a majestic and impressive grand boulevard style in their maturity and beautiful foliage.

Plane trees are the type of tree, in maturity, that create their own environment. They can reach 100 feet tall or more. Plane trees can be shaped and groomed into a variety of shapes, and provide welcome shade, especially in the warmer months of the year. Plane trees were planted prolifically, because they were a durable tree to population pollution, grew quickly, provided excellent shade, looked beautiful, required little water, and could be planted in poor soil.

Provence plane trees are a hybrid of the Asian and American sycamore trees. They were created, quite by accident out of Oxford, England in the 16th century. In the 19th century, plane trees were imported to Southern France, and planted extensively. Napoleon was responsible for extensive planting of plane trees throughout Southern France, for the purpose of keeping his marching army cool, under their great green canopies.

Tops of Plane Trees In Gigondas

Wouldn't it be wonderful to live in a region, like Provence, where plane trees are so prolific, so enduring, and so much a part of the charming character of the countryside. Plane trees are yet another reason, why the Provence countryside is so endearing.

"Some spots are the cradle of genius, Provence is one." --Lawrence Durrell. Locals have always known it. Provence's magic, like a magnet, draws many types of people to its charming countryside and ensuing lifestyle. There amongst the markets, cobblestone roads, bistros, shops, and restaurants, look closely and be observant. You might see your favorite author, fashion czar, cookbook writer, painter, actor, director, Michelin-star chef, celebrity, winemaker, photographer, and the list goes on.

"A Royal Encounter" When we visited Provence our first year we had tried to eat at Le Bistro du Paradou, a wonderful country bistro full of Provencal charm, however, we were too late for lunch and too early for dinner. Mireille and Jean-Louis Pons' country bistro is one of famed restaurant critic and cookbook writer, Patricia Wells' favorites in Provence. Well, it was worth a second try on our second trip, and we were successful in experiencing an incredible lunch. Everyone shares the same house table menu, choice of house wines, and gracious service.

After lunch, I pulled Jean-Louis Pons aside, and asked him a few questions, and thanked him for such a lovely lunch. He proceeded to tell me, "That it is afternoons like this, when Princess Caroline of Monaco and her husband come, I am especially pleased. She comes every spring, and is sitting there now at the table under the window." Can a jaw drop to your knees? Mine did. She was facing me across the room, surrounded by an entourage of people at her table who had floated into the bistro unnoticed. I looked at her for a long time, so I might forever keep her vision that day in my memory.

Wait, there is more. Once out in the parking lot, we notice our rental car entirely blocked. My husband asks me to go back to the bistro and find out whose car it is. Fate beckons us, and it is none other than Princess Caroline's pristine 1959 Deux Cheveux. Mon Dieu! First comes the waiter to help move the car, second comes someone from her table, and third comes Princess Caroline herself, speaking in perfect English, and apologizing profusely.

As we slowly left Le Bistro du Paradou moving on with our afternoon, I thought to myself, "Wow, this magic of Provence is intoxicating!" Le Bistro du Paradou, 57 avenue de la Vallee-des-Baux. Le Pradou. (tel) and (fax) (0)4-90-54-32-70. Closed Sunday. I recommend calling for hours, menu of the day, and reservations.

"Meeting My Heroine" After playing bumper cars with Princess Caroline of Monaco, we didn't think our visit in Provence could get any better. Little did we know that there was much more excitement to come. I first saw her book in the travel section of a bookstore about three or four years ago. Her book is, Words in a French Life: Lessons in Love and Language from the South of France. I was not familiar with Kristin Espinasse before or her writing, but immediately enjoyed her wonderful and endearing stories, woven with humor about her husband, children, cultures, and antics of Provencal every day life, and not so every day life.

Kristin's book actually morphed from her popular "thrice-weekly" blog, www.french-word-a-day.typepad.com/ . Kristin's blog is wildly amusing, and a fun way to stay in touch with your "inner French language", and Provencal fix. Kristin is my heroine, because she lives and breathes the authentic Provencal life every day, and gladly shares it with all of us through her wonderful words and stories.

Kristin is an American, and as she pens it, "a former desert rat from Arizona", who meets her husband to be in Provence during a foreign language exchange program. She falls in love with this handsome Frenchman Jean-Marc, marries, and has two adorable children. They live in Provence, and have followed one more of their dreams, owning a farm house, vineyards, and making award-winning wines in the Lower Rhone Valley.

Once again by incredible luck and unusual circumstances, my husband and I are enjoying a private tour of some of the local wine producers in the lower Rhone Valley, by one of the leading wine consultants in the area. Half way up the long gravel driveway of Jean-Marc and Kristin Espinasse, I realize we are visiting Domaine Rouge-Bleu, their winery and vineyard. I'm pinching myself thinking I can't take any more of these surprises. A quick introduction and visit with Jean-Marc and Kristin, a quick tour of their winery, a taste of their wine, results in a lifetime of memories.

Kristin is just as warm and friendly in person, as she is in her writing. She encouraged me to start a blog. I am so grateful and thankful for her kindness. Sometimes you meet people along the journey of life that touch your lives in so many ways, and they might not ever know. Thank you Jean-Marc and Kristin for touching our lives. We hope our paths will cross once again.

Louisa Jones, a Canadian, who has lived and gardened in Provence for over twenty years has become known as the English-speaking voice on Provence gardens. A prolific writer on French gardens, click on Louisa Jones' Books.

One of her favorite gardens in Provence is Abbaye St.-Andre. Pictured here is its wonderful pergola with banksia roses and wisteria. The garden was created in the 1920's, on the steep hillside of a Benedictine abbey, on a hilltop opposite the city of Avignon. Other wonderful elements of this garden are an olive orchard, a prizewinning formal rose garden, idyllic romantic statues, and incredible views of the Rhone Valley. The best way to find this garden is to contact the Villaneuve-les-Avignons, Tourist Office, (tel) (0)4-90-25-61-33.

For those of you who can't get enough of Louisa Jones' garden books, and would like to experience wonderful Provencal gardens first hand, Louisa offers "Garden Week in Provence". Every year, the third week of April, she takes up to 16 very lucky people on her special garden tour. Louisa partners with the famous Mirande Hotel in Avignon, and escorts you through six full days of private family style gardens, well-known designer gardens, and classic Provence gardens, many of which are not open to the public. Besides the escorted garden tours, the tour includes a cooking class, visits to the local markets, and a general emphasis on food and lifestyle enjoyment. Each year Louisa Jones plans a new itinerary, with new gardens. Her "Garden Week in Provence" is very popular and limited in size. Please visit www.louisajones.fr for more information on her, and her garden tour week.

Pictured above is Domaine Dalmeran, a beautiful chateau and winery, complete with 18th century picturesque landscaping and Roman aqueduct ruins. This storybook chateau was featured on one of Louisa Jones' tours a few years back. In our travels last year, my husband and I had the opportunity to visit Domaine Dalmeran, tour, and taste their wine. New English owners were renovating the chateau, winery, and building a cooking school. Domaine Dalmeran, avenue Notre-Dame-du-Chateau, St. Etienne-du-Gres, (tel) (0)4 90-49-04-04.

Self-Photo at Roman Pont du Gard

This Roman aqueduct, Pont du Gard, has stood the test of time for more than 2,000 years and ticking. How utterly unbelievable. Although the Pont du Gard attracts over 1 million visitors a year, with nary a person in sight, we had to resort to a self-photo. The Pont du Guard was built to transport water across the Gardon River Valley, starting at a spring outside Uzes nearly 30 miles away, to the Roman city of Nimes. The Pont du Guard consists of three levels, the top one was where water was transported, and the first level actually was used as a road. It is estimated that it took 800-1,000 workers about three years to construct it. There was no mortar used in building this engineering masterpiece.

Roman Pont Julien, Near Bonnieux

Pont Julien is a small three-arched perfectly preserved Roman bridge, tucked away in the valley floor, just before the rising hilltop village of Bonnieux. It is also more than 2,000 years old, and up until 1995 was still used for traffic. Since then a new bridge has been constructed next to it. Pont Julien was named after the family of Julius Caesar. It was part of the ancient Roman trade road that linked the Alps to the Pyrenees, through the south of Gaul.

Secret Roman Ruins Outside of Aix-en-Provence

If you are intrigued by the Romans and their influence on Provence, create a "Romans in Provence" itinerary visiting Nimes, Arles, Vaison-la Romaine, Orange, Saint-Remy, to name a few places to get you started. Some Roman marvels are well known, and some are much less known. You simply happen upon them along your travels.