Rootopia

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How to Make Seed Balls

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This may not be one of the best looking activities, but I assure you seed balls are surprisingly fun and part of a rich tradition around the world. I first learned about seed balls from my son’s 5th grade LEGO Robotics team, the Robot Rulers! It is a roundabout story and one worth telling.

First be forewarned: if your kids are interested in LEGO Robotics, know that it is not entirely about LEGOs. LEGO Robotics is about core values required for working together, programming a robot, and problem solving. I like to describe it as “FFA for engineers.”

In 2016, the FIRST LEGO League robotics challenge dubbed “Animal Allies” was designed to encourage kids to explore the complex relationship between humans and animals.  My ten-year-old son and five of his friends (all LEGO Robotics “rookies”) took on this challenge. After much debate they came up with the idea to use drones to drop seed balls to create habitat for animals after a forest fire.

One of the tenets of LEGO Robotics is that “the kids do the work!” Adults can coach, mentor and support, but the work really needs to come from the youth. This was certainly the case for the Robot Rulers. Here is the students’ rationale, or problem identification, for exploring forest fires and reforestation excerpted from their presentation:

Humans and animals share the planet, but the problem is animals are losing habitat. That means they have less places to live, eat, and raise babies. The biggest cause of habitat loss are things humans do. Like deforestation and starting forest fires. In fact, 90% of forest fires are started by humans. Not a lot of animals die in the fire, they die because once their home is burned they have nowhere to go. Climate change makes it worse, but humans can help! Humans can keep fires away by managing land, containing fires, and preventing fires, but if a forest fire does happen, humans can help the animals home, the forest, grow back more quickly.

The Robot Rulers looked at many different solutions to help the forest grow back quickly such as planting trees by hand, but they found the trees take a lot of time to grow and in the meantime non-native species tend to start growing first. They also learned that this requires a lot of people, and due to landslides and other landscape limitations it can be dangerous and costly.

One students came up with the idea of dropping beavers with parachutes to go in and restore habitat. Everyone laughed, but then they dutifully researched that potential solution and discovered wildlife biologists did just that in Idaho. Seriously: beavers with parachutes. I kid you not. The wildlife biologists even made a video out of it. That idea of dropping things from planes was the genesis for a variety of solutions they explored finally pairing new drone technology with ancient seed ball technology.

So what is a seed ball? According to the students’ research, the seed ball – also known as the earth ball – was originally created by the Japanese. It was also used in Egypt to repair farms after the annual spring flooding of the Nile River.

Seed balls are marble sized balls made of heavy clay soil and seeds. It is an ancient technology used to protect seeds and give them a better chance of surviving. Still to this day people use them all around the world. Here is how you make them:

  1. Mix soil with water. For the soil, people use different mixtures of clay, straw and compost depending on the substrate the seed ball is going into. We are fortunate to live in the Willamette Valley with rich top soil so we just dug soil from around the farm, put it in buckets, and then slowly added water until the soil stuck together.
  2. Place a tablespoon size clump of soil in your hand. The amount of soil does not need to be exact, but about a tablespoon is enough soil around the seed to get it growing (without being too much soil so that it will not combine with soil on the ground as the plant grows).
  3. Put in 1-2 native seeds. Too many seeds could grow and crowd out plants. Of course you can always have your kids put as many seeds in as they want and then observe what happens when ten or twenty plants try to grow from that one spot of soil. It is a worthy experiment. In fact the Robot Rulers first made seed balls and rolled them in seeds so the outside was covered. The result was moldy seed balls. Failure is the best teacher! And know that the seeds you use matters. You do not want to go spreading invasive, non-native plants around. Try this in your garden using vegetable or grain seeds. Not sure what seeds to use? Check the Native Plant Finder, with your local extension agency and a Master Gardener in your state. For limited time, you can also get a FREE Pollinator seed packet from Burpee.
  4. Roll into balls. This is the fun and messy part. The shape really does not matter nor how perfectly round they are. Most often they come out looking like worms or a boa constrictor that just ate a raccoon.
  5. Leave in a cool place to dry. I usually do a single layer of seed balls in shallow cardboard boxes and put them in the pump house or garage.
  6. Gently toss out to plant! It is an important part of the learning process to have kids watch what happens over time and reflect on what they observe. Mark where you toss one, take a picture, and visit it periodically. Ask your kids progressive prompting questions such:

    Did some seed balls germinate better than others? Why might that be? Does it have to do with how they were made, or where they were planted, or the weather after they started to grow? What happens over the course of one season, or two? What would they do differently next time?

Want to learn how to make seed balls from the Robot Rulers? Watch this video! It is a fun 60 second commercial with the Northwest Honda Dealers that the students did during the LEGO Robotics club.

And if you are still wondering how else the Robot Rulers conceptualized utilizing drone technology, here is one more juicy excerpt from their presentation:

We could also use the drone to find and plant difficult places to reach, like remote areas and steep hillsides. Or heat map and figure out where the worst of the fire was and drop the seeds there. We can also use the drone again to check in on how the plants are growing. If there are invasive species like blackberries then we can use the drone to know where to go weed. Our drone design has a heat sensor to sense the worst parts of the forest fire, and an attachment to drop the seed balls.

The students ran all these ideas by experts and found that sure enough drones are currently being used to map the age of the forests, but the Robot Ruler’s other suggested uses of drones had merit and were under consideration.  As you can see they (we) learned so much in LEGO Robotics. What you cannot see is how much each of those youth participants grew individually and as a team. They learned how to listen to each other, celebrate each individual’s strengths, and support a peer when the pressure was on. I strongly encourage you to consider checking out FIRST LEGO League.

M is for Mushrooms

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When my son Henry was in kindergarten he said, “When I grow up I want to be a mycologist.”

Wow! That is not one of the kinder career day choices I remember.  So we did some research: we learned that a mycologist studies fungi. Then we looked at lots of different types of fungi and got interested in mushrooms and how they grow. It was enough to get our family starting to think about mushrooms. The kids started noticing them in the grocery store, and we began experimenting with them in the kitchen.

Our kids weren’t always excited about trying mushrooms. For the longest time they even had me pick them out of their meals. I didn’t force them to try mushrooms, but just kept offering them in a variety of ways. After serving them again and again (research says at least 10-15 times), and showing the kids we adults like mushrooms (research also shows modeling is a best practice) something clicked.

Now mushroom risotto is one of the most requested weekday meals. Recently my ten-year-old son Landen had his friend over for a mushroom tasting. I sautéed up 5 different varieties of mushrooms in butter (yum) and they ate them while commenting on their flavor, aroma, and texture. It was really fun! It takes time and patience to introduce new foods to your kids and it is well worth it.

My friends at Portland Public Schools are celebrating local mushrooms for their Harvest of the Month. Here is a fun AM Northwest TV segment with Whitney Ellersick MS, RDN the Assistant Director of Nutrition Services. She is a fountain of nutrition knowledge and inspiration for parents trying to expand their family’s culinary curiosity.

Here are three more tips for introducing your kids to mushrooms:

  1. If kids pick it, they will eat it. Challenge your kids to pick at least one mushroom variety from the grocery store or farmers market, and come up with ideas on how to eat it. Look for firm mushrooms. Not ones that are slimy or shriveled up.  When you get home, do not wash the mushrooms. Store them in a paper bag in the refrigerator. You can even have each kid write their name on their own bag of mushrooms. At least with my two boys, there is nothing like possessive ownership of food to encourage consumption.
  2. If kids cook it, they will eat it. Preparing mushrooms is a super simple task, that even your littlest kids can help with. To clean mushrooms, just brush or gently wipe them, and pop off the stem. Personally I enjoy eating most mushroom varieties in chunks instead of thin slices, so we don’t cut them with a knife. We just break them into bite sized pieces with our hands. Looking for kid friendly mushroom dishes? Check out the Mushroom Council’s recipes.  The burger blends are super popular and exceptionally delicious.
  3. If kids grow it, they will eat it!  You can always try growing your own mushrooms on the counter in the kitchen, or in your kid’s room. There are several different mushroom growing kits available. Its worth trying different varieties over time. Whether or not you grow your own, take 5 minutes and learn how they get from the farm to the store. This can significantly improve your kid’s relationship with mushrooms and their willingness to try them. Mushrooms are actually farmed indoors. Generally speaking, farmers plant spores (not seeds) and the fungus grows and creates a network, called mycelium, that is like a root system of a plant. The mushroom we eat is actually the fruiting body of the fungi.

This is what an indoor mushroom farm looks like!

Savory Black Bean Patties

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These little black bean cakes are versatile and a tasty way to enjoy beans. Try them tucked into pita, on a Latin-inspired salad, or as a satisfying snack dipped in chipotle mayo.

Beans are great because they are delicious, super healthy, good for the earth, a low cost plant-based protein source, and they can be used in a variety of cuisines. My friends at the Culinary Institute of America are teaching future chefs Principles of Healthy Sustainable Menus. One of those key principles is to move beans, nuts, and legumes to the center of the plate. So you can be sure that a greater number of restaurants and cafeterias will be serving them in creative dishes for the foreseeable future.

I adore beans because they help build soil fertility. Technically speaking, there are nitrogen fixing bacteria that live in the root nodules of legumes that take nitrogen from the air and give it to the plant in a way it can use. The Nitrogen Cycle is critical to life, and my eight-year-old son Henry wants you to know a fun way to learn about it with your family is to check out this interactive nitrogen fixation cycle from the University of Alberta (via OPB).

At our farm, we never go a year without planting beans. We don’t grow enough to store dry beans in any quantity. Instead, I have gone straight to planting only pole beans – the kind that grow 5-6 feet tall – so the kids have a teepee to play in while picking and eating beans right in the yard. You can grow your own teepee you can eat too!

So where do I get my beans? I used to soak and then cook in my pressure cooker, but I realized I did that about once a year and wasn’t eating beans nearly as often as I wanted to. After all, beans are so delicious and good for you, they are served everyday in school meals. Everyday.

Now I mostly buy canned beans from Truitt Family Foods.  Full disclosure: my day job entails working at Truitt Family Foods processing facility. I see first hand the love and care so many folks put into making sure the beans are high quality without splits. They soak beans, not based on time, but until the moisture content is just right. Then, they add nothing but sea salt. You can taste the difference.

Check out the ingredient statement on a can the next time you buy beans. Beans are basic foods, but often canned beans include artificial firming or coloring agents like EDTA or ferrous gluconate, which can give beans a “tinny” taste.

In this one minute video, my friend Hadly shows you how to make Savory Black Bean Patties. Enjoy!

 

Savory Black Bean Patties
 
Author: 
Nutrition Information
  • Serves: 12 patties
  • Serving size: 2 patties
  • Calories: 379
  • Fat: 8g
  • Saturated fat: 2.6g
  • Carbohydrates: 26g
  • Sugar: 0g
  • Sodium: 630mg
  • Fiber: 6g
  • Protein: 13g
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
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Ingredients
  • 2 15-ounce cans cooked black beans, drained but not rinsed
  • ½ cup plain bread crumbs
  • 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 2 teaspoons hot sauce, such as Tapatío
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ½ cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
  • ¼ cup green onions, finely sliced
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Use a non-stick Silpat, or spray a sheet pan with a good amount of non-stick vegetable oil. Set the pan aside.
  2. Place half of the drained black beans in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade. Add the bread crumbs, mayonnaise, hot sauce, ground cumin, dried oregano, and garlic powder. Pulse the ingredients until the beans are mashed. Transfer this mixture to a mixing bowl.
  3. Stir in the remaining whole beans, shredded cheese and finely sliced green onions. Form the bean mixture into 12 equal balls, about ¼ cup each, and place on the prepared sheet pan. Press each ball into a 1-inch thick cake. Spray the tops of each cake lightly with non-stick vegetable oil spray.
  4. Bake in the preheated 425°F oven for 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and gently turn each black bean cake over. Place the sheet pan back into the oven and bake for an additional 10 minutes.
  5. Remove the pan from the oven and let the black bean cakes rest for up to 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy with some sour cream and fresh cilantro
Notes
Estimated cost per serving: $0.50

 

Creamy Beet Hummus

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I conduct a lot of taste tests in schools with kids in grades K-12. During garden club kids try a rainbow of different fruits and vegetables, including different vegetable varieties. The number of different types of carrots alone can help kids fall in love with the old familiar root again. In my day job at Truitt Family Foods, I lead hummus and flavored bean dip taste tests with thousands of students.

I have been surprised at how kids have gone from not knowing what hummus is to having an opinion on whether they are a “hummus person” or not in a relatively short period of time. Interestingly, one of the biggest barriers I have seen in introducing hummus to kids is the opinions and perceptions of adults. Research confirms kids take their cues on what to eat and what to think about food from adults and peers. When adults model willingness to try new foods, kids will too.

So go ahead and try this unBEETable hummus! Whether you are a hummus person or are not sure if you are a hummus person, this recipe is for you. This is truly a beautiful, delicious recipe from our dear friends at Minneapolis Public Schools Culinary and Wellness Services that kids in the Twin Cities devour.

5.0 from 1 reviews
UnBEETable Hummus
 
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Ingredients
  • 3 cups garbanzo beans (canned or cooked)
  • 1 cup beets, peeled and diced (you can use canned beets if canned only in water)
  • ½ cup olive oil
  • ½ cup tahini (ground sesame)
  • ½ cup lemon juice
  • ¼ cup garlic, finely chopped
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp pepper
  • Approximately ½ cup water
Instructions
  1. To cook the beets, fill a 2 quart pot with 4 cups water and bring to a slow boil. Peel beets. Dice into ½ inch cubes. Carefully place beets in slowly boiling water until tender, about 15-20 minutes. Check beets are tender by poking with a fork. Drain beets. Rinse with cool water, and drain again.
  2. In a food processor puree garbanzo beans, beets, olive oil, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper and ¼ cup water.
  3. Pulse ingredients in food processor slowly adding water until the desired consistency is achieved.

Here is a tip: when introducing your family to a new food such as hummus, pair it with one of their favorites. Trying hummus for the first time is not the best time to also introduce raw zucchini sticks.  Pairing something familiar with something novel can increase the likelihood they will try it. Does your family like chips, pita, carrots, or jicama best? Then try this unBEETable hummus with that.

What is your unBEETable tip for encouraging your family to try new flavors? Leave a comment below.

Arn't beets gorgeous? You can eat the root and the leaves!

Aren’t beets gorgeous? You can eat the root and the leaves!

 

Sweet Corn Soup

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Good news! You can get farm fresh corn from your freezer section year round. Frozen super sweet corn makes this the easiest, fastest, and most flavorful creamy soup in the world. Okay maybe not in the world, but it is certainly worth adding to the top your soup season menu. Try garnishing with croutons or popcorn for some extra crunch.

The one minute video below shows that the preparation for this soup is simple enough that my ten-year-old son can make it with minimal assistance. Help your little ones through this recipe the first time to train them up on the important life skills of chopping, measuring, and sautéing.

 

And while you are waiting for the soup to heat, here are four fun facts about corn:

  1. There will always be an even number of rows of kernels on each cob. Don’t take my word for it, challenge your family to count them.
  2. Each individual kernel is a seed that is connected to one of those hairy tassels.  And get this – the cob is actually part of the flower!
  3. Corn counts towards the recommended servings of whole grains you should eat each day because corn is a seed or grain, not a vegetable.
  4. There are hundreds of varieties of corn that are used for human and animal consumption, processing, and decoration. And yes, popcorn is a different variety than the sweet corn you enjoy on the BBQ.

 

Sweet Corn Soup
 
Author: 
Nutrition Information
  • Serves: 2 quarts
  • Serving size: 1 cup
  • Calories: 152
  • Fat: 7g
  • Carbohydrates: 21g
  • Sugar: 6g
  • Sodium: 432 mg
  • Fiber: 3g
  • Protein: 4g
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Ingredients
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 cups yellow onion, diced
  • 2 teaspoons fresh garlic, minced
  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin
  • ¼ teaspoon red chili flakes
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 4 cups (2 10-ounce bags frozen) super sweet corn kernels
  • 1 quart prepared vegetable broth
  • 1 cup half and half
Instructions
  1. Heat a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the butter and let it melt. Stir in the diced yellow onion and minced garlic. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the ground cumin, red chili flakes, and salt. Cook until the spices become aromatic, about 2 minutes. Add the super sweet corn kernels and vegetable broth. Turn the heat up to high and bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer the soup, covered, for 15 minutes.
  2. Puree the soup in a blender or with an immersion blender. If using a blender, carefully transfer half of the soup to the bowl of the blender. Place the lid on securely, cover with a kitchen towel, and hold the lid on firmly while blending until very pureed. Transfer the pureed soup to a clean soup pot. Repeat to puree the remaining soup. Heat the pureed soup over medium-low to medium heat and stir in the half and half. Serve this creamy soup garnished with chopped fresh cilantro or parsley, or with a few crunchy croutons.
Notes
Estimated cost per serving: $0.90

Want to grow novel corn varieties in your garden? Check out the variety at Seed Savers Exchange. In our garden, we have had so much fun trying Strawberry Popcorn,  Oaxacan Green Dent, and Japonica that has rainbow leaves I use in floral arrangements.

Young corn in the garden.

 

 

 

 

Healthy Garbanzo Bean and Tomato Salad

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Garbanzo bean and tomato salad


A delicious side salad doesn’t get easier than this.  Garbanzo beans and cherry tomatoes are a perfect pair, all dressed up with some fresh garlic and basil. This recipe is comes from our friends at Portland Public School Nutrition Services. They serve it in school lunches with vegetarian lasagna, an apple, kale salad, and milk. What will you serve it with?

Make the Garbanzo Bean and Tomato Salad

Garbanzo Bean and Tomato Salad
 
Author: 
Nutrition Information
  • Serves: 5 cups
  • Serving size: ¾ cup
  • Calories: 142
  • Fat: 5.5g
  • Saturated fat: 0.7g
  • Carbohydrates: 20g
  • Sugar: 0
  • Sodium: 172mg
  • Fiber: 4g
  • Protein: 4g
  • Cholesterol: 0
Recipe type: Salad
Prep time: 
Total time: 
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Ingredients
  • 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
  • 1 small clove garlic, minced or grated
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes
  • 2 15-ounce cans garbanzo beans, drained
  • ¼ cup fresh basil leaves, torn or roughly chopped
Instructions
  1. In a large bowl combine the cider vinegar, fresh garlic, salt, and pepper.
  2. Let this mixture sit for 5 minutes to mellow the garlic.
  3. Whisk in the olive oil.
  4. Rinse the cherry tomatoes and cut them in half from top to bottom.
  5. Add the tomatoes and the drained garbanzo beans to the bowl with the vinaigrette dressing.
  6. Stir to combine.
  7. Just before serving, stir in the basil.
Notes
Estimated cost per serving: $0.95

Watch our friends from Portland Public Schools make this recipe.

Have you tried a salad like this in your home? Tell us about it in the comments!

Aquafaba Meringue Pavlova

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Aquafaba Meringue Pavlova

 

Have you heard of Aquafaba?  It’s the liquid that pours off of a can of garbanzo beans.  It is basically protein and water, and can be whipped up like egg whites into a billowy, sweet meringue.  Prepare to be amazed!  While this recipe makes one large Pavlova, you can also make individual small meringue nests to hold the whipped cream and berries.

 

 

 

Aquafaba Meringue Pavlova
 
Author: 
Nutrition Information
  • Serves: 8 servings
  • Serving size: 1 slice
  • Calories: 351
  • Fat: 23g
  • Saturated fat: 14g
  • Carbohydrates: 36g
  • Sugar: 29g
  • Sodium: 59mg
  • Fiber: 4.4g
  • Protein: 3.3g
  • Cholesterol: 82mg
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
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Ingredients
  • For the meringue:
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • pinch of salt if using no-salt-added garbanzo beans
  • ½ cup of liquid from a 15-ounce can of garbanzo beans, preferably no-salt-added
  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • For the topping:
  • 2 tablespoons orange juice
  • 1 tablespoon berry or apricot jam
  • 1 cup fresh raspberries
  • 1 cup fresh blueberries
  • 1 pint fresh strawberries
  • 1 cup heaving whipping cream
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 275°F.
  2. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Using a black pen or pencil, trace a 9-inch circle (using a cake pan or pie pan) onto the parchment paper. Turn the parchment paper over onto the baking sheet so that the pen markings are against the pan surface. You should be able to see the traced circle through the parchment paper.
  3. In a small bowl combine the sugar, cornstarch, and salt (if using). Mix until well combined.
  4. Place the aquafaba (garbanzo bean liquid) into a deep mixing bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer.
  5. Use a hand-held mixer, or the whip attachment of a stand mixer, and begin whipping the aquafaba until it holds soft peaks, about 1-2 minutes.
  6. Add about ⅓ of the sugar mixture and whip on high for about 30 seconds. Turn off the mixer and add the apple cider vinegar and half of the remaining sugar mixture. Whip on high for about 30 seconds. Turn off the mixer and add the remaining sugar mixture and the vanilla extract. Continue to whip on high until stiff peaks form and the meringue is glossy. To test, pull the beaters or whip attachment out of the mixture and the action should create a peak of meringue that holds its shape.
  7. Use a spatula to pile the meringue into the center of the circle on the parchment paper. Starting from the center, begin pushing the meringue out toward the edges of the circle and try to create taller edges around the meringue, in the shape of a plate or shallow bowl.
  8. Place the meringue into the preheated 275°F oven and immediately turn the oven temperature down to 250°F. Bake the meringue for 45 minutes, then rotate the pan and bake for another 45 minutes. The meringue will grow slightly during baking. When the meringue has baked for 1 hour 30 minutes total, turn the oven off but leave the meringue in the oven for an additional 60 minutes.
  9. In a large bowl combine the orange juice and berry or apricot jam. Rinse the blueberries and raspberries and add them to the bowl. Rinse the strawberries, remove the green tops, cut into quarters, and add them to the bowl. Gently stir the berries until coated with the orange juice and jam mixture. Chill the berries until ready to serve.
  10. Place the heavy whipping cream, sugar and vanilla extract in a deep mixing bowl, or in the bowl of an electric mixer. Whip the cream until soft peaks form, about 1-2 minutes.
  11. Assembly:
  12. Carefully remove the meringue from the parchment paper (if it is stuck in places) and place the meringue onto a serving plate or cake stand. Spoon the whipped cream into the center of the meringue and gently spread out to within 1 inch of the edge of the meringue. Take care to keep the whipped cream billowy and cloud-like. Alternately, use a large star-shaped icing tip to pipe the whipped cream onto the meringue. Remove the berries from the refrigerator and stir to re-distribute the juices. Gently spoon the berries evenly over the whipped cream.
  13. Present the dessert to your family or guests, then serve immediately.
Notes
Estimated cost per serving: $0.98

 

rootopia (149 of 286)

 

 

Taking a Leap of Faith: Reclaiming Our Barn

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Taking a Leap of Faith: Reclaiming Our Barn
This week we are seeped in history and thinking about the place we call home, our little Willamette Valley farm. We’ve got a big project going on – reclaiming our barn, which dates back to the days of the Oregon Trail.

LandenOur 10-year-old son, Landen, is learning about the Oregon Trail in school. That’s the route pioneers drove wagons traveled 2,200 miles East to West across the United States. They started along the Oregon Trail in the year 1843. The trip took 5 months. To give you some perspective, Oregon didn’t even become a state until 1859.

Can you imagine? No showers. No cell phones. Everything you owned, or needed for the journey, came with you. They really didn’t know where they would end up. There were no YouTube videos describing the journey in detail. They used their imagination, dreamed big and took a leap of faith.

When I asked Landen what he was learning about the Oregon Trail, the facts that stuck out to him most were that:

  1. The pioneers traveled in “trains” with bunches of families so they could help take care of each other.
  2. They circled their wagons when needed so nothing could get in or out.
  3. If you made it all the way to Oregon and you were a man you got an automatic 320 acres. If you brought your wife, and she survived, you got 640 acres.

And yes, Landen did count out points one, two and three in response to my question.

Representative Brian Clem, Speaker of the House Tina Kotek, Michelle Ratcliffe, and Representative Vic Gilliam.

Representative Brian Clem, Speaker of the House Tina Kotek, Michelle Ratcliffe, and Representative Vic Gilliam.

This Old House

The little house we live in sits on the remnants of one of those 640 acre plots. It’s surrounded by half a dozen houses. Descendants of those pioneers currently live in those houses. We’ve lived here for almost 11 years. It’s our first home purchase, but we have always felt more like stewards and less like homeowners. This land and dwellings were here long before us and hopefully will be here long after we are gone.

Except for the barn. Ahh, the barn. One of the greatest features on our land is an old barn. It stands 32 feet wide by 42 feet long and about high 35 feet to the peak.There is little documented history of the barn and house. My husband, Jesse, looked at the first road survey of this property, dated 1905, and learned that at that time it was owned by the Owings family. Our neighbors have filled in some more gaps of family names and activities that have taken place here.

Reclaiming Our Barn

Reclaiming our barn - skip sheetingBut the barn is leaning and no longer safe. It’s taken us years to finally decide to take it down. It’s taken a couple more years to find the right people to help us. We finally met Terry and Denuta at Salem Salvage in Salem, Oregon. They are lovingly taking the barn down by hand. They reclaim all the materials they can, then find furniture makers and home builders to reuse it. The barn will have new life. It would have been easier to burn it down, but that just didn’t seem right.

We, too, will be using many of the reclaimed materials to build a new family gathering place and Rootopia studio.

Please indulge me over the next several months as some of my posts will undoubtedly contain more about the barn demolition and the new Rootopia studio. We’re totally immersed in both learning about our history and being very aware that we are significantly shaping the future. We’re digging in and building a new home to bring you even more great gardening and cooking activities you can do with kids. We’re working long hours pulling nails, stacking wood, drawing plans and making tons of decisions for designing something that will stand the next 100 years. I hope you and the next caretakers of this land like it!

If you’re willing to share, I’d love to know more about where you call home and a time when you dreamed big and took a leap of faith. Tell me about it in the comments!

School Garden Spring Harvest Salad

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School garden spring harvest salad
According to the most recent USDA Farm to School census, there are over 7,000 school gardens peppered across the country. And just what is everyone doing in all those school gardens?

Each school garden is unique to the people and place where it grows, of course. Generally, though, school gardens engage students in hands-on learning about food, nutrition, agriculture, and the environment. They are also used as living laboratories to bring to life subjects like math, science, art, geography and literacy. The one thing most will have in common is what to do with all that produce?

My friend Chef Garrett Berdan, RD whipped up the recipe you see below. I challenged him to come up with something we could do in the garden with students harvesting and preparing five of the most common springtime veggies. Those include herbs, spinach, lettuce, peas, and radishes. He developed the school garden spring harvest salad. It’s delicious, and easy to make with kids. My kids’ school garden program has each student make a full jar of dressing to take home and enjoy with his or her family. Remember, what grows together goes together!

School Garden Spring Harvest Salad
 
Author: 
Nutrition Information
  • Serves: 4 servings
  • Calories: 78
  • Fat: 7g
  • Saturated fat: 0.9g
  • Carbohydrates: 3g
  • Sugar: 1g
  • Sodium: 160mg
  • Fiber: 1g
  • Protein: 1g
  • Cholesterol: 0mg
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Ingredients
  • 2 cups lettuce, such as baby lettuce or head lettuce
  • 1 cup arugula
  • 1 cup baby spinach
  • ½ cup sugar snap peas
  • 4 radishes, medium to large
  •  
  • For the dressing:
  • ¼ cup red wine vinegar
  • 1 small garlic clove, minced
  • 2 teaspoons sugar or honey
  • 1 tablespoon fresh mint, chives or parsley, minced (or 1 teaspoon dried herbs)
  • ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
  • ¼ cup olive oil or vegetable oil
Instructions
  1. Wash the lettuce, arugula and baby spinach under cold water. Drain the greens and pat the leaves dry with a clean kitchen towel. Cut or tear the larger greens into bite-size pieces and place in a large salad bowl.
  2. Clean the sugar snap peas and radishes under cold water and drain. Slice the sugar snap peas diagonally across the pod into ⅛ inch slices. Slice the radishes thinly and add the radishes and sliced snap peas to the salad bowl with the greens.
  3. To make the salad dressing, place the red wine vinegar, minced garlic and sugar or honey in an 8-ounce jar with a tight-fitting lid. Let the garlic sit in the vinegar for about 5 minutes to mellow its sharp flavor. Add the fresh or dried herbs, mustard, salt, pepper and oil. Place the lid on the jar and secure it tightly. Shake the jar vigorously for 20 seconds. The dressing will be well mixed. Pour 4 tablespoons of the dressing over the salad and toss gently with two spoons until the vegetables are lightly coated with dressing. Save the remaining dressing for tomorrow or another day within the week.
  4. Serve the salad immediately.
Notes
Estimated cost per serving $0.60.

Original Rootopia Recipe

Are you, or do you know, an educator looking for more garden resources for your classroom? Here are some great ones from our friends at the USDA Team Nutrition.

What’s growing in your school garden?

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