The Kitchen Garden

Spring 2009

Tsugumi picks up the offending piece of green bean, pokes it out towards me and declares, “I don’t need the green one!”

Tsugumi is my 6-year-old student at Sunny-Side Up!—the English Immersion Preschool/Kindergarten I run in the Saitama countryside.  I have made macaroni and cheese for lunch and served alongside, is a small pile of my husband’s first-of-the-season green beans that we picked that morning.  I boiled the beans for exactly 2 minutes and drizzled them with organic olive oil.  I know they are beyond delicious—they will knock her socks off.

 “Just try one, please, Tadaaki grew them for you!”

Screwing up her face, Tsugumi pops a small segment in her mouth.  Slowly she chews, then her whole face alight with pleasure bursts out, “They’re yummy!   They’re so, so, sooooo yummy!”   And she promptly goes back for more.  In fact, she ends up going back 8 times, each time receiving a little pile of those magnificent beans.  Tsugumi was converted.

I think it worth mentioning that the macaroni and cheese is not the boxed variety.  I make it with organic penne, béchamel sauce made from homegrown wheat flour and organic cheddar and mozzarella cheeses.  Oh, and I add a few dashes of Tabasco and some splashes of Worcestershire sauce.  That’s the school lunch at SSU!.

A lot of people think I’m crazy to cook for my students every day—especially since I use the best stuff around to make the lunches.  But there is something magical about seeing the kids’ faces light up and hearing their joyous cries of “Thank you, Nancy!  It’s so yummy!  I love you Nancy!”  Who wouldn’t want to cook for them and who wouldn’t want to give these kids something wonderful to eat each and every day?

Recently I realized it wasn’t enough just to cook for them, so last year, we started a kitchen garden.  Now even the little ones have jumped into the fray.  In the morning, when I call out, “Who wants to help cook?” I get about 10 miniature assistants climbing up on the stools around the table anxious to help peel potatoes or smash organic canned tomatoes.  And the 2 year olds are the most enthusiastic of the bunch--though I’m looking for a knife that can cut vegetables, and not fingers.  They still manage to cut themselves with the peelers, but I tell them, “Don’t worry about it, it’s just a little blood.  I cut myself all the time!”  And they keep peeling.

The kids are no less enthusiastic in the field.  Once we cured them of their initial instinct to run, they got right into the planting.  Of course everyone wanted to do it, but with a little bribery we managed to get them to wait their turn.  Grubby little hands shot out and each kid got a sprinkling of seeds.  No surprise, the seeds were sown too densely, resulting in lots of over crowding.  We’ve been practicing with birdseed for the spring plantings.  Also some ruthless thinning will be helpful.  The preschoolers (and some elementary kids) love to try anything and everything in the field.  They smell the wild fennel and bite into it, exclaiming that it tastes like toothpaste.  Arugula is “spicy” and the lettuce is “yummy.”  Trying new tastes in the field is always an adventure.

I asked a Japanese organic farmer friend once how he could keep on farming.  “When people love to eat my vegetables, it makes me happy and gives me energy to keep on growing things,” was his response.  And that is what I’m trying to show the kids at SSU! through the garden.  Love goes into the field as we grow our vegetables and love goes into the food as we cook the lunch.  The kids understand that very simple, but essential idea.  We don’t need to teach this, they just “get it” through experiencing the seed to table process.  And even if all the kids don’t yet eat their vegetables—they want to—and will be able to soon.  The ones who go for seconds are proud and tell me how many times they have gone back to get more.  The others who clean their plate turn it towards me for inspection and a few words of praise that I give gladly.  Good job! 

We made mistakes our first year:  overcrowding, too short rows, haphazard flower planting resulting in a mass of green shoots impossible to differentiate between weed and flower…but we’re learning.  This year we have already planted six long rows of potatoes and the lettuce and radish seeds are in planting boxes waiting to sprout.  During the winter we lost the use of 2/3’s of the field due to drainage ditch repair.  We had to move our herb garden to accommodate the construction crew.  It survived the move and is happily sprouting new bright green leaves.  The radicchio, chicory and lettuce that never seemed to take last fall have gotten a second wind and are healthily growing.  The goal this year is to plant the whole field and it’s a big field—but we have lots of helping hands!

A lot of people (my farmer husband included) thought I was even crazier to start a school garden.  But you know, there is something so basic and so elemental about growing food.  And this is something that every child should learn.  When you grow it, it just tastes better. 

 

Macaroni & Cheese

For 1 kilo organic pasta.  Make béchamel:  melt 70 grams butter in heavy saucepan.  Add 70 grams organic bread flour and smash and spread around the bottom of the pan until you see white spots on the edges of your flour smudges.  Don’t burn the butter, but make sure you cook the flour enough (otherwise the béchamel will taste floury).  Slowly whisk in 1000 cc hot milk.    Stir like mad after each addition to make a smooth sauce.  Cook a few minutes more, constantly stirring.  Cover and heat up again right before the noodles are done.  Before adding the noodles, sprinkle 150 grams (or more) each:  grated organic cheddar and mozzarella cheese, a few generous shakes of Worcestershire sauce, some drops of Tabasco and salt & pepper to taste.  Add noodles and stir well from the bottom.  Serve quickly.

 

Comments

[Becky Namiki]

Good for you, Nancy. You are absolutely right about there being something so basic and elemental about growing food and it's something every child should learn. Sounds like Sunny Side Up is a great place for kids in more ways than one. Why am I not surprised!?!
Becky N.

[susan rice lincoln]

Nancy:
It is my birthday and you have (unintentionally) given me the loveliest birthday gift. This sweet picture, the images your lovely essay conjured up...Wish there were more people like you in the world! I am in the middle of organizing my own vegetable garden here as well for the same reasons you stated. Nothing like growing your own food...Thank you, Nancy. Once again, your life and thoughts have inspired me..Big hug, Susan

[Peter McCook]

Cute kids. "Sunny Side Up" reminds me of my Japanese co-worker, Yojiro "Joe" Koizumi from the early 1980s. Once on the road, visiting customers, in a diner for his breakfast he ordered, "sunshine morning egg". The waitress figured it out before we did that he wanted his egss sunny side up!
Anyway... what a great experience for these kids, Nancy

[Rodney Fong]

Very impressed with your accomplishments. I know what a task it is to hold children's attention and to feel the joy of satisfaction in achieving that. My wife shares her joys, as well as trials and tribulations of her kids at the school where she teaches. She had kindergarteners this past summer, a change for her. I will share with her your garden activities and see if it is something they can incorporate in her school. Can't do much about the cooking, as the cafeteria staff has control of that. I look forward to reading each installment

[Karen in Oregon]

I love your idea of cooking and gardening with the kids ! Here in America we've become mostly urban over the last half century - - generations of kids are disconnected from the web of soil, working with hands, and the magic of seeds growing green, amazing, and edible. These are lessons your Sunny-Side Up kids will cherish. Looking forward to checking in on your Blog. Great job !