Eating the Alphabet

On Tuesday we had the amazing opportunity to visit the organic garden at Pacifica University as part of our plant unit. We were greeted by Marshall, the coordinator of the garden. He started the tour by showing us a bush that attracts butterflies. He encouraged the children to use their sense of smell to identify the smell of the plant, which smelled like a pumpkin! Mr. Marshall also mentioned that butterflies have super long tongues so that they can reach the nectar in the flowers!

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Next, Mr. Marshall showed us the plant beds, where some were covered in a white tarp.

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He explained to the children that these tarps were used to warm the soil, keep the condensation in and the bugs out. As we walked around the garden, the children tried to identify different plants. We saw chili peppers, squash, and tomatoes.

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tomato

Mr. Marshall explained how squash flowers are pollinated and even showed us a baby squash. Do you know that squash flowers are edible? The children had a chance to use their sense of taste!

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Next, we saw the kale garden, which included nine types of kale, including Dinosaur Kale!

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Mr. Marshall picked a poppy seed pod and broke it open, giving some teeny tiny seeds to each student. They had a chance to eat these as well!

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We saw baby watermelon and many spices, which the students also got to munch on!

watermelon

jamie leaf

char tomato

At the end of the tour, Marshall put together a box of fruit and vegetables for us to take back to school. (Pacifica University sells the produce three days a week. Take a peek at their unique program or sign up for a weekly produce delivery! http://www.pacifica.edu/innercontent-m.aspx?id=5166 )

When we returned to school, we dove into the produce box.

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We found three different types of squash, strawberries, kale, Swiss chard, beets, oranges, chamomile flowers, and more!

I cooked up the beets and squash, washed the strawberries and oranges, and brought it all to the students to enjoy at lunchtime.

squash

Yesterday, Ms. Svedlund and I made Swiss chard, kale, and beet quesadillas.  We figured that if we added cheese to the veggies, the children might be more willing to eat them!