Last spring, Miami-Dade students at 10 schools planted new food forests -- large gardens filled with kale, tomatoes, passion fruit and more.
Some of those crops are ready now, and giving away what’s grown in the garden has become a big weekly event.
At Twin Lakes Elementary School in Hialeah, students listen as their teacher tells them how to find a sweet potato.
“So this is the leaf we’re looking for," she tells them. "You follow the vine to the root. And then you harvest your sweet potato. OK?”
Heads down, they start tracing the vines. The five and a half pounds of sweet potatoes the students find will be served in the school cafeteria.
On the other side of the garden, students line up for greens. They’re stuffing bags with Okinawa spinach, lemongrass and cranberry hibiscus.
Third grader Adam Lopez says he likes to make salads from what he takes home from the food forest.
“I also sometimes eat the cranberry hibiscus raw," he said. "It’s very good if you just wash it.”
Food forests at 11 Miami-Dade schools are sponsored by The Education Fund. And more than 50 schools have gardens.
