Ms. Yoshida's class and Mrs. Fein's class harvest, eat and plant

Today the children harvested all of the arugula in their class beds in preparation for future planting. They then combined the arugula with nasturtium flowers and parmesan cheese to make salad. Mrs. Fein's class also added broccoli. They made the lemon juice and olive oil dressing that we made last month.  The children wrote about "Making Arugula Salad" in their journals. They volunteered the steps necessary to make the salad, starting with harvesting the arugula.

Thanks to our parent volunteers! Parent volunteer Dana helped some of Ms. Yoshida's children plant marigold seeds.  Parent volunteer Sherri helped Mrs. Fein's children plant marigold seeds as well.  These were seeds that they'd saved last fall from marigold flowers.Parent volunteer Myra helped them make the salad.

Children in Mrs. Fein's class helped save the seed pods of the arugula plant. When we have enough seeds for all of the 2nd grade each student will get one. Arugula is very easy to grow in either a pot or the ground!

Children from Ms. Yoshida's class plant marigold seeds.

Sorting the marigold seeds.

Harvesting the arugula

Arugula salad with nasturtium flowers as garnish

Girls from Mrs. Fein's class plant marigold seeds.

Making an Arugula Salad

Today Ms. Connor's class and Mr. Jacobs' class made arugula salad. We discussed the meaning of the words ingredients and salad dressing as well as the concepts of 1/4 and 1/2.  Some of the children harvested arugula from our garden. Each child had a part in preparing the salad. Some groups added arugula flowers and nasturtium flowers (which are edible) to their salads. Those children who didn't like cheese ate just arugula with the dressing.  Afterwards some children fed the arugula stems to the worms in the worm bin.

The recipe that follows is the one which the kids made today. It can be varied as follows:goat cheese can be substituted for parmesan cheese, and roasted beets and walnuts could also be added.

Arugula is very easy to grow. It self seeds in the Marquez Garden and in my own garden. Another benefit is that squirrels don't seem to like it! I hope some of you try the salad and let your child help you cook!

Arugula with Parmesan Cheese (from Ina Garten)

Ingredients
1/2 pound fresh arugula (3 large bunches) or less
Lemon Vinaigrette

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
1/2 cup good olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 -pound Parmesan

Directions
If the arugula has roots attached, cut them off. Fill the sink with cold water and toss the arugula
for a few minutes to clean. Spin-dry the leaves and place them in a large bowl.
In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Shave the parmesan with a vegetable peeler. Pour dressing on arugula, toss and serve. You can add the parmesan to the salad with the dressing or serve on the side.

This is a great way to teach your kids about fractions! Enjoy!

Checking out the red wriggler worms

Cutting the cheese with the vegetable peeler.

The salad with an orange nasturtium flower as garnish

Peeling the cheese

Preparing the dressing

Adding greens to the worm bin