On Sept. 23rd, 2010 the 28 students of St. Francis of Assisi 6b and their teacher Mr. Stein-Ross harvested fruits and vegetables. They walked 1.5 miles from their school to the Burien Community Garden, which is located by the skate park and the old library.

From the 75 square-foot plot the class harvested potatoes, green tomatoes, cherry tomatoes (some red but mostly green). They also harvested lettuce and a few cucumbers.

One-third of the food is going to a local food bank. With the rest, the class chose to make cold gazpacho and mouthwatering potato salad, which they shared with the third graders.

Along with the food, they shared an instructional video that they made while at the garden. Everyone enjoyed the meal (at least the potato salad) and the video.

The class went back Sept. 30th to plant their winter crops. They planted hardy greens like kale, mustard, snow peas, broccoli, sorrel, and Chinese cabbage.

More classes should have gardens, not just at St. Francis, but at other schools, too. If all schools had a garden, and donated some of their harvest to their local food banks, the amount would really add up.

Also, working together builds and expands community, and it's a lot of fun.

6th grade class of Michael Stein-Ross
St. Francis of Assisi School
Burien