Kids Say the Darnedest Things at the Garden at AT&T Park

pizza_1422“This is so great! I never thought I’d be in the Giants stadium eating food I cooked myself!”

So exclaimed Jiovani, who recently visited us in the Garden at AT&T Park for a day of hands-on activities in gardening, nutrition, and cooking through a field trip with the Boys & Girls Clubs of San Francisco.

And another time, when I asked “Does anyone want to take their pizza home?” another boy quickly responded “Why take it home? It’s already in my stomach!”

These are some of the many remarks made from kids visiting the garden that, taken cumulatively, not only make me smile, but lead me to believe that we’re achieving our goals: to connect kids productively with the origins of their food, by showing them how fruits and vegetables grow in the garden and harvesting and cooking with them, then ultimately, to get them excited about preparing and eating healthy, homegrown food — one child at a time.

With the San Francisco Giants’ Opening Day just around the corner, we’ve already had 160 children and youth (plus a few adults!) join us in the Garden and look forward to the many more we’ll see throughout baseball season.

Here are a few of the fun things we’ve overheard:

bigsmile_5363On harvesting a carrot

  • “Carrots grow in the ground? … Oh wow!”
  • “Who hid the carrot in the garden?” 
  • “Hey look, it’s a telephone carrot!” (In response to harvesting a weirdly shaped carrot) 

On sampling herbs

  • “That plant tastes like toothpaste!”
  • “Do people make mint out of bubblegum?” 
  • “This basil tastes like pizza.”
  • “I wish I had my phone so I could take pictures of these herbs. I want to remember this moment until the day I die.”

proudpizza_5230On new tastes

  • “I don’t even like carrots, but I liked them today!”
  • “Unbelievable. All these veggies taste SO GOOD.”
  • “I tried chard today…It’s good!”
  • “Wow, I want to eat these watermelon radishes every day!” 
  • “I could eat a whole bowl of leeks.”
  • “That’s broccoli! Or as some people say, tiny trees!”
  • “Yum, that’s healthy life!” (In response to tasting her “Plant Parts Pizza”

On making fruit salad and pizza

    • “Look at us! We’re all tiny chefs!” 
    • “Yeast are alive? Do they walk and run?” (“Yep, they even dance!” – Bon Appétit Executive Chef Joe Debono)
chefgirl_5111

Informatica Executive Chef Brian West is a frequent volunteer at the Garden

  • “Why does the water for the dough have to be warm?” – Participant 1
    “So the yeast pops up like popcorn!” – Participant 2
  • “I wish I could be here all the time.” – Participant 1
    “Yeah, I want to come here again so I can keep practicing pizza making!” – Participant 2 
  • “When I come to a Giants game this season, I’m coming straight to the garden for my meal.”
  • “Now I think I want to be a chef instead of a baseball player.”