An Edible Schoolyard...

On Saturday morning we visited the little local farmers market held on Lopez Island. It was in the center of the tiny town. Brightly colored flags and banners led the way down the road and marked the area where the little white tents were mingling together.
There were all sorts of fun and eclectic booths. Of course we found a nice veggie stand overflowing with freshly picked goodies. We bought our zucchini and fancy long beans at this booth. There were craftsman and jewelry makers as well. I purchased some lovely hand stamped kitchen linens for future gift giving. My sis-in-law kept bringing me exotic beverages made with different herbal teas and infusions. I especially liked the hibiscus ginger drink on ice. It was tart and spicy with just a hint of heat from the ginger. The Little Foodie just happened to know a nice lady selling homemade cake slices! Wow...not only were they beautiful to look at, they tasted amazing. She purchased slices of coconut, lemon and berry cake and shared them with us after our salmon dinner. YUM...
Of popular interest was a small card table set up in the middle of the market. An ordinary, middle-aged woman was willing to read your palm. For the paltry sum of $8.00! (Several discounted options were available as well. i.e. library volunteers could have a free reading and sharing your favorite book knocked a dollar off the price). Several of us lined up! The reader was in no hurry and was leisurely reading assorted palms. I nonchalantly tried to listen to the reading being giving to one of my nieces. The palm reader took notice and kindly said if I was related I was welcome to listen in. HA! I mainly noticed my little niece has a pinky finger that oddly resembles mine. Poor kid...
It was quite some time before it was my turn for a palm reading. I could tell I liked this seemingly average, ordinary woman who would be telling me things about my past, present and future!

I was enlightened about several things. She pointed to a couple of lines in the palm of my right hand and said I should live on Lopez Island or a similar, remote and lovely place. She said I wouldn't mind the inconvenience of being outside of a larger city. Um...how about Boulder, Utah!!!? I am totally liking this woman. From looking elsewhere along my palm she mentioned that when "Hubs" bugs me I should remember..."YOU picked him"! LOL...there were also several other fun and significant findings. As we were winding down my read I enquired about her discounted pricing. I asked if I mentioned a favorite book if I could have the dollar off option. Of course.
I told her my favorite contemporary author was Barbara Kingsolver. I mentioned that I loved her book, "The Poisonwood Bible".  We chatted about that for a few minutes and then I told her how much I loved her non-fiction book, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle".  I told her that book was life changing for me! She looked up at me and said, "you need to go see the school garden up the road". What??? Yes, she told me all about the Lopez Island edible school garden! This school houses the elementary, middle and high school for the whole island. She explained it really does feed the whole school with lovely schoolyard grown food. She knew all about the systems and programs and lessons planned around the garden.  I guess being a Saturday morning palm reader on Lopez Island doesn't cover all your living expenses so this wonderful woman does part-time custodial work at the school as well. I guess picking up carrot tops in the hallways is more common than picking up candy wrappers. How cool is that?!
She gave us directions to the school and totally made my day! (I was so happy to have this info that I gave her the full $8.00 for the reading!)...
I LOVE everything about edible schoolyards. I have the book by "Alice Waters" on my coffee table. I read about them and look at pictures on the Internet and dream about the possibility of all schools having them on their campuses. I get FB updates from the "original" Edible Schoolyard built from a concrete and weed-filled vacant lot adjacent to a school in Berkeley, California. I couldn't wait to go see this Lopez Island garden...

Seriously?! How cool is this. And, they really do bottle and preserve as per the Palm Reader!

 First thing we see just inside the gate. This is soooo adorable!

Gotta love the scary scarecrow! Granny's old house dress ;)

I LOVED every inch of this huge school garden. It is serene and peaceful and beautiful and overflowing with produce!

The little kindergarten kids have their own sweet space.

I wasn't kidding when I said it was huge! There are several more of these greenhouses as well! It was truly amazing and inspiring. There were several types of fruit trees in the little orchard area. Every space in this massive garden was filled with goodies.

Composting!!! I would guess the school has very little garbage.

This just totally blew me away! There were two of these outside the classroom doors. They are serious about this garden and the contributions the kids make. Assorted tools, bags, gloves and the rack of Wellies! So adorable!

I loved Lopez Island and it's beauty and pace and lifestyle. I can't lie, though. This was my favorite thing about Lopez. A community and school system that invests this time and effort into their children is more than commendable. Thanks Palm Reader Lady! You made my day!

Yeah...they're cool on Lopez!