Crop Calendar

Youth Garden Harvest Calendar

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Marigold

Dried Benas

Youth Garden HARVEST CALENDAR August

October

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September

Squash

Melon

Garlic Ground Cherry

Potatoes

Spinach

Radish Rhubarb

Lettuce

Strawberries

Tomato Zinnia

Tomatillo

Peppers

Marigold

Eggplant

Cucumber

Cabbage

June GreenBeans

Artichoke

Kale

May

Carrots

Beet Broccoli

July

Apricot

March April

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How To Use This Book This book is for you!

Our curriculum has been revised year after year, and this is a fantastic resource for lesson plans. Please think of this resource as an addition to the curriculum that you can reference any time that you are uncertain about harvesting radishes, beans, potatoes, or if you are at a loss for what to do with them.

Please also know that this is for you to add to.

Each year, there are new and exciting lessons that previous educators would never have dreamed of. This should be a tool for communicating across seasons so that we are never reinventing the wheel and so that we can continue to build on the creativity and efficiency of our lessons.

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The first page has a calendar of many of the crops that are grown in the Grateful Tomato Garden. The crops are listed in alphabetical order and by the time of year they are ready for harvest. Be sure to note that this is approximately the harvest date. consult the Youth Garden Manager if the growing year has been abnormal.

If you would like to opt out of the activities listed in the curriculum, simply find what time of year you are teaching on the handy calendar and reference the vegetables that are likely available at that time. Each Crop Page is in alphabetical order after the Harvest Calendar. You can also reference the index for page numbers and additional recipes and lesson resources.

Harvest Protocol

Try to help students see the reality of growing their own food by having them harvest as much as possible! Weighing and washing the food that literally comes out of the ground is the absolute best way for children to see the actual process of “Farm to Table”.

These tools will be at your disposal at the Grateful Tomato Garden.

1. Consult specific crop pages, or the Youth Garden Coordinator for how to harvest crops.

2. After harvesting crops, have kids (or yourself) wash crops thoroughly.

3. Tare out the scale with a harvest bin on top of it. Scale will now read zero.

4. Measure and record the weight of the produce.

5. Produce bags are available in the Youth Garden Shed. Try to send produce home with each summer camp or group when available.

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Apricots July through Early August

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Artichokes

Early through Late July

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Beans

June through September

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Beets

May through October

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Broccoli

Late June through early July Second harvest possible

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Cabbage

June through Early July

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Carrots August through October

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Cucumbers

August through October

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Garlic

Harvest around July 4th

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Ground Cherries

Late August through October

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Kale

May through October

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Lettuce

Early season and September through October

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Marigolds Early July through September

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Melon

July through August

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Peas

Late May through June

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Peppers Late July through September

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Potatoes May through September

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Radish

May through October

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Rhubarb May through October

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Spinach

May through October

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Strawberries May through September

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Squash June through October

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Tomatillos June through September

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Tomatoes

June through Septmeber

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Zinnias

June through September

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ADDITIONAL TOOLS I1. Seed Packet Templates I2. Parts of a Seed Worksheet/Example I3. Sources for Additional Resources I4. Food Storage Tips and Tricks I5. Photos

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1

Seed Packet Template

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Parts of a Seed Embryo

Radicle (Baby Roots)

Endosperm

Cotyledon

Seed Coat

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RESOURCES Utah State University Extension Office. Yard and Garden. https://extension.usu.edu/yardandgarden/index Each Harvest page contains harvest information taken from the USU Extension Office “Fruit, Vegetables, and Herb Guides�. These Guides are amazing for everything from planting, varieties, flavor, storage, to harvesting.

If you need more depth of information, just consult the website listed above.

Pea Pesto Crostini. The Food Network. https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/pea-pesto-crostini-recipe-1948642 The Spruce. https://www.thespruceeats.com/utah-seasonal-fruits-and-vegetables-2217220 The Spruce is another great resource for crop harvesting. There are plenty of Utah related tid-bits all about different varieties and corresponding taste, and recipes. Facts about Apricots on page 4 were taken from an article.

Rough growing and harvest schedules are also available.

Miles, Jane. Puffy Carrot: The Types of Beans You Need to Grow in Your Garden Right Now. Beanhttp://puffycarrot.com/types-of-beans/ This is a great Resource for learning about different types of beans. There are way too many to list in this book, so check out the article for additional information.

Albert, Steve. From Plant to Table: How to Harvest and Store Tomatillos https://harvesttotable.com/harvest-store-tomatillos/ This is an extremely comprehensive guide to tomatillos. They are a great and unusual crop for kids to see in the garden. I recommend reading this to get a better handle on growing them.

Farm to Preschool http://www.farmtopreschool.org/states/documents/F2PHOTM_Peppers_000.pdf American Meadows https://www.americanmeadows.com/plant-classification This resource was used for information about plant classification (see Page 28). There are many resources including growing guides and How To videos. The website is screwed toward growing flowers, but is a great resource for teaching more technical plant and gardening skills.

Encylcopedia of Food Sciences and Nutrition https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/biochemistry-genetics-and-molecular-biology/brassica This resource was a little heady, but fascinating. There are several other topics covered, but I used info for Brassicas specifically (see Page 8).

Farm to School http://www.wafarmtoschool.org/ToolKit/15/cabbage/Facts This specific webpage included facts and lessons for cabbage in the garden found on page 9. There are many other lessons and crops covered in the website including crop pages similar to this resource.

Live At Learn https://www.liveeatlearn.com/eggplant/ This blog was used for all Eggplant information. The author is a chef and likes to do short articles on the origins and health profiles of veggies and fruits. Super fun facts and good information can be found here.

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Food Storage Tips and Tricks It hurts to watch produce wilt away and rot. This is probably one of the most disappointing sights to see after you have watched that fruit or vegetable grow all summer. In order to maximize the amount of food that we can take from the Grateful Tomato Garden and use for our programs. There are a couple of tips and tricks to keep in mind when it comes to storage.

ALWAYS:Ethylene is a gas that avacados, apricots, honeydew, mangos, apples and bananas will relese after they have been harvested from the plant. The gas is naturally occuring and is not harmfull when ingested, but it does affect the shelf-life of other produce.

T omatillos and tomatoes have a particularlly short shelf life, they are suseptable to the cold, and they are easily affected by this gas. When dealing with these nighshades, be sure to avoid putting tthem in the fridge without placing them in a bag inside of a crisper drawer (where the temperature will not drop below 51 degrees).

Also make sure that there are not other Ethylene producing fruits in the fridge near other produce.

There are notes on each of the crop pages with storage suggestions. Use these as a baseline for how to store crops, but also use the judgment of the Youth Garden Coordinator. There will be extended lulls in crop harvesting particularly during the end of June and early July. Plan ahead and use the freezer and canning to your adventage when necessary.

SPRINGTIME: Chop and Freeze spinach as it grows. Harvest Kale and freeze in medium sized peices.

Harvest radishes and option to eat fresh or can. (Would not receommend for freezing). Beet, radish, and lettuce can also be blended and frozen in ice cube trays for use in smoothies later in the year.

SUMMER: Harvesting crops as they ripen consistently will encourage growth. This is especially important for cumubers, tomatoes, and green beans, which will likely only be available in the later summer. This will ramp up at the beginning of August or in Late July. Be sure to take time to harvest consistently and set aside some time to preserve vegetables and fruits. You may do this by freezing on cannning. Review canning methods very closely and do not improvise recipes. There is a very specific PH that must be maintained during the process.

If the incorrect method or recipe is used to can veggies, you will be able to tell several different ways.

There is a button on the top of the jars lid that must not “pop out�. If you have not opened your jar since it was energed in the water bath, but you notice that you can press in on the top and even here a little pop as the material bends, do not eat the contents of the jar. Additionally, there will likely be a foamy layer on the top of the jar if it was not properly preserved, and you will also notice a very bad smell. If any of these signs are present do not consume the contents of the jar, they could contain harmful bacteria.

For most classes, it is best to make fresh pickles and jams becuase you will not have enough time to consume the food with children if you are in a summer camp or even a garden club. It will be useful for reducing waste though. The Tomato Garden has all utensils needed for canning and preserving with an open boiling system. Use this for your own consumption and to distribute at the office.

Make storage decisions based on each crop in order to ensure longest possible shelf life. Utilize paper and plastic bags and the crisper drawers in the fridge. If storing tomatoes or cucumbers try to keep them away from overly cold temps in the fridge by either storing them in food-safe storage areas or in crisper drawers.

ALWAYS label food with the species and variety and the date that it was picked. This will be easy to remember as long as you are sticking to the harvest protocol and taking detailed notes of your harvests.

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PHOTOS

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Note from the author Children are capable of finding beauty in almost anything. That is what makes this position so fun and dynamic. One day the “bug people” may come and you will find a group of seven year old girls plopped on the ground completely infatuated with a millipede. Other days children may want to learn more about bees, or understand why cucumbers look so different from each other. The lessons that come from very odd questions or unique experiences are often the ones that the kids identify with most and the ones that they will remember.

The absolute best way to encourage the children to be excited about growing things and contributing to their environment is by finding the parts that excite you personally. It did not happen once in 2019 that there was a child that did not reciprocate the excitement that the adults had for any of our discusions or our lessons. Get your hands dirty, get excited about constantly learning, and let the kiddos do the same. That is the recipe for success.

Additional lessons included in the lesson plans are excellent. Several are pictured to the left. Food system webs are one of the most exciting lessons that we covered with children. It opens up the discussion of how something as simple as WHAT WE EAT can affect the entire nation and our environment dramatically.

Use this for older children when you can if you are hoping to be re-invigorated with the potential children have to change the world.

“We have the world to live in on the condition that we will take good care of it.”

-Wendell Berry Try to draw creativity from the importance of changing even one child’s understanding of the world. If we can encourage them to see the bad parts and celebrate the great parts, it is possible for our city to be cleaner and our future a little more hopeful. Wendell Berry and Adlo Leopold are some of my favorite American Naturalists. They love to add poetry and creativity to their work, with the end goal of halting aggressive exploitation of the land we live on. Little frustrations are inevitable, so embrace them, calm the crying child, endure the freezing cold and have fun taking good care of the the world.

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