Kindergarten

This fall was our second year of our garden program. Our garden reaches K-8 every student in multiple ways. 5th and 6th grade students help with the planting and harvesting, and all students use produce in cooking lessons, eat produce in school lunches and classroom snacks, and use the garden in class curriculum. Family volunteers help with summer maintenance. We also donate excess produce to our local food pantry. We had a large plot at our local hospital gardens and four new raised beds. This spring, we hope to add additional raised beds and are looking into a hoop house.

The program presents Cuban recipes, using local products. It shows traditional and current Cuban cuisine, with information about the healthy cook. We present many materials related with botanical and cultural characteristics of many edible plants, in order to show the rich biodiversity of them. There are some messages about the relation between food production and environment. It has a deep educational purpose.

I have published 6 cookbooks and several healthy food papers, such as:

 Stonehurst has a wonderful growing garden filled with vegtables, flowers and plants. 

 Church Rock Elementary School has a humble but prolific garden. It is small in size, but mighty in production and effect. At Church Rock, second and third grade champion teachers have been working in the garden for 2 years. Their students have grown strawberries, peppers, tomatoes, and beans. Although not every student in every grade has had a chance to work in the garden, the teachers have organized a way for each student to taste the produce!