H-D garden club combines planting and culinary knowledge for balanced lesson

Students at Hampton-Dumont Middle School had a fresh start to the new school year.
While parents and students arrived for open house at the middle school last Wednesday, the H-D gardening club served salsas, bread and drinks all made from produce grown in the raised garden bed outside the building. The raised bed converted from a livestock feed trough. Instructor Jane Hoegh said the design allows for better soil health and protection from weeds, pests and animals. Over the summer, the bed was home to strawberries, tomatoes, beets, peas, eggplant and much more.
The club is open to third through eighth graders and employs a variety of skills. Hoegh said students learn how to plant, prune, harvest and even cook through the club.
The array of goodies offered at the open house Wednesday was the culmination of a summer of hard work. Not only did students harvest the tomatoes, zucchini and various other fruits and vegetables needed to make the treats, they chopped, measured and mixed the ingredients to create the final product.
“They’re just so excited to share,” Hoegh said of the chance for the students to offer the literal fruits of their labor to their friends. “They take lots of pride in it.”
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