- It's harvest time! The Buena Vista Edible Schoolyard is getting their Olive Oil ready for the kids to get a cookin'.
- In this video, 23ABC's Ava Kershner takes you through the orchards, garden, and kitchen to learn more.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
“As we pick all of these olives, we're picking every single piece of fruit,” said Dylan Wilson, Executive Director of the Buena Vista Edible Schoolyard.
370 trees of Manzanilla olives.
“So often times what you’ll see most common in our oil are these green olives,” said Wilson.
The green ones gives a strong, grassy flavor, while the blush and darker colored olives bring the buttery richness.
“Our helpers here come in and they harvest hand pick each and every one of these olives, put them into one of these totes and then they are dumped right on into our harvest bins just like that. We’ll press all of these olives into a fine pulp, then separate the oil from the organic matter and from the water, which produces our olive oil,” said Wilson.
The olive orchards are just a fraction of the garden the Buena Vista Edible Schoolyard has, or as they call it- their outdoor classroom.
Where kids walk over from Buena Vista Elementary every day to learn how to make a healthy relationship with food.
“When they are in the garden, they are learning basic concepts around gardening, basic concepts around ecology, and really getting to learn how to actually plant the seed,” said Wilson
The seed which grows not just into food- but into ingredients for the students to use in the schoolyard’s kitchen.
“As you can see, it’s not a very standard classroom. It has a lot of different components which are specific to our space, including different fruits, and vegetables up on the walls,” said Wilson.
The Buena Vista Edible Schoolyard says that baking and cooking in the kitchen not only teaches kids self sufficiency and healthy eating, but basic math skills as well. Thanks to measuring cups and fractions being used in nearly every recipe.
They also learn to make meals that reflect the current crop of the season.
“Considering we are in the fall season, our students are preparing pumpkin muffins and this is one of my favorite recipes because I love pumpkin muffins,” said Wilson.
For more information, head to the Buena Vista Edible Schoolyard Website.
(661) 241-7047
6520 Buena Vista Rd., Bakersfield.
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