After weeks of tending the gardens, preschool students are starting to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Recently, I stopped by a few schools to see different ways teachers are incorporating the garden into their lessons for the day.

Ms. Hamme’s classroom at St Joseph Catholic school learned about a popular Mexican snack their teacher had as a child growing up in Mexico: squash blossom tacos.

To recreate this dish each student harvested and prepared a squash blossom and added Mexican cheese to their tortilla shell.   Hearing about their teacher’s childhood growing up in Mexico and trying this unique snack was both fun for the teacher and students.

Ms. Mank’s classroom from St Patricks’ Catholic school ELC enjoyed making a Radish Dip with the radishes they harvested.  They each tried a dollop, dipping their lettuce and carrots into the healthy dip.

Ms. Patricia’s students at Richardson ECC were shocked to find carrots they had planted last spring still growing and ready to harvest.  Each student took a turn pulling out carrots and they filled Ms. Patricia’s apron full.

Then Ms. Patricia had a great idea to turn their harvest into a simple math lesson.  Students measured the carrots with a ruler and decided which carrot grew the longest and the shortest.  After all the carrots were measured and recorded they washed the carrots and tried a bite.

If you would like to tell us about your lessons in the garden send pictures with a short summary to your Schoolyard Garden Assistant.  We would love to hear about your successful garden stories!