On Tuesday, May 23rd a group of 10th graders from Somerville High School’s Culinary Arts program took a field trip to Groundwork Somerville’s South Street Farm. South Street Farm is the City of Somerville’s only urban farm, and they manage to pack in a lot of produce in a very small space!
The students got an overview of the farm from Groundwork Somerville’s Leah McCarthy. Then they got to work! Students helped weed, mulch garden beds, and water. They were able to see a vast number of crops growing, such as lettuce, beets, radishes, carrots, herbs and more. After the garden work, Leah showed them how to harvest lettuce without pulling up the entire plant. If trimmed at the base, another head of lettuce will grow from a single plant!
Chef David Ginivisian set up an outdoor prep table, and demonstrated how to prepare kale, cucumbers, and vinaigrette for a salad. The students took part in the prep work, zesting lemons, and peeling cucumbers. Afterwards all students were able to try the salad!
This was a unique opportunity for students from a city setting to not only see how food grows, but also how possible it is to grow food in small spaces. Being culinary arts students, it was particularly illuminating to see where the ingredients they work with in the kitchen come from! One student commented that the farm reminded him of his family’s farm in Pakistan and it brought good memories to him. Another student said, “this is my favorite field trip we have been on!”
SHS Field Trip 5/23/23 by Massachusetts Farm to School
Phone: (413) 253-3844
Email: info@massfarmtoschool.org
