Senior garden ambassadors met me before school to play with these two gadgets:
Hand-cranked apple peeler, corer and slicer
Dehydrator
We cut apples, dehydrated them all day, and served them at the Taste Test cart at lunch.
Ambassadors get off the bus and work with me until the bell rings
And soon, this whole process is going to be much, much better. You can see that we are prepping the food at the lunch tables. Do-able but pretty inconvenient. No table or electric outlet or sink to rinse fruit and veggies.
A while back Susi and I sent a grant proposal to Whole Foods Market, asking for an outdoor “kitchen island” to prep garden produce. After obsessively checking their website for months we found out this past summer that we won the money! It’s going to be built soon, so once again, I will show you the “before” shot so you can appreciate it when it goes in. This is probably the last unimproved piece of real estate in the garden!
What's not to like? 
Congratulations! So does Whole Foods give grants? I had not idea!
Thanks so much! Yes, they do and here is the link:
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/2011/08/apply-school-garden-grant/ Thanks also for following!
Awesome! Thanks for the info. Good luck with the dried apples initiative. It’s great to see people helping our children live healthier lives!
Hurray! What a great thing to have being built for the garden, it will surely come in very handy, although the kids are certainly getting along just fine in its absence too 😉
True! We do with what we’ve got…and then we appreciate when it gets a little bit easier!
That is so awesome! It’s amazing how many people and businesses say yes when you ask!
I know you know this from experience with Alex’s Lemonade Stand! It really is quite amazing.
Hooray Tricia! That is fantastic! I love the apples!
Thanks Josh! Let me give you and Becky a tour sometime! I know I am totally and completely biased, but I think our garden is one of the (hidden) gems of Julian!