“What does a school garden do over the summer?”

It’s one of the most frequent questions I’m asked. The answer, in short, is, “We never stop.”

Because our school runs a six-week literacy bridge program over the summer, the garden is geared toward those students and their families. Here’s what happened in our garden this summer (which is similar to past years):

We grew a handful of summer crops.

This year, we cultivated squash, basil, eggplant and nine different varieties of tomato plants, all cherry-sized (Isis, Rose Quartz, Coyote, Sweet Baby Girl, Green Envy, Cerise Orange, Black Cherry, Ghost Cherry and Sungold). The basil and some of the tomatoes will produce into the fall, so it’s definitely worth the effort to keep them watered over the summer.

Parent volunteers watered.

Eleven parents (and their partners and children) gave their time and talent by watering and weeding the entire garden week after week: Karalyn Colopy, Leslie McDow, Elizabeth Parish, Johanna Bernhardt, Sonja Nikolsky, Liz Healey, Kathleen Duval, Keri Debbink, John Witek, Rachel Raney and Sabrina Lamar. Also, one of the school’s staff members — Amber Crispell — helped pick up some of the slack.

Thanks to all of you!!

A paid garden intern harvested with summer-program students.

For six weeks, our intern — sixth-grader Randy — spent three to four hours each week working in the garden with elementary students. Because Randy is bilingual, he was able to communicate with students in Spanish or English.

On some days, he guided students in picking and tasting vegetables. On other days, they explored the smells in the herb garden — chocolate mint, orange mint, bronze fennel, lemon balm… Each week, he put out extra harvested vegetables for families and teachers to take home.

Teachers led students in cooking the food from the garden.

During the literacy bridge program, teachers and students made baked eggplant, fresh tomato sauce, and tomato-and-basil mini-pizzas. After eating the eggplant, one student told his teacher, “I’m gonna ask my mom to get this at the store, because I know how to make it.” (That’s a garden success, if you ask me.)

Teachers don’t have to do anything in the garden, of course. After all, students are attending a literacy program, not a cooking program. But these extraordinary teachers have found a way to integrate outdoor education, nutrition and literacy — through cooking.

We prepped for the fall.

Summer is incredibly busy when you’re gardening, because everything grows like it’s on steroids. It takes a major effort simply to water, weed and harvest. By mid-summer, though, I start thinking about what needs to be done so that the garden is ready for students’ return.

This year, that meant re-painting the plant signage. Ms. Vejvoda and her students led the painting effort, and several students (Thomas Doughty, Elijah Parish and Aiden Lamar) finished the job by hammering the pieces together. You can now see them dotting the garden beds.

A high school student built a large compost bin as his Eagle Scout project. So now, students at George Watts can learn how to make their own composted soil. You can find the super-cool compost bin in the courtyard garden, under the trees.

And our fabulous landscapers — Katherine and Jonah of Tributary — replenished materials for our walking path and rebuilt beds for our playground. The old beds were starting to crumble. Check the beds out next time you’re walking to school!

Fall plants and seeds go in the ground this month!

We’re planting some heirloom varieties this fall, including French Breakfast radishes, Green Hubbard winter squash, Bloomsdale Long Standing spinach, and Nantes Scarlet carrots. We’ll also put in a couple of different lettuces, broccoli and cilantro.

Over the past month, our school took part in three big events that attempted to answer these questions. This year, especially, we’re reaching outside our school to share best practices with other schools and organizations.

1. Two of our teachers presented at the American Montessori Society’s annual conference in San Francisco. As honors go, this was a huge one — for our teachers, our school and our garden. Lauren Vejvoda (Lower El) and Amanda Watson (Primary) gave a stellar performance, according to eye witnesses. You can check out their slide deck here.

Amanda Watson and Lauren Vejvoda leading a session at the national Montessori conference

2. I presented a session, called “Growing School Gardens and Gardeners,” at the recent Dig In conference in Raleigh. The conference is organized by the fabulous Advocates for Health in Action. I met some eager and engaged teachers, volunteers and chefs who are trying to launch their own garden projects in this region of N.C. You can see my slide deck here.

3. Our school garden received a visit by Will Allen of Milwaukee’s Growing Power. You may have heard of him, if you’re involved in the food movement, because he’s a bit of a rock star. He sat down with a Lower El class for an in-depth conversation about composting. Then he did a presentation and Q&A with the entire school, facilitated by youth from SEEDS’ DIG program, about why and how urban agriculture can empower communities.

Mr. Allen was recovering from knee surgery, but even so, he took a stroll through the garden and talked urban agriculture with us. He was more than a little jealous that we already have snap peas growing this time of year. (Not so in still-cold Milwaukee.) Here’s what the day looked like:

Chatting with Lower El about what happens during composting, at a microscopic level.

Doing some Q&A with the students

Will Allen with teens from SEEDS

Flaking Mr. Allen: GW Principal Patti Crum, and DPS school board members Heidi Carter and Minnie Forte-Brown

Garden tour!

“A beautifully prepared environment, where deliberate thought has gone into everything from the garden paths to the plates on the tables, communicates to children that we care about them.” –Alice Waters

We were lucky to have Duke student Morgan Carney with us last semester. Morgan did a photojournalism project (http://wondersofwatts.com/grow-watts-grow/) on our school’s garden-and-cooking project for a class she takes at Duke University. Her professor, Susie Post Rust, is a George Watts parent. The end result speaks for itself.

Ingredients:

8 ounces of chickpeas
1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 lemon
1 to 2 tablespoons of cold water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
2 carrots, grated or sliced thin
3 pita pockets
6 lettuce leaves

Directions:

1. Add the chickpeas and garlic to a blender. Blend until the beans break apart.

2. Grate and juice lemon. Add the oil, lemon juice and grated lemon peel to the blender and blend.

3. Add the water, 1 tablespoon at a time, to the hummus until it is a good consistency.

4. Add the salt, pepper and cumin, and blend until completely smooth.

5. Cut the pita pockets in half and spoon 2 tablespoons of hummus into each half. Divvy up carrots and lettuce, and add to pockets.

Ingredients:

1 cup canned sweet corn
3/4 cup canned black beans
1/2 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1 cup grated feta cheese
2 tablespoons green or red pepper, chopped
1 tablespoon red onion
1 whole avocado

2 tablespoons cilantro, shredded into small pieces
1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice
1/8 teaspoons minced garlic
1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Combine all salad ingredients in a bowl and mix.

2. Combine all dressing ingredients in a mason jar and shake until mixed.

3. Pour dressing on salad and enjoy!

Ingredients:

6 large leaves of kale
1 tablespoon finely shopped shallot
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup grated ricotta salata or feta cheese
1/2 apple, chopped

Directions:

1. Wash 6 large leaves of kale and shake dry. Remove stems, break into small bite-sized pieces, and place in large bowl. (Tip: To remove leaves from the stem, pinch the stem between two fingertips at the base of the leaf. Apply some pressure and slide your fingers up the stem. Leaves come right off.)

2. Add to a mason jar the lemon juice, salt, pepper and olive oil.

3. Chop shallots and add to mason jar. Shake jar until dressing is well mixed.

4. Sprinkle cheese over the kale.

5. Sprinkle apple pieces on top of kale.

6. Pour salad dressing on top. Enjoy.

Two things to keep in mind for the new year: First, as food guru Mark Bittman says, Eat more plants. Second, as our school nutritionist says, try to vary the protein you eat.

Here’s one great recipe that deliciously accomplishes both. My older daughter was among the students who begged for seconds, when her classroom made this dish during cooking class.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup soy sauce
2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon minced ginger
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/3 block firm or extra-firm tofu, well pressed and cut into 1 inch cubes
1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil
1/2 cup broccoli, chopped
1 carrot, sliced
1/4 onion, chopped
1/3 bell pepper, any color, sliced
2 cups collards, torn into bite-sized pieces
1/3 cup mushrooms, sliced (any kind)
1 green onion (scallions), sliced
2 cups rice, pre-cooked

Directions:

1. In a large shallow bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, lemon juice and ginger. Marinade the tofu in this sauce for at least one hour.

2. In a wok or large skillet, cook the broccoli, carrots, onion, bell pepper, collards, and tofu over high heat, stirring frequently.

3. Add the mushrooms, green onion and marinade from the tofu. Allow to cook for just a few more minutes. Vegetables should be tender but not soft.

4. Add the rice and cook just until heated through and well mixed.