Garden To Table: Lower School Celebrates Dumpling day

Kindergarten celebrated their “1st Annual Dumpling Day” on November 3, marking a unique collaboration between Lower School Science and World Languages disciplines. This garden-to-table project involved Kindergarten students harvesting the pak choi (Chinese cabbage) that they grew in the Lower School Garden and using it as the main ingredient in preparing Chinese vegetarian dumplings for snack time.

Lower School Chinese teacher Anna Zhao, assisted by Upper School Chinese teacher Wei Sun, taught the Kindergarten students how to make dumplings using the Zhao family recipe. Miss Zhao educated the students about the significance of a dumpling’s pouch shape and its symbolism of prosperity, as well as the importance of the cabbage plant as a winter food staple in Chinese culture.

The kindergarten students sowed the pok choi seeds in early September during science class, and watched them flourish for 60 days. “For their fall crop this year, I chose to raise pak choi because it is super-nutritious,” explains Mrs. Martin. “It is rated second out of 40+ powerhouse fruits and vegetables for its nutrient density--far surpassing kale, spinach and broccoli.”

The Lower School Garden is one of GA’s six primary outdoor learning spaces, along with the Preserve, the Academic Courtyard, the Green Roof and Apiary, the Wissahickon Creek, and the Woods. The Lower School Garden is an outdoor living laboratory that provides opportunities for teaching science, environmental awareness, and nutrition. Through firsthand experience, our early education and primary students learn to grow, harvest and prepare fresh vegetables. They watch the cycle of change during the spring and fall growing seasons, connect with where their food comes from, and hopefully learn to make wise, healthy food choices in the future.