Central Elementary: A Year of Farm to School

2nd Grade Quotes about Farm to School

" I like to cook because it's fun and we get to eat after. I like to plant the seeds and watch them grow." - Taleigha

"My favorite was eating maple from snow. I also liked when John and Teresa {Pete's Farm Stand, Walpole, NH} taught us about plants." - Kamaya

"I liked when we harvested the carrots. We cleaned and washed them, and then we ate them! "- Micha

"One thing I really liked was tapping the trees. I also liked washing the carrots at the beginning of the year." - Madeline

"My favorite part was the maple sugar part because we did a lot of things with maple syrup like eating pancakes and doing the sap taste test. But my really favorite part was when we tasted the sap right from the tree." - Rieley

Students used beet juice to make water color beet paintings!

In the late winter of 2021 Central Elementary School began reviving the school gardens with the hopes of starting a Farm to School program. We received the New England Farm to Institute grant which allowed us a FTS coach through Food Connects and a summer training series that helped the team develop an action plan for the 2021-2022 school year. The grant also included $5,000 to help build the program. The funds were used to outfit a mobile kitchen for classroom cooking, garden tools and supplies as well as money for maintenance and upkeep for our garden beds. We also received a sum of $640.00 through SeedMoney and local donations made in support of our program. This digital book is a culmination of our first year doing FTS. Currently FTS focus is second grade. Each year we will expand a grade. The 2022-2023 year will encompass second and third grade.

October 4, 2021

Last week second graders ventured into the school gardens. They harvested fading sunflowers and fresh Brussels sprouts. We took the sunflowers to the gym and students worked hard to remove the chaff from the flowers so they could harvest the seeds. We have 8 trays of seeds, which are now drying on the windowsills of our classrooms so that they can be planted in the spring!
Mr. Lawry also pulled out a large Brussels sprout plant. Students were able to snap off a sprout and taste the fresh, raw vegetable! Reactions were mixed, but many students loved them and asked for more! This week our work in the gardens will involve weeding so that the gardens can be winterized.

The third grade class harvesting in the autumn what they planted in the spring!

October 11, 2021
Bonny White continues to join us weekly, alternating between the two classrooms. During her second visit, we made salsa! After each class has made each food item, your child will bring home the recipe so you can replicate it at home if you want!

Last week we did a science experiment about the effect of light and dark on growing plants. We planted radish seeds and put half of them in the sunny windows. The other half we covered in aluminum foil and left in the dark. We watered both sets daily. Today we took the cover off the seeds in the dark and compared the two sets of seeds/sprouts. Ask your child how they were different. You might be surprised!

On Friday, we harvested the carrots from the school garden. The students were thrilled to discover that carrots came in lots of different colors!

Harvest of the Month: Carrots!
10-25-2021
Last Thursday the second graders presented their carrot research to the other classes in the school. The students in kindergarten, 1st grade, 3rd grade, and 4th grade listened respectfully and asked great questions of the second grade presenters. Each second grader had created a watercolor carrot in one of the many colors of carrots, and then each carrot had a speech bubble where it shared a fact about carrots. These carrots were placed on posters that will hang in the other grades’ classrooms for a week before being returned to second grade so the carrots can go home with their artists.

Harvest of the Month: Carrots!

On Friday, Miss Erica in the kitchen made a special carrot cake breakfast cookie for everyone to enjoy!

This week we will work in small groups with Ms. Hauser to prepare the gardens for winter. We will be planting some garlic too!

Some links to local press about Harvest of the Month:
The Brattleboro Reformer
Farm to Plate Newsletter
Food Connects Newsletter
The Vermont Journal/Shopper
The Eagle Times

Farm to School is Cooking!
11/29/21
Fried rice was on the menu for our cooking with Bonny! What a treat for our noses and our taste buds!! We have a few more weeks to enjoy Bonny’s visits.

12/13/21
Mrs.Verespy’s class had their final health lesson with Ms. Bonny last week. The theme was dairy foods. She read a wonderful book called Kiss the Cow. Students played a game in which they identified foods in the dairy category by moving their bodies to stay active. They worked together to make a delicious and healthy chocolate pudding.

1/31/21
The January “harvest of the month” focus is beets, so Ms. Hauser joined us to make beet hummus which we tasted on pita chips. It received a mixed reception on the taste buds but looked really pretty on the plate!