This year we built two raised bed gardens for the Home for Little Wanderers as part of our Build-a-Garden program. Over the course of the season, interns helped build the beds, worked with the kids to plant them, and then the kids harvested vegetables and cooked them for dinner.

We just went to the Home for Little Wanderers this morning, and Addie led a discussion with the kids there about what they liked about the garden this year and what they’d like to change for next year. Favorites included cherry tomatoes and beets. Afterwards, we gave them a big bag of popcorn (each year, the Lincoln farmers give us popcorn, and the Lincoln Kindergarteners take it off the cob, and then we give all the kernels to Home for Little Wanderers). The kids all waited super patiently, anticipating the popcorn popping. They watched through the glass-topped pot as it finally started to pop. As the popping sped up, one of them said:

“It’s like independence day! It’s going for the grand finale!”