chick peas. You know, garbanzo beans? They grow easily in the dry Cowichan summer, as it is similar to the Mediterranean climate where chick peas originate. The seeds are large, and easy for little hands to sow. They grow well even if rows are wiggly, or the spacing between plants is uneven. The plants are legumes, which means they can fix nitrogen from the GARDENING WITH atmosphere into the KINPARK KIDS - Growing soil. So, we grow Chick Peas for the soil, the them at KinPark as a cover crop, or seed, and the satisfaction green mulch, which very Summer, the market is ‘chopped and garden at Kinpark dropped’ into pathways or Youth Urban Farm fills to around other crops after dried overflowing with vegetables, peas are harvested for seed. fruits, and children! Kids That’s the best part - saving Camp participants between chick pea seed is super fun the ages of 6 - 10 get their and easy for kids of all ages! hands dirty each day, helping with garden tasks such as To harvest the seeds, wait harvesting, weeding, watering until the plants start turning and planting.Farm staff yellow and brown, and you have a blast planning and can hear peas rattling in their brainstorming fun agriculture- pods. Then, either pull or cut themed activities for the the plants at their base, and, kids. It’s always a delight to working over a large tote or see the lightswitch turn on a tarp, run pinched fingers when a child realizes where along the length of the stem their food comes from, when to strip off all the pods (lots they exclaim, “Wait, you of leaves will come off too). mean carrots grow under the Once you have a big pile of ground?!” pods, then it’s time to thresh! Jump and stomp on top of the One of the most successful pile to pop each and every repeat activities at KinPark chick pea pod. This can take Kids Camp is focused on a while, so for fun, KinPark
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Kids campers enjoy dance competitions while threshing. “The Twist” is a particularly effective move. Once all the pods have been popped and the peas are loose, the next step is to separate seeds from leaves and empty pods, also known as winnowing. The best time to winnow is on a windy afternoon, after kids have eaten lunch and are ready to chill out. Dump everything into a big tote, then dump that into another tote or large bucket from up high. The wind carries all the light bits away, leaving only heavier peas behind. Keep dumping from one bucket to
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the other, being careful no one is standing downwind of the operation, otherwise they will get a face full of dusty chick pea chaff! Little ones may want to stand on a chair in order to have a turn winnowing. Scoop cleaned seeds into mason jars for dry storage. Or, you can cook them up straight away, and blend with tahini, lemon juice, garlic and salt for a mind-blowing homemade hummus! Wait, you mean hummus comes from a plant!? Laura Boyd-Clowes Manager, KinPark Youth Urban Farm
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