One of PRIN. Restaurant’s former managers went on to become a third grade teacher at the Blue School, a progressive independent school located down in Tribeca. She contacted me recently to see if she could bring in her third grade class to learn about our rooftop garden and I told her we would be thrilled to host them.
We first did a quick kitchen tour and they got a chance to actually walk in to the walk-in refrigerators.
Then we headed up to the rooftop garden and split into two groups. One group went to talk with Chef Mike from Farm.One about aeroponic and hydroponic growing methods and helped him in planting our tower gardens.
The other group came with me on a walk through the garden to talk about the difference between annual and perennial plants. We harvested, tasted, and smelled many of the unique perennials in the PRINT garden (lovage, wormwood, sunchokes, anise hyssop), and each student tied the sprigs into a nosegay to take home and share with their families!
We wrapped things up with adding worms to our compost bin and talking about the lifecycle of soil. Then we passed out Rhubarb Lemonade Spritzers with Strawberry and Edible Farm.One Flowers.
All in all they were an inquisitive group with a lot of knowledge and interesting comments and questions. We hope the Blue School students will come back to visit next year!
Here is the Rhubarb Spritzer recipe that was requested by several of the parent chaperones.
RHUBARB SPRITZ
Makes approximately 4-8 servings
- Boil 2 cups chopped rhubarb stalks with 1 cup water, 1 cup sugar and the zest of one orange or lemon. Boil for 5 minutes then remove from heat and let cool.
- Strain out the rhubarb and use as a compote.
- Add the rhubarb syrup to a pitcher with 1/2 cup lemon juice. Stir.
- Pour over ice, top with sparkling water, garnish with a strawberry and/or herbs or edible flowers!
