b'To tend these seedlings, were going to need ample helpings of culture.Perhaps cultures greatest role, at this point in time, is as a bridge from technological cleverness to the innate affection for all living things, towards which we aspire. Sometimes I wonder if we Americans even know what culture is. Weve been so busy conquering new frontiers and letting freedom ring that we havent had time to develop the rootedness that culture requires. Its as if we got the first part of the recipe rightadd diverse backgrounds and heat up the melting potbut havent made it to the finished dish. Weve gotten distracted, restless and impatient. Our attention spans are shot. Hence, the TV ad: We dont have to cook anymore! The cultural recipe that Im interested in has ingredients to which the American palate seems to have become largely unaccustomed: a penchant for preservation and restoration, solving for pattern, listening, tolerance (including tolerance for ambiguity), willingness to prefer quality over quantity, knowing when to leave no stone unturned and when to leave things well enough alone, respect for earthworms, harvest celebrations, not being sent into a tizzy by the word altruism, neighborliness, patience, humility, forbearance, occasional bouts of tree hugging, frequent episodes of tree planting, honest beets, beet paint-ings, pretty much anything that is thoughtfully infused with beetroot (but particularly vodka), and last but not least, humor, as in laughing all the way to the. . .farm.40'