I feel like I just sound repetitive but we did have yet another great week with the ‘Kids in the Garden’ program.  It was a bit warm but the kids held out just fine as did the adults.

Ashley Hagenow was our fantastic photographer once again this week.

We had to start by measuring how much the sunflowers have grown.  Just a few of the kids headed into the field because – I know, this may shock you all – it was muddy!  There was rain!  In fact, our little gnome buddy hat 4.2-inches of rain!  Woo Hoo!   Anyway – the sunflowers measured on average around 55 inches – 14 inches since last weeks measurement!Next we headed out to check out the gardens.  Along the way we made sure to collect some veggies that were ready so we could let the kids sample during our ‘snack’ time. We decided that we didn’t just want round pumpkins at the orchard this year.  We’re going to see if we can grow a triangular one… And a square one!  I think it’s going to be fun to see what happens as they grow and I know the kids are excited too! Our little ‘Duck Race’ Garden is growing like crazy.  The tomato plants seem to be overtaking the peppers a bit…oh well!

Once the kids checked out all the gardens, did a little weeding, and helped collect the ripe veggies we headed to the shady lean to do a little sampling.

First – the kids all got to try a few slices of apples.  There are just a few ready and later when we did the poll all the kids liked the apple they ate!  (I’ll admit…the Paula Red was too tart for me…)

Next, Diane prepared a quick little recipe:

Wilted Swiss Chard with Fresh Basil

Serves 2

30 minutes or fewer

This makes a lively and colorful vegetable side dish.

2 Tbs. olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
6 to 7 large Swiss chard leaves, rinsed and coarsely chopped
¼ cup chopped fresh basil plus whole leaves for garnish, optional
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Fresh lemon juice to taste

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, chard and basil, and
cook just until the chard begins to wilt, for about 5 minutes. Add salt, pepper and lemon juice.

Garnish with basil, if using, and serve warm.

Of the kids that tried the Wilted Swiss Chard with Fresh Basil – ALL of them liked it!  (we had a few kids late coming so they didn’t have a chance to try it…I’m sure they would have liked it too).

Unfortunately, we didn’t have the same results with the pepper and onion taste tests as we did the apples and Swiss Chard.  The biggest problem was getting the kids to even try these vegetables.  We found that at least one child in the group liked the onion and pepper and one other at least tried them.  Next week we have to come up with some sort of reward or incentive to at least ‘try’ the veggies.  To be a good example for my daughters, I even tried the onion and peppers.  Don’t tell Jared…but the onion wasn’t too too bad…a  bit strong but better than I thought it would be!

Pip took an early nap on Thursday so we had the joy of having her join us on our journey through the gardens.  Ashley tried to get a great picture of her and I think this one is pretty cute!  Pip LOVES apples…in fact…she may take after her grandma van because when she’s done there is pretty much just some seeds left!

The final ‘lesson’ of our ‘Kids in the Garden’ day was to meet our newest addition – bunny Pongo.