October update- work parties, presidential garden opening ceremony, and more!

Since the last blog post so many things have happened in the gardens! We've had a few near frosts but nothing that our row covers haven't been able to handle. We're hoping the tomatoes, peppers, and tomatillos will keep thriving at least until the end of this week when we'll be making salsa, and most everything else we have growing is happier in the cold. We had two more successful work parties where we planted the new beds and built hoop tunnels in all three gardens and ate delicious lunches. We also celebrated the harvest and Sukkot by sharing garden produce at Shabbat dinner on the 24th. We've been harvesting salad greens every Wednesday morning for Mission Dining Hall and harvesting herbs and various veggies for Log Lunch on Friday.
The other big excitement of the past few weeks was the opening ceremony of the Presidential Garden, which was held on the morning of The Place of Taste Symposium on Food, Culture, and Community. It was a beautiful morning and we had a fantastic turnout of adults in the community and especially the symposium speakers, many of whom happily wore WSG buttons gave us shout-outs in their talks! We're so grateful that the Falk family is sharing their backyard with us- it's such a great way to connect the campus and demonstrate the value of growing food in a sustainable way. Here are some pictures from the last few weeks: 

Salad from work party lunch!

Putting up hoops in Parsons

Planting the new beds in Parsons with cold-hardy greens

We're still harvesting tomatoes!

Work party lunch

Professor Goldstein speaking at the Presidential Garden opening ceremony

President Falk at opening ceremony

Michelle sang her wonderful planting song again!

The ribbon cutting- Karen Falk did the honors

Some of the VIPS... Bill Yosses- the pastry chef at the White House, Mitchell Davis- cookbook author, food journalist, and food studies scholar who moderated one of the panels on taste, and John Moresi and Jimmy Guiden from Mission catering

Transplanting in the presidential garden

Heritage wheat! Unfortunately since this picture was taken something nibbled down many of the plants...

More transplanting!

For more pictures of the opening ceremony, check out the Zilkha Center facebook page!