Sonoma school gardens continue to grow

We now have thriving vegetable and flower gardens in all of our public schools, and some are so successful that they are selling vegetables at the Friday farmers market, at their schools, and even donating several flats of starter vegetables to Sonoma Raceway.

And why would they give plants to a raceway? As a full circle act of gratitude.

Three years ago Sonoma Raceway president Steve Page arranged to give the Sonoma school gardens program 90 trees that NASCAR donates to communities where they race, with the help of UPS and the Arbor Society. When the program requested all fruit trees for the schools, the Arbor Society delivered, and most of the trees have survived the drought. So agriculture teacher Karling Skoglund thought it would be great to have Sonoma Valley High School ag students grow starter plants from seed and donate them to the raceway’s newish garden, which then-culinary director Victoria Campbell started.

Now Adele Harrison and Altimira middle schools share a highly successful booth at the Friday Farmers Market at the Depot Park/Arnold Field parking lot. Students and teachers sell vegetables they have grown in their school gardens, as well as edible pumpkins and squashes.

Dutch Van Herwynen’s horticulture classes spend lots of time learning about plants, growing them from seed and nurturing, eating, cooking and selling them. Science, math, English, art and cooking are all skills learned in the process. As is true in all 10 of Sonoma’s public school gardens.

Prestwood School garden is finally getting going after years of neglect, thanks to Sarah Anderson, who has sent her crew in to clean up and create planter boxes with starter vegetables and soil donated by Erik Garcia at Sonoma Materials.

School district food manager Cody Williams hosted folks from the Center for Eco Literacy last week at Altimira where he and the kitchen staff made Mindful Meat tacos with cheese and shredded lettuces, pico de gallo made by students, and Spanish rice, Napa cabbage slaw, cucumbers, jicama, cilantro and lime juice. So far Williams is using grass-fed Mindful Meats at Adele and Altimira middle schools.

And the private Crescent Montessori School has its own terrific garden behind its Sonoma Community Center location where students have grown, picked and served salsa and other dishes as part of their learning experience.