COBB — On Sept. 16, the sun shone on community efforts of parents, children, staff and residents at the Cobb Elementary School Harvest Festival.
The event, free and open to the public, showcased a passion for gardening and the bounty of this year”s crop efforts.
As attendees celebrated the garden”s 26th anniversary, asparagus stalks planted more than 20 years ago by teachers Tappy Nelson and John Phelps were in full boom, shading newly grown squash and peppers in a neighboring raised bed.
The festival was an opportunity to come together and celebrate. Students showed parents and neighbors their gardening knowledge and yield. Lake County musicians performed for the well crowd.
The sixth-grade class performed a play, “The Three Sisters in the Garden,” and there were art projects, a raffle and refreshments.
As part of Cobb School”s farm to school focus, parents prepared homemade pizza from a bee-hive shaped cob oven, which was built on site from the clay in the garden. Pizza ingredients came straight from the plots or were donated by neighborhood sponsors.
Incorporating fresh, locally grown ingredients is a priority at the school on a consistent basis: smoothies, a salad bar and soup in the winter are served to students, coupled with nutrition education provided by a garden aide who is funded by the hard work of the garden club.
Art classes, led by staff and volunteer artists, take place within the garden perimeters, weather permitting.
For more information regarding the Cobb Elementary School garden, contact the school at928-5414 or http://cobb.middletownusd.org.
