Station 14 – Food
WHAT WE EAT AND HOW WE GET IT
Did you know that the path from Daisy Hopscotch takes you past the Garfield School Garden? The on-site garden is managed by the WSU Extension SNAP-Ed. They teach food production and cooking to children throughout the school year and summer.
GARFIELD SCHOOL GARDEN
Hello and thank you for stopping by the Garfield Garden! The Garfield Garden is a very special place and the biggest school garden in Olympia! Students enjoy tasting different produce we grow in the garden and tending to the garden during work parties on the weekends and with their classrooms. One of the best ways we use the garden is via our five senses tour. Can you explore the garden using your five senses? What do you see? What do you smell? What can you hear? Is there anything you can taste? What do the plants feel like?
What would you grow in your garden? Have you ever grown a zucchini? Have you ever tasted a zucchini? What do you think it tastes like? How long do you think it takes to grow a zucchini from seed? (Guess what? It takes 45 to 55 days for a zucchini to grow! You can even wait until August to plant for an early fall harvest!)
What can you do with zucchini? How about making Zucchini Pizza Boats with an adult?
MAKE YOUR OWN BUTTER!
Check out this great video from PBS to make your own butter in five easy steps!
Or…Make your own edible Slime!
OLYMPIA SCHOOL DISTRICT FOOD PANTRY
Did you know Garfield Elementary has a community food pantry? Located right next to the garden is the entrance into the gym. In this entrance is a small foyer with a storage closet. The school uses this closet as the Community Pantry. They collect food donations throughout the year and every Friday they hand out bags of canned/boxed food to Garfield Elementary families. Garfield has the highest percentage of students who qualify for free and reduced lunch in the district.
GRuB!
Not all foods come from planted gardens. Garden Raised Urban Bounty (GRuB) has information on Wild Foods and Medicine – plants and trees that have been in our community long before we were, important to Indigenous peoples for generations, namely Squaxin peoples of this region, and are natural food and medicine!
GRuB has a Wild Foods and Medicines Free Resource Page. You can find it HERE
They also have a Wild Berries Tool Kit with ID cards, games, and recipes. You can find it HERE
GRuB is a non-profit here in West Olympia which provides free resources about this amazing life all around us!
A Snowy Day on the GRuB Farm
Smiling Participants in GruB’s Wild Foods and Medicines Workshop
GRuB’s Youth Program Participants
BOOKS TO READ TOGETHER
In the Garden by Emma Giuliani
Marvelous wonders await in this extraordinary garden book. From season to season, children follow the life of a garden as each page reveals new treasures hiding under lift-up flaps. Peek inside the curious tulip bulb and discover the peas inside a peapod. Watch a ladybug help with pesky aphids and search for ripe strawberries under the leaves. Rich in detail, Emma Giuliani’s bright, immersive illustrations and flaps in fantastic shapes, sizes, and colors carry the reader into the enchanted world of gardening. Discovering different facets of the garden-fauna, flora, and the work necessary to help it grow and thrive-will delight gardeners of all ages.
Find the Library book HERE.
Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert
While teaching upper- and lowercase letters to preschoolers, Ehlert introduces fruits and vegetables from around the world. A glossary at the end provides interesting facts about each food.
Find the Library book HERE.