carrot harvest!
Patience may not be the first word that rolls of the tongue when speaking of elementary aged children, but the students at the ESP Program as William Wells Brown Elementary were just that. Back in late spring the students planted a singular row of carrots in their raised bed garden outside their school and stood back to watch them grow. Through the long wet summer, they occasionally thinned them, each time remarking on how surprising it was to find the rich orange carrot beneath the soil supporting the bushy green vegetation.
They faithfully watched the removed ones lengthen, while making wagers on how large the remaining ones would be growing with the extra space.
After watching the summer come and go, harvests of basil, tomatoes, beans, and cantaloupes passing through their garden, and even sowing new fall and overwintering crops of greens and garlic around them, it was finally time to harvest the carrots.
It was worth the wait!
Today, in a mad dash through the rain, in celebration of their hard work and the beginning of Fall Break, the students hurried to gather a portion of the carrot harvest. The carrots did not disappoint, and squeals of excitement echoed through the neighborhood.
Then it was back inside, to the warmth of the kitchen, where the promise of carrot cake cupcakes urged them on.
More then 100 cupcakes later, the deed was done, and the entire program and staff were invited to share in the sweet victory.
As the smell of cinnamon and vanilla wafted through the corridors of William Wells Brown Elementary and the decadent taste of cream cheese icing lingered on their tongues, the verdict was in.
Nothing tastes sweeter than food made from your own sweat, grown and harvested mere feet from your kitchen, only minutes old out of the soil!
And successful carrots, now they’re just SUPER sweet!
final cupcake
