Farm to Table

Last week the K-1 class was fortunate to be able to spend the morning down at Katchkie Farm in beautiful Columbia County.  It is an organic farm with a children's learning garden, animals, an outdoor kitchen (and on-site chef!), and gorgeous views of the surrounding Catskill mountains.  We arrived at the farm and were given a wonderful overview of how a seed starts out, and what it needs to grow - air, soil, water, sun.  To reinforce this idea, the kids (and parents) played an interactive game together.  Next children were guided into a greenhouse where nasturtiums and all sorts of tomatoes were growing on trellises from the ceiling. They were encouraged to try the nasturtium flowers (which were declared a bit too spicy) and pick super sweet cherry tomatoes directly from the vines.   The kids loved walking through the "tomato jungle"  sampling as they went.

Getting an overview before exploring the "tomato jungle."

Here we go!

Peaking out 

After this we walked past rows of colorful zinnias, just beginning to fade with the cooler fall temperatures. These vibrant rows of annual flowers planted along the pathways attracted moths, bees, and butterflies. Children delighted in noticing the monarch butterflies darting and briefly resting on the beautiful blooms.  We gathered at a small area that held the farm animals.  There were chickens with beautiful feathers, pigs, and two friendly sheep.  We split into half groups - some of us were introduced to the chickens, having a chance to hold one and collect the colorful eggs inside the small, cozy chicken coop.  The other group met and fed the pigs and held out apple cores for the two sheep to enjoy.  Meeting and interacting with the animals provided yet another layer of learning on this interactive trip.

Zinnias!! 

We meet some chickens

Look, I can hold one! 

Getting acquainted with a new friend

This is fun! 

I found a feather! 

View from the chicken coop

A friendly sheep

We then made our way down to the children's learning garden - an acre plot of all types of vegetables, flowers, and fruits.  The kids learned about the various things that were growing, and harvested kale, carrots, kohlrabi, ground cherries, and tiny, speckled cranberry beans.  Most of these ingredients would later be used in the lunch that we would prepare and eat as a group.  It was amazing to watch how fascinated the children became when given the opportunity to pick and subsequently try these vegetables.  After pulling a kohlrabi directly from the ground, the children were bursting with enthusiasm to try this new food.  Had this been given to them at dinner with no prior exposure or experience, I highly doubt their reactions would be the same.  Orange, purple, and white carrots were pulled from the ground, then sliced up and given to the children to sample.  Again, the kids acted as if these were the best things they ever tasted.  They picked tiny ground cherries off the ground - little jewels of fruit hiding beneath a papery husk. "Mmmmm......I love these!"  was the consensus from the kids.  We picked sunflower seeds nestled in the dried up flower heads of a sunflower - kids worked hard to crack open the hard exterior to reveal a tiny seed inside.  Again, the question was, "Can we eat these too?"  The enthusiasm for trying these wonderful things growing from the earth was clearly contagious.

Shelling the cranberry beans

Check out this carrot! 

Harvesting beans

Kale growing in the children's garden

Sunflower seeds

Cranberry beans 

Carrots! 

Picking a kohlrabi

After spending time harvesting and learning about the growing cycle of these vegetables, it was time to cook! We headed down to an outdoor kitchen - complete with a wood fired oven, multiple burners for cooking, work surfaces, and rows of bright orange picnic tables where we would later share and enjoy a meal as a community.  Children got right to work slicing apples and pears to be cooked down into a sweet apple sauce, and spiralizing the same brightly colored carrots they had picked only moments ago. Purple kale was washed and cut to be included in the soup, and eggs from the chickens were hard boiled to later be placed upon colorful carrot "nests." The children (and parents) worked under the guidance of the two farm chefs - learning how to properly hold a knife and the apples so they would remain stable on the cutting board, and how to use a spiralizer to create long, curly, strips of carrots.  Soon the outdoor kitchen filled with the delicious smells of soup and apple-pear sauce the children had helped to make.

The outdoor kitchen 

Cutting apples 

Spiralizing carrots 

Beans ready to go into the soup 

Beautiful, purple kale harvested for our soup 

Working together 

A peak into the applesauce

Ready to use the spiralizer

Slicing carrots 

Waiting for lunch 

Stunning views from the kitchen

We sat down to a first course of a perfectly hard boiled egg sprinkled with sea salt and then placed on top of a multicolored carrot nest.  Kids gobbled these up and lined up for seconds.  The kale and bean soup was then ladled into our bowls - steaming hot, with freshly grated Parmesan cheese floating on the surface.  It was amazing to see how much the children enjoyed a lunch prepared by them with the ingredients they had picked and learned about that very day.  Many of the children asked for seconds and thirds - hungry from our morning outdoors and eager to try something they had invested so much personal energy into.  We ended our meal with a wholesome dessert of warm apple-pear sauce - which was happily eaten by all the children.

Choosing the colorful carrots to create our "nests" 

Soup! 

Enjoying the applesauce

While this trip wasn't purposely planned to introduce and encourage children to try new foods, it definitely served that purpose.  Getting their hands muddy, digging in the soil to find a carrot, or opening up pods of beans or husks of ground cherries, inspired a curiosity that couldn't be ignored.  Tasting things that you've picked and sliced is something all together different that being presented with a meal that has no personal experience behind it.  I was pleasantly surprised to hear many of the kids declare kohlrabi as their favorite new vegetable, or find my own daughter asking for seconds of a kale and bean soup.  In addition, coming together as a community to eat and enjoy a meal that was prepared collectively is a worthwhile and powerful experience.  I'm confident this will be a trip that will be remembered for a long time.

The outdoor cooking and eating area

Breathtaking views from the farm

"The Sylvia Center at Katchkie Farm: inspiring children to eat well"

View of the pond, from the farm kitchen