Thanks to a donation from Urban Adamah we have Jerusalem artichoke tubers as an offering in our OUSD Veggie CSA for the month of November. You may not have heard of these tasty tubers but perhaps you know them by one of their other common names - sunroot, sunchoke, or earth apple. I love that, earth apple. Their latin name is Helianthus tuberosus. They are a species of sunflower and are part of the aster family. While called Jerusalem artichoke this plant did not originate from Jerusalem and is in fact, native to America. The Native Americans first cultivated and cooked with it. In fact, they "have been cultivated by Native American Indians for centuries from the First Nations in the northeast to the Seminole in the South and as far west as traditional Kiowa and Paiute lands." (OmTimes)

Fast Facts

Native to the Americas

Cultivated by Native Americans for centuries

Perennial sunflower

Tubers are harvested in fall

Prolific grower

Best planted in a barrel or contained space

High in inulin

Prebiotic

Want to learn more: https://omtimes.com/2017/10/sunchoke/

If so, we want to hear from you! Please email me, Kat.Romo@ousd.org, to have your pear tree and its story featured in our new HOTM educational offering coming out later this month.

In advance of your remote taste testing class ask the students to work with their families to purchase a pear for the experience. Expose them to the different colors and varieties of pears so that they come back to class with a representative sampling of many different varieties. Have them engage in a mindful eating exercise using all of their senses to experience the pear. Proceed with the activity below with slight modifications for our remote context.

Order by 5pm on Tuesday for pick-up Thursday-Friday.

New this week:

Spinach seeds

1-gallon bags of compost

Jerusalem artichokes

• Please complete the form below so I can better help you to have a thriving school orchard. Fruit Tree Assessment Form
• If you haven't completed your Covid Protection Plan, Maintenance Plan, or GS Agreement please reach out to me for assistance.

We currently work with Climate Corps at some of our OUSD schools. You can access and browse their video library by filling out the brief request in the link below. I'd love to hear if you decide to use them!

"Climate Corps Education Outside is a program of SEI that is planting the seeds of science and ecoliteracy to grow environmental leaders. We do this by engaging K-5 public school students in gardens and outdoor classrooms on their campuses. During school closures we've been reaching students with asynchronous videos paired with synchronous instruction to deliver our services. If you'd like access to our K-5 video bank please fill out the form on this page to get the free library of resources."

Read:

• https://nativeamericanheritagemonth.gov/about/
• https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/teaching-thanksgiving-in-a-socially-responsible-way
  
• https://foodcorps.org/how-racism-shows-up-in-the-food-system-and-what-we-can-do-about-it/
  
• https://www.sciencealert.com/daycares-in-finland-built-a-backyard-forest-and-it-changed-children-s-immune-systems

Participate:

• Resetting the Food System from Farm to Fork https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_sFfqmqCNQESls5bM70_Y7w
• https://lifelab.org/virtualworkshops/
  
• https://www.crscience.org/educators/foodfootprints/

Apply:

• https://www.venturesfoundation.org/programs/teacher-grants/
• https://donate.seedmoney.org/
  

Watch:

• https://gather.film/watch/