Oct 16: The return of the DC school garden bike tour!
What a beautiful Saturday it was for a city bike tour around Ward 5 school gardens!
After a couple of years off — 2019’s tour was rained out, then the 2020 tour was postponed due to COVID restrictions - Slow Food DC worked with the Office of the State Superintendent of Education’s School Gardens Program to co-sponsor this year’s DC School Garden Bike Tour to celebrate Growing Healthy Schools Month, highlighting the budding school gardens throughout the city. If you’re new to school garden bike tourin’, the purpose is to engage the public with school gardens, encourage innovative partnerships between the communities and schools, and highlight the benefits of school gardens for students and the community. While each tour is unique, what remains constant are the innovative garden spaces, interesting people, and delicious food offerings. Often, schools invite participants from the ride to get involved with future garden volunteering opportunities.
Though the bike tour kicked off shortly after 10am, many riders arrived early to our starting point — Snail of Approval-winning Big Bear Cafe — to enjoy discounted food and drink that would help fuel them along our 4-mile route. Our group of 15 cyclists stopped at schools to learn about the schools’ garden programs, explore the garden spaces, and experience the sights and smells (and in some cases, tastes) of the gardens. At Mundo Verde Public Charter School, garden and sustainability manager Carissa encouraged us to explore the garden’s nightshades and make nature bracelets with leaves, petals, and seeds; at Langley Elementary School we planted garlic with FoodPrints teachers Courtney and Miki, tasted Apple Beet Carrot salad (a FRESHFARM FoodPrints recipe beloved by many DC schoolkids), and toured the school’s new food forest with PTO leader Julia; at Burroughs Elementary School we harvested basil seeds and tasted FoodPrints teacher Jack’s garden-fresh pesto with carrots. Our tour wrapped up at Gearin’ Up Bicycles’ opening day celebration where outreach coordinator Lauren explained the shop’s youth job training and placement programs. Not a bad way to spend a gorgeous morning and early afternoon, eh?
The school garden bike tour is one of Slow Food DC’s free annual educational events. In previous years we have donated snacks, seeds, or other needed garden items to school gardens. We are able to do this work thanks to generous donations from our community members. Learn how to further support Slow Food DC's “Share a Seed” and other school garden programming here.
