ESY Berkeley Journal
Literature Alive in the Kitchen
In the realm of children’s literature, there are few stories as famous as Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. This story allows children to use their imaginations to think about a place beyond their reality. A place where the plants, trees, and flowers are sweet - like candy! Although Dahl is only using words on a page, he creates images of magical spaces for children to forage and taste boldly at their own free will, with open-mindedness and blind faith on their side. Dahl’s story was only meant for the imagination, but here at the Edible Schoolyard, students have the opportunity for similarly magical experiences. In our garden, students can be found foraging on the sweet nectar of pineapple sage, lemon balm, salvia, or borage. Most students take the opportunity to eat edible flowers as they pass through the garden on their way to and from school. The garden itself is a magical space where students can enjoy herbs, flowers, fruits, and vegetables, so long as they have a willingness to explore.
This past week, students in the kitchen after school class learned how to make candied edible flowers. After harvesting their favorite flowers, students gathered to read excerpts from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory aloud. It seemed as though Dahl’s words jumped from the page as students heard of “weeping willows and alders and tall clumps of rhododendrons with their pink and red and mauve blossoms,” and “...the most wonderful smells in the world seemed to be mixed up in the air around them... mint and violets and crushed hazelnuts and apple blossom and caramel and lemon peel,” only to realize that they were surrounded by a garden that wasn’t much different than the place Dahl was writing about.
Literature is a place, especially for middle school students, where they can read about grandiose things like Wonka’s chocolate factory. Yet, literature can also remind us of the simpler things in life, like the aroma of violets and the freshness of mint and lemon peels.
After reading aloud, these literary chefs washed and dried their flowers and prepared for the candy-making process. They started by pounding sugar in a mortar and pestle to create a powdered sugar. Like artists, the students painted egg wash onto the leaves and then sprinkled their powdered sugar on top. After a couple of hours, the flowers were dry and ready to be enjoyed!
Step one for making candied flowers: collect edible buds from an organic garden
Step two: carefully paint flowers with an egg wash made from egg whites and water
Step three: use a mortar and pestle to make powdered cane sugar from granulated sugar
Step four: dust flowers with sugar and allow to dry
Hands-On Training in Edible Education
The summer of 2012 will mark the fourth annual Academy at the Edible Schoolyard Berkeley. This professional development opportunity is designed to support emerging and established garden and kitchen programs worldwide. Led by Edible Schoolyard staff and guest presenters, the Academy provides a three-day immersion in the practices and philosophy of the Edible Schoolyard Berkeley. Through hands-on activities, presentations, guided discussion and curriculum-building sessions, participants learn the tools of edible education -- an integrated approach to education in the garden, kitchen and classroom.
One previous participant had this to say about the Academy: “The academy was extremely useful and offered many ideas for practical applications. The utility of opening up the Edible Schoolyard to us so completely should not be underestimated: it was wonderful to see and understand this model program fully - its advantages, its struggles and limitations, and its systems. Inspiration was, above all, the gift of this academy.”
If you are seeking inspiration and concrete tools to grow your edible education program, we hope you will apply to attend the 2012 Academy! But you better act fast – the deadline for applications is Thursday, March 15th. For more information on the event and to find out how to apply, please click here.
Experiential education and guided discussion over a freshly-prepared meal
Why just read about lessons at the Edible Schoolyard when you could experience them?
Ninety professionals from around the world make discussions at the Academy rich and engaging
Garden Club is Back!
After school classes are back in swing at the Edible Schoolyard! Each semester, we offer a kitchen class and a garden class as part of the King Visionaries After School Learning Program. Students at King Middle School enjoy a wide selection of after school options, including candle making, steel drums, comic book club and basketball. Most of these classes offer students across grade levels an opportunity to get to know each other while engaging in activities they are excited about.
In garden club, our weekly garden after school class, we are lucky to have ten dynamic students with a range of interests and talents, brought together by their desire to spend more time in the garden than the school schedule allows. We start each week with a game, share snack, and then do an art, cooking, or building project that uses the resources of the garden. So far we have picked and pressed flowers to use for a future bookmark-making project; we made seed balls that students can scatter to plant wildflowers and radishes wherever they choose; and, as per a student’s request, we made apple cider using the human-powered press.
Want to make seed balls at home? Mix ¾ cup dry compost with ¼ cup assorted seeds. Add 1 ¼ cup red clay powder (we got ours from a ceramics store, but you could also dry, grind and sift local clay), blend everything together with your hands, and add water until the mixture sticks together. Form marble-sized balls and allow them to dry in the sun for two days. In the words of farmer and philosopher Masanobu Fukuoka, “Do not think too much – just observe carefully, make seed balls – and Nature will teach you all you need to know.”
The students and I are enjoying the freedom and flexibility of garden club. When planning the garden classes we teach during the school day, the garden staff must take into account several factors, such as the grade-level state standards, necessary garden maintenance, and the need for all 300 students in each grade to have similar experiences. In the after school class, we’re able to adapt the activities to fit the interests of the participant, focus more on building community within the group, and prioritize creativity, leadership and fun.
Seed balls drying in the sun
In the midst of making cider, garden club participants mug for the camera
Young Scientists Study pH in the Garden
At the start of the New Year, we welcomed back 8th graders to the Edible Schoolyard garden. The last time these students had classes in the garden was during the spring of their 7th grade year, when they studied bees and the role of the bee in the garden as pollinators. This month, these same students returned to experience the power of investigation and become young scientists for the class period.
For these young scientists, the pH scale was the focus of the lesson, and students learned to test the pH of various garden soils. The pH scale is a numerical scale that indicates how acidic or basic (alkaline) a solution is. This scale is numbered from 0 to 14, with 7 indicating that a solution is neutral. We teach students that the optimal range for soil pH is between 6 and 7, explaining that in this ideal window, plants are best able to access essential nutrients. When discussing the pH scale, we teach students that all living organisms grow and thrive at a specific pH; when we discuss the ideal pH of soil, it emphasizes that soil too is alive and worth our attention and care.
In the garden, the class divided into three smaller groups, each taking turns to test the pH of the soil in a different part of the garden. Within each area, each small group collected three separate samples in order to calculate an average pH for their area. These areas included perennial and annual beds and the back hillside, where we hope to plant a future fruit orchard.
With a kit containing everything they needed, small groups spread through the garden digging small holes and filling them up with water to create a slurry solution that could then be tested. The young scientists carefully documented their findings on a worksheet, prompting them to answer the question: Is this soil acidic, basic or neutral? In the end, all the data was collected and shared with the entire class. On average, we found our various soils to be slightly acidic. What is the recommendation for bringing soil closer to the ideal zone? Adding compost. Yes, compost has the amazing ability to bring soil closer to the optimal pH for plant growth.
In just one class period, these students learned to use scientific instruments, they tested a hypothesis about the pH of different garden soils, and they learned how to bring soil into its ideal window for plant growth. On top of learning these important skills and concepts, the students got to experience hands-on science with a real world application.
Class starts with an opening circle about the pH scale and how to measure soil pH
Simple pH test strips (on the left) and a more high-tech pH probe (on the right)
were the tools used to measure soil pH
This group of students measured the pH of the soil in an annual bed
The Kitchen Isn't Just for Cooking
On certain days of the week, the kitchen is open after school to King students who wish to help out or hang out. It always surprises me who chooses to show up to these informal, after school sessions, and in recent weeks we have had a steady group of “kitchen regulars” who range in grade and in personality. Sometimes, of course, we do a little cooking with these students. But usually, they help us with less glamorous end-of-the-day tasks like drying dishes, scrubbing the dish station, wiping down the tables, and putting up the stools. It is always music to my ears when a student comes into the kitchen after school and asks, “Ms. Monica! Can I help you with anything?” If their parents only knew how regularly many of our students offer to wash dishes!
Other students come into the kitchen after school to do their homework, play the piano, or keep warm on a cold day. I enjoy being able to get to know some of our students outside of a kitchen class, and it allows me to spend one-on-one time with students, which can be difficult to do in the regular school day. Not only does the kitchen provide an opportunity for me to connect with students, but it also allows the students to connect with each other. I always enjoy watching students introduce or reintroduce themselves, finding common ground in their elementary schools, their past and current teachers, sports teams, or even siblings’ schools and sports teams.
For all types of students, the kitchen provides sanctuary from the innumerable challenges of being in middle school. Whether it is a student seeking refuge from the rain or a student with nothing to do, all sorts of unlikely alliances emerge from these impromptu after school gatherings. It is a rare thing to find a place on a middle school campus that dissolves barriers between students – so often cliques and social hierarchies prevail. It is heartening to see that groups of students that would typically not spend much time together on the yard, in the dining commons, or even in another classroom, find community in the kitchen.
As different as can be, these three teamed up to make some terrific lemonade one afternoon
If their parents only knew how eager these students are to wash dishes after school!
Though out of tune, the piano attracts a multitude of musicians after school
From Cookies to Compost
I'd like to start by telling a story. This story begins with a young person of just 12 years of age. The garden was a foreign place to this young man. In fact, in order to be comfortable in the garden he would insist on putting on every piece of protective wear we offer before he felt 'ready' to participate in garden class. The protection suit started with the feet. He would put on rain boots, even on the warmest of days. Next came the denim apron along with gloves and finally a pair of safety goggles. At this point he would be ready to go out in the sun-filled garden totally engaged.
Now this young man played a lot of video games. So, in the garden, no matter what the task, there was some kind of video game parallel he was acting out. It was this same student that I would often see in the dining hall eating just cookies and milk for lunch. This is someone who, I felt, could benefit from exposure to a garden program in school. Maybe garden classes would broaden his horizon so that one day he would add some fruit or vegetables to that cookies and milk menu. Maybe some day the garden would be an exciting enough place for him, without needing to pretend it was the backdrop to a video game.
Eventually this student graduated and went on to high school. While I haven't seen him in a long time, the memory of him working in the garden wearing his protection suit is a cherished one. And then one day came the real reward for the work we do: his little brother, who is now a student at King Middle School shared with us that the young man has been composting in the back yard of their house. News like this reminds me that even though we may not be able to see it right away, this garden really does have the power to make a positive difference in the lives of our students.
Geoff re-creates the habit of a memorable student
For many students, putting on a pair of boots can mean the difference between disengagement and delight
All students at King Middle School help with composting food and garden scraps;
when we hear about students bringing these skills home, it warms our hearts
Cold Weather Carrot Soup
There seems to be a mystical connection between the lesson planning in the Edible Schoolyard kitchen classroom and the universe. Last week when we prepared a Middle Eastern mezze platter, the weather was freakishly warm. This week’s recipe is a beautiful and nourishing carrot soup and we experienced an unprecedented drop in the temperature and icy conditions outside. How nice it is when Mother Nature sets such a perfect stage for our lessons.
For the soup recipe, students initiated the process of making vegetable stock. They saved the peels from carrots and onions as well as the stems of thyme and parsley to be made into a large pot of stock. Each class prepared the stock for the next, engaging in the practical and generous act of enabling others in their cooking process. With loads of crisp, winter-sweetened carrots, onions, thyme and a little butter, our seventh graders learned two valuable life skills: making vegetable stock and preparing a simple, seasonal soup.
We are also preparing students for their culminating kitchen lesson coming up in May: the famous Iron Chef competition where students work in teams to showcase their cooking skills with no assistance from their teachers. To that end, students are taking on new responsibilities such as leading the group check-in and job assignment as well as overseeing clean-up.
As the soup simmered on the stove, students set the table and also continued building their descriptive word vocabulary by adding to the chalkboard their observations of the sights, textures, flavors and aromas created as the carrot soup cooked.
Using our new immersion blenders, students pureed the soup and served it with an optional topping of gremolata, a fragrant mixture of minced parsley, garlic and lemon zest. The bright and sunny orange color of the soup combined with the warm and steamy environment in the kitchen to create a cozy and satisfying haven from the winter chill outside.
The chalk board introduces students to the recipe of the day
Fresh, seasonal ingredients are the foundation of a delicious soup
Simmering stock and chopped vegetables are cooked together in a soup pot
The finished soup, garnished with gremolata, is warm comfort on a cold day
Winter Pruning
Wendy Johnson, our wonderfully insightful gardening mentor, describes in her book, Gardening at the Dragon’s Gate, January as her favorite month in the garden. Although Wendy did not exactly have the Edible Schoolyard in mind, in this cold weather her description serendipitously fits our little garden here on the King campus perfectly! Walking through the garden one would observe that “while our prissiest and most demanding annual vegetables and flowers have all blessedly frozen to death in the field, only the hardiest of plants remain: Siberian iris, cabbages, windswept rows of bare limbed apple trees, and hunch-shouldered winter beets shivering in the icy wind.” As Wendy would surely tell you, despite the seemingly sparse appearance that the winter garden portrays, the winter gardener surely has their work cut out.
Winter is the time to embrace the dormancy of the garden. Says Wendy, “imagine the unfurling of the spring garden that sleeps inside the naked skeleton of the trees and shrubs.” While the trees are dormant, their structure and outline becomes apparent, which lends itself to pruning. In the winter, we prune trees for organization and stimulation, while summer pruning is for height control. Pruning in the winter pumps trees with vigor-generating responses, whereas in the summer, pruning can slow down growth.
This week we called on an expert in pruning highly recommended by Wendy, Leslie Buck, to run our garden staff through a pruning workshop. Leslie is an aesthetic tree pruning specialist who received her training at Merritt College’s horticultural department and in Japan. Her insight into the practice of pruning as both an art form and science was incredibly valuable and instilled a desire to further share what we learned.
The essential question before pruning trees is: what does this tree look like in nature and/or in it’s mature state? Every tree has a certain structure or habit of growth and will therefore have a different response to any cut. For example, our beloved oak trees have rounded tops, while pear trees shoot branches up vertically, and olive trees grow thin, spindly branches that curve as they grow. Understanding the nature of the tree before you begin pruning is imperative. Pruning is an art form that brings the natural beauty of the tree to light, maintaining the balance of the tree. It also requires great patience.
The Basics:
1. Remove the 3D’s: damaged, diseased, and dead wood. This will automatically restore some of the health of the tree
2. Always start with the largest cuts (using a saw). Then, move to smaller cuts, using clippers
3. Never remove more than 30% of a tree at one time
4. Have a multiple-year plan for the tree
5. Find balance as a pruner between being aggressive or timid
The greatest compliment to a pruner is when a pruned tree is admired, yet unnoticeably pruned.
By Elena Garcia
Pruning at the point of origin for organization
All the essentials: clippers, a hand saw, and pole pruners
A pruning technique called tipping
In Praise of Volunteers
Over the course of every week, about fifty – fifty! – different people come to the Edible Schoolyard to help in the garden and the kitchen. We rely on these volunteers for essential support in many forms – they help lower our adult-to-student ratio so that we can safely and effectively engage our students in experiential learning, they act as role models and points of connection for our diverse student body, and they demonstrate to students the caring and investment of the greater community. And that’s just during class! Before and after class, our volunteers are hard at work, assisting staff with the tasks, both large and small, of keeping our garden and kitchen running smoothly. Come by any day before class and you would see volunteers in the garden, weeding a bed, volunteers in the kitchen, folding laundry and putting away dishes, even volunteers taking out the compost and sweeping the front walkway.
And who are these volunteers? They are university students, working adults, retirees, and people transitioning between jobs; they are parents to middle school students, infants, and grown children; they care for the elderly, bountiful rooftop gardens, or a menagerie of animals; they are chefs, landscape designers, nutritionists, teachers, professionals, writers, entrepreneurs and trying-to-figure-it-outs. Universally, our volunteers are passionate about food and engaging with young people. Over the years, we have been fortunate to meet many, many wonderful people who were volunteers at the Edible Schoolyard. A few have been with us, year in and year out, since the program began, sixteen years ago. More commonly, a volunteer will spend a year or two coming to the kitchen or garden every week to work with students and help keep things shipshape, and then he or she will move on. Volunteers have shared their favorite recipes, seeds from beloved garden plants, ideas for curriculum development, and stories of students opening up to them in touching, surprising ways. For all the energy, passion, and dedication they bring to the Edible Schoolyard, our volunteers have our unending gratitude.
By Winslow Carroll
Griselda (wearing glasses) is a kitchen volunteer extraordinaire -- students, teachers and staff all love her
Ian (wearing olive green) has been making the garden a friendlier, more beautiful place for many years
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Helen and Beebo have been with us from the beginning -- we can't imagine the Edible Schoolyard without them
Celebrating the New Year with Black-Eyed Peas
At the start of this new calendar year, seventh grade students return to the kitchen and are greeted by the comforting and inviting smells of West African herbs and spices: turmeric, cardamom, cumin, chili powder, basil, garlic, ginger, and more! The students, who were last in the kitchen as sixth graders, are excited to make their return and anxious to cook Ghanaian Black-Eyed Peas for good luck in the New Year.
The lesson begins by reminding students of the origins of the black-eyed pea, from West Africa to the Americas, and then we discuss the history of this journey and its influence on dishes that are still cooked today. The journey of the black-eyed pea in the hulls of ships carrying enslaved people is what makes this dish so important to our American history. This historical reference also allows students to make a broader connection with food and rituals that are still alive today as a result of these histories. The black-eyed peas are cooked with berbere, a traditional mix of spices from West Africa, as well as spiced butter, red onion, garlic, ginger, cilantro, scallions, tomatoes, coconut milk, collard greens, and cabbage. After all the flavors have simmered together, the rich stew is poured over brown rice to reinforce the concept that together, beans and rice are a complete protein.
At the table, students are encouraged to share their own food rituals pertaining to the New Year. The students are eager to share stories about making tamales with their families, eating Hoppin' John for good luck, and sharing mochi with their loved ones. Here at the Edible Schoolyard, the kitchen staff is enjoying the start of the 7th grade rotation with Ghanaian Black-Eyed Peas and optimistic conversation with students about the year ahead!
By Raquel Jacquez
A steaming platter of Ghanaian Black-Eyed Peas, ready to be served
Collard greens, cabbage, green onions and numerous spices and herbs make for a fragrant and flavorful dish
Celebrating the new year with black-eyed peas and stories of traditions from around the world
