Summer of Service: Discovering soil, water, and animals in the garden

For our fourth year working with Summer of Service, a program of Seattle Parks and Rec, we’re joined in the garden and kitchen each day by eight youth who work and learn with us each day. In the mornings, we water the garden and harvest produce for our daily cooking projects. This group of young people is with us three days a week for six weeks, so they have the opportunity to progress in their cooking techniques. So far they have perfected vinaigrette, worked with fresh chicken eggs, roasted vegetables in the oven, grilled chicken and vegetable skewers, and baked zucchini muffins.

In the first three weeks, our themes spanned the garden: from soil, to water, to animals and insects. We learned about compost and worms, learned which plants need to be watered each day, cooked fish in our wood-fired oven, and practiced feeding the chickens. We pounded natural dye out of flowers, and dried flowers in books to preserve their color. We painted garden stakes, made butterfly feeders, and have begun a mural on the wall of our chicken yard.

We always have lively conversations with this group of youth around the lunch table, and we enjoy hearing stories about their favorite foods, as well as their fresh perspectives on gardening and cooking.