Soup Sale at the African-American Heritage Celebration

Agriculture Task Force members helped provide healthy food to our community by selling French Onion Mushroom Soup at CJA's African American Heritage Celebration.  The soup and the celebration were big hits!

How to Make Yogurt

"In ATF we made yogurt...

 "...The first day to make yogurt we poured milk into the pot...

"...Then we heated the milk until it was 180 degrees... 

"...When it was 180 degrees we had to bring it down to 120 degrees.  To do that we put the pot into a pan that was full of ice."

--Alzario, grade 7

"Next we added a little yogurt with living bacteria...

"...Then we covered it with tinfoil and left it overnight at room temperature...

"...The next day we checked to make sure that the bacteria had changed it into yogurt.  Then we strained it with a cheesecloth...

"...Finally, we eat!  The yogurt was amazing.  But it was only good after we added honey and jam!"

--Jamari, grade 6

"We learned that there are good bacteria in the yogurt that eat the milk in yogurt and makes it healthy."  "That is not what I was going to expect."

--Cecil, grade 6; Alzario, grade 7

Believe it or not, growing season is coming soon!

"In ATF we searched on the internet for seeds to plant in our garden.  I looked at a carrot seed.  They have lots of different types.  I picked Bolero pelleted carrots.  Another seed I saw was disk arugula and it was shaped like a disk, which was very weird.  The third seed I looked at was a cherritoe radish, which looked like cherries.  We will start planting seeds in March, but we are shopping for seeds now because they are on sale."
--Jamari, grade 6

"I looked up raspberries.  I think that raspberries are expensive and tasty.  I also looked up mini onions.  I think they are small and sweet-looking.  The last seed I looked up was wheat.  I think wheat is the best.  I love bread!  We're shopping for seeds now so they don't run out.  It's kind of like Black Friday."
--Cecil, grade 6

Braving the cold to repair a compost bin

"Today in ATF we fixed the compost bin that broke when we moved it to a new spot.  First, we had to see which pallet would fit the compost bin we had to fix."

--Cecil, Grade 6

 "We froze our toes off while we made a new compost bin.  We hammered in nails with orange holders to attach the mesh onto the bin.  We also had to lift up different wooden tops with wire mesh to find the right fit for the compost bin."

--Jamari, grade 6

 "We had to put nails into it.  We had to put the parts back together.  Then we finally put the entire thing back together.  I thought it was exciting building the compost bin because I haven't built anything in a while.  It was great.  My dad builds and destroys things in our building so I was used to it already."

--Casimir

 "Today we made a compost bin.  It was freezing cold and I got to use a hammer.  It was like when my mom and I build a bird house.  I feel great.  I wish we could do it again to I can learn to do it again."

--Javion, grade 5

"Last, we went inside with all the tools and warmed up.  I feel that what we did in ATF was very constructive."

--Cecil, grade 6

"We went through blood, cuts, and the cold but we got through the pain and got the job done! Go ATF!"

--Jamari, grade 6

Check out the finished bin.  Nice job ATF!