"Hoop, hoop, hoop your greens!"

Can you hear the cheers? Miss B's second grade has successfully grown a mesculin mix under our small version of a "hoop house." So far so good and the tasting of our little lettuce leaves begins in the next couple of days!Thanks again to Jenny Dembinski (Woodstock Garden Club)  for all of your help!

To the left you can see the hoops over the greens with the row cover pulled off. 

LOCAL free range eggs take center stage!

Our taste test last month (April) was hard boiled local free range eggs. (Thanks to our Chef Donna for raising happy chickens who produce such amazing eggs we can buy for our school. Pictured above is one of her eggs).  I forget how many dozen we boiled, but I can definitely say was a lot of peeling!  We have been serving local scrambled eggs at breakfast and local hard boiled eggs on the salad bar.  They are such a great source of protein and our kids here at WES love them! 

For the taste test, we talked with the students about what the term "free range" means, and  we discussed the nutritional differences between a "commercially" raised chickens who are producing eggs with that of chickens who have opportunities to outdoor space.  With some research we were also able to conclude that free range eggs are healthier because they are lower in cholesterol and higher in Omega 3's. 

We also talked with the students about the importance of protein and eating eggs as a healthy part of a meal or just a healthy snack. Protein is important for maintaining energy levels as well as helping to maintain muscle.

Many students commented that their parents only buy from local neighbors and many children commented that they have egg laying chickens at their house. (I wished I had tallied that number up because it seemed like a lot of students!)

Eggs are amazing and if you can buy locally, they are that much healthier for you and you are supporting your local economy!

Our next taste test is May 9th.  We will be sampling local greens from Carol Stedman's Clay Hill Corners Farm.  She we will be here to talk with the children about growing greens and the different varieties.  We will have 8 varieties to test so check back for pictures and results!