Taste Test Tuesday

Teachers eating apples. Principals eating apples. Kids eating apples. What could be better on a September afternoon?
On Tuesday September 23, the members of the Robert Erskine PTO and the board of the Ringwood Farmers' Market teamed up to sponsor a Taste Test Tuesday. Eat Local School Garden Coordinator Kathryn Grant headed up the team with the help of Jeannine Sheerin and Joli Sepcia. They had a table, baskets of apples, and a photo display of the apple orchard where the apples were picked.

On the playground during recess, they offered students a taste of four types of apples. Each student considered the flavors and chose their favorite. Can you picture the first graders chewing carefully each little slice, evaluating the differences, and trying to decide which apple really was the best one?

The overall winner of the taste test was the Honey Crisp apple, which beat out Cortland, MacIntosh, and Gala. Kathryn was sure to mention that these were available at the farmers' market--of course it'd be hard to find Honey Crisp apples anyplace else!

When we thought up the event, we wanted it to plant the seeds of understanding about biodiversity and food security. Although they may not have learned the word biodiversity, they clearly gathered the differences between the apple varieties. They were surprised at the different flavors and chose their favorite carefully. The team plans a repeat visit in Early October—this time with pear varieties. We're also hoping to do the same event at Cooper Elementary School. Stay tuned!

School Garden Update

On Monday, September 15^th, the team from the Erskine PTO and Eat Local helped Mrs. Shauten’s first graders start a fall garden in the Erskine school garden. The children pulled the dead plants and weeds from the soil. They discovered that several radish plants had gone to seed. They pulled the radishes, and harvested their seed pods. The radish seeds will be dried and saved to be replanted in the spring. The children used hand trowels to loosen the soil. They discovered the creatures living in the garden, including spiders, grubs, worms, and insects. They created a plants-only compost heap, and marked it with a sign next to the garden. Finally, the children each planted three spinach seeds making a total of three rows. The class will watch the growth of the spinach and when it’s ready, they’ll harvest the fall crop and enjoy a healthy feast.

Third graders in Mrs. Odgers’ class planted a fall crop in the butterfly garden. The children learned how to prevent erosion on slopes and how to enrich the soil with a “green manure” crop, winter rye. In the spring, the rye will be cut, and the roots will be permitted to rot into the soil, adding vital organic matter to the sunny butterfly garden. The children discovered new caterpillars munching on parsley. They released milkweed seeds into the wind, and they observed other garden residents, such as spiders, birds, and ants.