Soil To Snack

As graduate students, we are assigned the role of "liaison" at two or three schools who will be visiting IslandWood. During our non-teaching weeks (every other week) we visit our liaison schools to do observations, lessons, activities, orientations, or simply to tag along on a field trip as an additional chaperone. When our liaison school comes to IslandWood, we substitute our teaching week for a week of support and professional development closely interacting with the students, chaperones, and teachers. This past week North Beach Elementary School, of which I am a liaison, visited IslandWood and I had the privilege of floating from group to group and really learning a lot from colleagues. One of my highlights came from observing an lesson called Soil To Snack.

Soil To Snack is a fairly self-explanatory lesson. The students are introduced to IslandWood's garden and proceed to collecting various vegetables that will later be used to create a snack. Once the group has gathered enough, they head to the dining hall where our incredibly talented chef, Chris Agnew, guides them through the process of creating a delicious dish. This weeks dish was Potato Gnocchi with a Stinging Nettle sauce.

  

Chris showing everyone how to prepare the Nettles.

  

Students rolling, rolling, rolling the Gnocchi dough.

  

Once it's rolled, students carefully cut their strand into bite-sized pieces.

  

The finished product. Potato Gnocchi with a Stinging Nettle sauce, topped with goat cheese and sprouts. Yum!

"Wow something that was so commonly known to hurt me, I never knew it could taste so good!"
- North Beach Elementary Student

For more information about IslandWood's garden or if you'd like some new exciting recipes,  please visit our Garden Blog!

Riley