2019 was a year of great “GROWTH” for Edible Education Experience! Our mission, to build consciousness around food and cooking and teach valuable life skills to Orlando’s students through hands-on learning in our Kitchen House and Garden, was on full display.
New Year, Better You!
First Summer in the Kitchen House & Garden
Our first Summer . . . in our inspiring new space . . . connecting kids with seed-to-table learning experiences to build a healthy future . . . has been blessed!
Field Trips ~ Home School Groups ~ Week-long Camps ~ Teacher Academy ~ Chef Night ~ Sunday Morning Gardening ~ Trevi Pasta Contest Winner ~ Private Events
Mentors' Table
Long Beans al Fresco
The distance most food travels from farm soil to our dinner plate is usually measured in miles. Recently the seventh graders from OJA reduced that journey to mere feet. With a portable hot plate, folding table and a few basic tools the students were able to prepare a delicious recipe in the garden using ingredients from the garden.
US History and Roasted Root Veggies
Partnering for Healthy Kids
Edible Education Experience is proud of its continued partnership with Florida Hospital’s Center for Child and Family Wellness. The partnership is in its 6th year and we look forward to the Center’s monthly visit to the Emeril Lagasse Foundation Culinary Garden for Sunday morning gardening where young clients and their families plant and harvest alongside their doctor and team of experts.
The team is led by Angela Fals, MD who is a board-certified pediatrician physician. As Medical Director of Florida Hospital for Children’s Pediatric Weight and Wellness Program, she oversees pediatric weight management programs aimed at helping kids live to a long and healthy life through beneficial lifestyle choices and changes. As founder of the Center for Child and Family Wellness, she works hand-in-hand with experts in nutrition, exercise and child psychology to help children and adolescents effectively manage their weight, avoid a lifetime of obesity and make healthy choices that will benefit their self-esteem and overall health through adulthood.
Quote from one excited attendee, “Gardening is more fun than roller skating!”
Seeds into Soil
And so we begin. We believe that getting seeds into soil is fundamental to a great gardening experience so we don't waste any time in beginning the gardening school year this way. Some seeds we put directly into the ground and some we put into pots of soil. If the seed is large and makes a large sprout we usually put those right in the ground. If the seed is tiny and makes a little sprout sometimes it's easier to plant them in pots and wait a few weeks for them to grow before we transplant them into the garden. (it's easier to protect and care for tiny seedlings when they are in pots) Most of what we are planting will last through winter here and any frost that may come our way. We also have a few months to grow some warm weather crops like beans so we will plant those also.
Educational Construction Site Tours
Back-to-School typically means new uniforms, binders and lunch boxes and this year, for Orlando Junior Academy students, it also meant educational construction site tours of the soon coming Emeril Lagasse Foundation Kitchen House & Culinary Garden.
Jose Venegas, of Midtown Architecture Studio, was on hand to lead small groups of students and parents through the 3,500 sq. ft. kitchen house, as part of OJA’s Back-to-School Bash on August 7. Venegas was quoted as saying, “Making a building like this is a privilege. I always enjoy telling others of the beautiful vision it will soon share with our community.”
Educational highlights included: Identifying different construction shapes found in the roof and wall framing, figuring square footage and learning the science behind environmental-friendly elements such as metal roofing and water catchment, resulting in LEED certification.
Parents offered many positive responses including, "This resource will truly differentiate OJA from other schools" and "I can feel the excitement--there's so much positive energy around what's going to happen here!"
Students were especially excited about getting to wear hard hats and signing their name on one of the walls to memorialize their part in this special project. Many of the kids also took the opportunity to write a note of thanks to Massey Services for the non-toxic termite treatment that was gifted to the project. Special recognition also goes to HuntonBrady, architect of record, and E2Homes for prepping the site for the day's visitors.
The garden was also enjoyed as students and parents sipped cool citrus-and-mint-flavored water, offered by gracious volunteers, while observing the butterflies flitting from flower to flower.
Edible Education Experience looks forward to project completion in November and sharing this new community kitchen classroom with kids where cooking and gardening are integrated into school curriculum and beyond . . .
Pineapple Season
Our patience paid of last week as we harvested and ate our first pineapple from the Culinary Garden. Sweet and Juicy, This little guy really packed a refreshing punch on a hot an humid morning.