Edible Schoolyard Journal

This week, 8th graders are marking the close of their Edible Schoolyard experience with unforgettable pizzas made from scratch and cooked in the wood-fired oven. The garden is filled with the mouthwatering fragrance of pesto, caramelized onions, aromatic herbs, and garlic. Some students shared that they have been waiting for this moment since the 6th grade!

We began with an opening circle in the ramada, then split into three groups that rotated through various stations of pizza making. One group of students began in the kitchen. They harvested and prepared fresh toppings from the garden, including fresh marjoram, thyme, collard greens, and scallions. They also prepared dough for the following class, mixing together yeast, flour, salt, and extra-virgin olive oil and kneading the pliant dough into rounds. In between tasks, students were encouraged to create a reflection card encouraging them to draw or write their most memorable experience or lesson learned during their time in the kitchen and garden.

A second group began with building its own pizzas. Students shaped the dough and brushed the surface with garlic-infused olive oil. With a partner, they picked toppings of their choice: fresh eggs, herbs and greens from the garden, mozzarella, thin rounds of summer squash, kalamata olives, or tomato sauce and pesto students made earlier in the fall. Some pizzas were creatively shaped as a cat’s head or an alligator; others were dressed simply with cheese, garlic, and olive oil.

One corner of the garden was devoted solely to grinding grain into flour. Students furiously threshed wheat grown in the garden, releasing the wheat from the chaff. The wheat berries were then ground into flour using three different “technologies”–an ancient mortar and pestle, a hand mill, and a grain bike that produced fine flour. This station brought the experience full circle, bringing students into the creation of pizza from flour, to dough, to finished product.

At the closing circle, students responded to the question, “What wisdom would you pass on to an incoming 6th grader about the Edible Schoolyard?” Their responses resonated even beyond King Middle School:

“Try something new, even if you don’t like how it looks. You might be surprised that it tastes good.”

“Remember to have fun and don’t let the time pass by too fast.”

“Don’t wear your best shoes.”

This pizza party is a celebration of the students’ hard work in the garden and skills learned in the kitchen. It is also a time to mark the 8th grade students’ continuation on their journey into high school and the years beyond. Down the road, I hope we continue to hear from them and see them return to this garden and kitchen that their hands and hearts have helped to create.

Grinding the grain

Kneading the dough

Rolling the dough

Picking toppings

Raw pizza

Going in the oven

Ready to eat