First Garden Harvest at BAMS!

On a chilly morning in early December, Food Connects staff joined a group of approximately 15 students and Brattleboro Area Middle School (BAMS) teacher Mandy Nash for the final garden harvest and to put the school garden to rest for the winter. These new garden beds, built in the spring of 2021, finished the season strong! They were a source of fresh herbs for the school cafeteria throughout the summer and fall. This final harvest included Brussels sprouts, kale, and swiss chard. Food Service Director and chef Ali West of Fresh Picks Cafe was eager to transform the produce into a harvest salad for BAMS students to enjoy in the school cafeteria at lunchtime. 

Students rose to the challenge of using big loppers to chop through the thick stems of the brussels sprouts, and several students were very curious to see the tiny aphids who had infested several kale leaves. At the end of the harvest, the last step was covering the beds in local mulch hay donated by a BAMS family from Guilford. 

Getting outside and doing hands-on garden work can be a rarity during the busy academic school day, and Food Connects was happy to provide the tools, resources, and support to help make this first harvest a success. BAMS is already thinking about spring planting in a few short months, and Ali West has requested more fresh herbs for her kitchen!

Westminster Center School Celebrates Farm and Field Day

Stuffing scarecrows, painting pumpkins, cooking lunch over hot coals, and playing musical chairs… These are not your everyday school activities. But this is how the students at Westminster Center School spent the morning of October 29, when they celebrated their first Farm and Field Day. 

Students from grades K-6 took part in six different activities crafted to link students to the outdoors and celebrate the harvest season. In addition to the excitement of scarecrows, pumpkins, and musical chairs (renamed “Boo-tiful Music!” in honor of the holiday), students went on a story walk, harvested kale from the garden for lunch, watched working farm equipment in action, and watched as the chicken for their kale salad cooked over coals in the outdoor cinder block kitchen, the “Cinder Cafe,” built especially for this event.

Despite the frigid temperatures, students were excited to be outside. “The best part is you get to have fresh air!” remarked Scarlett, a second-grader. “I’m having fun! It’s very fun!” exclaimed first-grader Anthony Lakeside. And fourth-grader Jenny said her favorite activity of the day was harvesting kale. “You get to peel all the leaves off!”

The librarian and Garden Coordinator, Mandy Walsh, said she was inspired by a similar event at Newbrook Elementary several years ago. Mandy has been growing the Farm to School program at Westminster for years and was excited to host her first Farm and Field Day. “We are so lucky to have the resources of gardens, animals, woods, and fields, and we live in a historically agricultural community. The day was about celebrating what's around us, coming together as a school community, and being joyful.” In reflecting on the success of the event, Mandy remarked, “I think that in the big picture, the best student learning happens when students get to be outside, working together, trying new things (food and activities). These are the days our students remember with fondness when they think back on their elementary school days.”

The Farm to School Team at Westminster is already planning future events and is flush with ideas of building on the tradition they’ve started. One thought was that perhaps next year, the sixth-graders could lead the stations rather than the teachers. Cheers to Westminster Center School for growing and cultivating leaders in the Farm to School Movement!

Taste Tests: From Garden to Classroom to Cafeteria

Taste tests are an integral part of Farm to School programming and an easy way for newer schools to jump into FTS while making some “3 C’s” connections (classroom, cafeteria, and community). Guilford Central School has been at it for a while and their FTS Coordinator, Sarah Rosow, works with each grade to make dishes for the rest of the school to sample. Back in October—before there was 2 feet of snow on the ground—I joined Sarah and a group of fourth-graders to harvest some kale for their monthly taste test. 

Sarah and two fourth graders cleaning a bed in preparation for winter.

I met the group in front of the school in their vegetable garden. As it was nearing the end of the season, many of the beds were cleared out. But there was still plenty of kale and this was one of the last harvests of the season. Students collected bunches of curly and dinosaur kale that all went into the salad spinner. Back in the classroom, some students washed the kale while others prepped the other ingredients that would go into the pesto recipe. Guilford is lucky to have a Farm to School classroom (a repurposed science classroom) that gives students more space to work and store their projects, making the preparation of the taste tests a bit easier. But, all that is really needed is a clear working surface and some kitchen utensils for students. 

The Farm to School classroom at Guilford Central School.

The finished product before mixing with pasta for the taste tests.

During the taste test preparations, students were not only learning about growing vegetables but also building culinary skills as they read the recipe and washed and chopped the ingredients. The last step was to combine everything in a food processor and taste the end product themselves before bringing samples to each of the school’s classrooms.  

Ideally—once all the students get a chance to taste the pesto—the next step is to coordinate with the school kitchen to get the new item on the menu. That way, students will already be familiar with the dish and there will be excitement stemming from the student involvement. 

Interested in starting taste tests in your school? Check out these resources to get started:

Food Connects HOM page- links to both VT and NH HOM materials

VT HOM Facebook page

HOM Calendars (contact Conor for a copy)

By Conor Floyd

What is winter good for? Taste testing!

What is winter good for? Harvest of the Month Taste Tests, of course! Many schools in and around Vermont offer monthly taste tests in order to engage students in the cooking and tasting of new foods. The goal of the Harvest of the Month program is to “promote seasonal eating, encourage healthy diets and support the local economy.” At some schools, educators partner with cafeteria staff to prepare and serve the taste test. At others, samples are prepared and served by students.

Student gardeners at Riverside Middle School keep busy during the winter months by coordinating monthly taste tests for their peers. Each month, they feature a different VT Harvest of the Month product, including kale, sweet potatoes, and winter squash this fall. These students make up the after-school garden club/summer camp, Lettuce Grow Food. In addition to coordinating taste tests during the school year, they also grow food during the spring and summer that is then featured at Riverside’s annual Back to School BBQ. Other products from the garden are shared with community members in need.

Due to their continued commitment to local food and nutrition education, Riverside Middle School received a 2-year Farm to School grant from the VT Agency of  Agriculture Food & Markets last school year. This funding will allow them to accomplish a number of Farm to School goals, including:

• Expanding the school’s composting program

• Professional development for all staff

• Integration of food system curricular units in the classroom

• Increasing the amount of local food being used in the school’s cafeteria

Thanks to Corrinne Kanser, Becca Osborn, Becca Polk, Cliff Weyer, Nate McNaughton, and Martha Tarbell for their work in implementing these goals at Riverside!