Hands-on ‘farm to table’ learning in Sonoma

The coursework has expanded to include knife skills, food preparation, service and nutrition.|

Altimira Middle School horticulture teacher Dutch Van Herwynen has a long history of innovative work with his elective classes. This year, his four popular sections are now called Farm to Table. He is joined by garden coordinator Kimberly Weber every Thursday and Friday, when she teaches the cooking portion of the elective.

“We highlight produce from our farm in each weekly recipe,” Weber said.

The students learn knife skills, food preparation, service and nutrition.

“I love that we are enjoying recipes from around the world with organic produce that is in season and literally harvested hours, if not minutes, before,” she said. “This is really expanding their palates.”

Last week, students worked on cutting vegetables into julienne strips, timing of sautéing harder vegetables such as carrots and celery first and adding the softer ones at the end. The prior week the class made cream of broccoli soup using an immersion blender.

The students are also currently producing a cookbook with all the recipes they use, including Moroccan lentils with kale, fresh Thai spring rolls with a miso ginger dressing, corn potato chowder with green chilies, ramen with miso broth and veggies, Korean green onion pancakes with ginger dressing, curry and fresh turmeric winter squash over quinoa, and more.

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