GAP Grows Green! And yellow and red and more!

By Andrew Schmidt, GAP Coordinator

Iceberg, Kale and Chard….oh my! These greens are but a mere fraction of the staggering amount and variety of past harvests, as well as harvests to come at our GAP Program garden. Every Wednesday, a group of students accompany our horticulturalists Dave Rude to our garden where they learn the process of sewing seeds, planting seedlings, thinning out certain crops, correct watering methods, and of course how to harvest all organic vegetables that we produce. We have previously harvested early girl, cherry and beef steak tomatoes as well as squash, radishes, corn and snow peas. We have also harvested herbs such as parsley, chives, cilantro and mint, many of which GAP members use to cook at home.

More recently, GAP has begun an integration of farming and cooking with our “Farm to Table” program which blends both the understanding of how our organic vegetables are produced, in addition to recipes and cooking techniques that compliment what we harvested. GAP member Kelsey Gibson had the pleasure of being one of the first to experience this process. She stated, “My favorite part of the garden to table experience was learning how to saute the Swiss Chard that we grew in our tower garden. It was an awesome project that I hope to learn more from!” Not only can the experience of growing organically benefit the GAP member’s understanding of the extensive labor involved with producing clean vegetables we take for granted in the aisles of our local grocery store, but also, they can benefit greatly from the knowledge and personal observation of why it is so important to eat green and live well. With carrots, kale, broccoli, and cauliflower just around the corner, it’s obvious that more fun and learning is yet to be had.

See more pictures here!