At a recent teacher-garden workshop hosted by the Princeton Public Library, Sharon Goldman, principal at Community Park Elementary School, explained her evolution to enthusiastic booster of the gardens and food-based learning. The workshop, conducted by Dorothy Mullen and Diane Landis of the Princeton School Gardens Cooperative, drew 80 participants from the mid-Atlantic region.
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NJ Farm to School Network
This group works to improve school food, promote locally grown produce and educate through school gardens. Directed by Beth Feehan, the 501c3 gathers leaders in the field: Dorothy Mullen, master gardener and co-founder of the Princeton School Gardens Cooperative; Gary Giberson, of Sustainable Fare and executive chef at Lawrenceville School; Lisanne Finston, executive director of Elijah's Promise in New Brunswick; Sal Valenza, food service director of West New York, NJ, school district, and Meredith Taylor, director of urban agriculture and environmental education, at Isles, in Trenton. For more information, visit the website, http://www.njfarmtoschool.org.
Chef Gary, Jersey corn and an Italian specialty star at April’s Garden State on Your Plate
Chef Gary Giberson, of Sustainable Fare and Lawrenceville School, is cooking up New Jersey's famous corn from Oak Grove Plantation in Pittstown for April's Garden State on Your Plate events.
Parents are invited to join their children for polenta tastings during lunchtime on Wednesday, April 6, at Community Park Elementary School, and on Wednesday, April 13, at Littlebrook Elementary School.
He will be serving two versions, a sweet and savory. He suggests topping the sweet version with fruit puree or jam, and the savory version with stew, tomato sauce or pesto. Here are the recipes:
Chef Gary’s Sweet Creamy Polenta (Gary Giberson, Sustainable Fare)
Makes 12 four-ounce portions
- 4 cups water
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup cornmeal (yellow or white)
- 4 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Directions:
- Bring water to a boil in a heavy bottom 4-quart saucepan.
- Add sugar and cream.
- Whisking constantly, add cornmeal in a slow steady stream until all is incorporated.
- Add butter, cinnamon and nutmeg and stir with a wooden kitchen spoon until well incorporated.
- Lower heat and continue cooking, stirring with spoon until consistency is dense but still pourable (around 10 minutes).
- Serve by placing in a large bowl and garnish by drizzling with raspberry sauce or other fruit sauce.
Chef Gary’s Creamy Polenta
Makes 12 four-ounce portions
- 4 cups water
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup cornmeal (yellow or white)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions:
- Bring water to boil in a heavy bottom 4-quart saucepan.
- Add salt and cream.
- Whisking constantly, add the cornmeal in a slow steady stream until all is incorporated.
- Add butter, and stir with a wooden kitchen spoon until well incorporated.
- Lower heat and continue cooking, stirring with spoon until consistency is dense but still pourable (around 10 minutes).
- Remove heat and stir in parmesan cheese.
- Serve by placing in a large bowl and garnish by drizzling with basil pesto or other savory sauces.
— Gary Giberson, Sustainable Fare & the Lawrenceville School
Give peas a chance
Mike McGrath, host of "You Bet Your Garden," on WHYY and former editor of Organic Gardening magazine, reminds us that Thursday, March 17 is the day to plant peas. But as with most gardening projects, there's a bit of preparation to be done ahead of time. To give peas a chance in Princeton, here are his tips: http://www.whyy.org/91FM/ybyg/plantingpeas.html.
List of food books and films
Recommendations collected by Philip A. Howard, an assistant professor at Michigan State University: https://www.msu.edu/~howardp/booksfilms.html
Flatbread and Flavor of the Garden State
Sweet potatoes and maple syrup were flavors of the day at Littlebrook Elementary School, where Chef Christopher Albrecht of Eno Terra Restaurant in Kingston, NJ, visited for the March Garden State on Your Plate event. He and the restaurant's events planner, Melissa, assisted by parent volunteers, served up tasting portions of the Italian flatbread to children in grades K-5.
Chef Christopher's recipe begins with a yeast dough, but if time is short, consider substituting a ready-made pizza dough, typically found in the refrigerator section of the supermarket.
This yeast bread is easy but requires planning ahead. First, bake the sweet potatoes (425 degrees on a baking pan – pierced before cooking) and fry the bacon, if using. If you’re using active dry yeast for the first time, try this tip: Measure the water in advance and let it come to room temperature on the counter while the potatoes bake.
Chef Christopher’s Sweet Potato-Fennel Focaccia with Maple Syrup
Makes a flat loaf about 13 inches by 18 inches
- 1½ cups water (100-110 degrees F)
- ¼ cup olive oil + additional for finishing
- 4 cups bread flour (or multipurpose white unbleached flour)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 2 bulbs fennel, trimmed to white part, cut lengthwise and then ¼-inch thick
- 1 pound sweet potatoes, baked, cooled, peeled and cut to ¼-inch slices)
- 4 ounces maple syrup
- Optional garnishes: Smoked bacon or jalapenos!
Directions:
- In medium mixing bowl or in work bowl of food processor, combine water and ¼ cup olive oil.
- Add flour, salt and yeast. Using dough hook of stand mixer or food processor, mix for 8 minutes, or knead by hand for about 12 minutes.
- Drizzle olive oil into large mixing bowl. Add dough to bowl, swirl by hand and flip upside down, so oiled surface faces up. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest in a sheltered, warm spot for about an hour.
- Punch dough down and remove from bowl. Oil baking sheet, and stretch dough to roughly fit.
- Add fennel and sweet potatoes. Drizzle with maple syrup, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for about 45 minutes.
- Heat oven to 425 degrees. Bake focaccia for about 12 to 18 minutes, or until bread is puffed and golden and juices are bubbling.
- Let cool in the pan for about five minutes, then remove from pan to wire rack for cooling.
— Christopher Albrecht, Eno Terra Restaurant, Kingston, NJ
Garden artist in residence
Dorothy Mullen, co-founder of the Princeton School Gardens Cooperative, was named “garden artist in residence” at Riverside School. Her new program “Healthy Children, Healthy Planet” represents a policy shift in school garden participation at Riverside. For the first time since she started the program in 2001, every child in the school pre-K to 5 will participate in six to 12 classes per year (and more for the younger children). She’ll be training Master Gardeners and community volunteers who want to learn gardening in the school setting. Teacher workshops, garden lessons and free tours will resume in March. Call Dorothy to schedule: (609) 683-8309.
NYT: High school gardening – for credit
From the piece: Starting this week at Princeton Public High School, students can take gym class in the garden.
“I think it’s strangely enjoyable,” said Tim Vasseur, a Princeton sophomore, shovel in hand. “It’s definitely not easy to do or anything like that.”
Advocates for greener schools believe this is the first time public school students will receive physical education credit for garden work. The idea was conceived by Matt Wilkinson, a physical education teacher and a former wrestling coach who also has a background in horticulture.
“We’re giving students another option to mainstream physical education,” Mr. Wilkinson said. “How long is somebody going to play basketball or soccer? Gardening they can do their whole lives.”
Last fall, members of the community raised $1,500 and constructed 16 raised garden beds on school property. Now that it’s spring, students will get to work planting seeds, weeding, and turning compost.
“It gives people who aren’t that athletic — and I feel like I’m not — it gives them an opportunity to do something else,” said Kruthi Isola, a sophomore. “You learn how to do more than just play a game.”
NYT: Sowing the seeds of gardening
From the piece: Welcome to the Princeton School Gardens program. Here, children regularly work in one of the district’s 15 gardens during school hours, preparing garden beds, planting herbs and vegetables and harvesting them when they are ripe. The students eat raspberries from their own raspberry plants, sample cherry tomatoes off the vine and take bok choy, kale and cabbage home to cook and eat.
“We made sure that everything in our herb garden was edible, and when the children go out there, you can see them eating fistfuls of flowers and plants — they’re just munching them right on the spot,” said Dorothy Mullen, a parent who was the driving force behind the school gardens project in Princeton, which started seven years ago.
Native berry adds color, surprise to school cafeterias
Rob Harbison, chef at Princeton University, introduced elementary students to cranberries three ways for the December tasting – raw, in fresh cranberry sauce, and as sorbet – with apple cider, honey and a bit of sugar syrup – created by Gab Carbone of the bent spoon ice cream in Princeton.
Fresh Cranberry Sauce
- 1 pound cranberries, rinsed and picked over
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 cinnamon stick
Combine all ingredients. Boil until berries burst. Store in refrigerator