ACC students reap benefits of their garden with gallons of homemade salsa

Anne Carlsen Center students expect to produce 300 to 400 jars of salsa this year, with flavors that include Lime Cilantro, Hawaiian, Garlic, Mean Bean and mild.

The pungent aroma of onions mixing with green peppers and spices is all the sweeter when you see the secret ingredient.

It isn’t anything you’ll find in a cookbook. It isn’t anything that can be bought, really. But it is worth more than dollars and cents. It is the sprinkling of smiles, the dash of love, and the heaping spoonful of accomplishment.

Yes, it’s that time of year again, when the Dog Days of Summer are replaced by crisp autumn days. And for about six straight weeks in September and October, it was time for students at the Anne Carlsen Center to reap the benefits of their garden with gallons of homemade salsa.

From Humble Beginnings

Once a small production, the making of chip dip has sprouted as the Center’s garden has grown. This year, the fourth year of the ACC’s garden curriculum, hundreds of jars will be filled according to ACC teacher Corby Maddock. The jars vary in size from pint to quart.

“Every year we just try to make it better,” said Maddock, who has been in charge of the garden curriculum along with Center teacher Mary Lewis. “If we have a crop like last year we should make over 300 jars. It could be closer to 400 jars if the tomatoes keep growing.”

ACC students fill jar after jar for six weeks in the fall, but the process starts much earlier than that. It takes planting the seeds, tending to the plot throughout the summer, and harvesting the vegetables before making a wide array of tortilla chip accompaniment.

A variety of flavors are available to satisfy any palate. If you take your salsa slightly tart, then Lime Cilantro may be your choice, while the Hawaiian flavor offers a sweeter option. There is another recipe with garlic, and a hearty Mean Bean recipe, as well as the traditional mild version.

The salsa project is one that may no longer be limited to once a year. Now that the solarium has been completed, vegetables may be grown year-round. The solarium already played a huge role in helping this year’s salsa season, as students could raise plants right away in the spring and not have to wait for snow and early precipitation to recede.

In and Out of the Classroom

ACC teacher Corby Maddock shows ACC student Tyler how to cut a green pepper to the right size for salsa.

The education applications for this fun project are endless.

Planting and growing vegetables stresses basics of biology while giving ACC students access to the outdoors. Turning the produce into food is a hands-on way to learn home economics. Finally, the jars of salsa are sold, teaching students the basics of business math. Pint jars are sold for $3 each while quart jars go for $6.

“There are lots of opportunities for individual time,” said ACC Simone Leigh. “If someone comes in on the weekend we’ll go out and help the kids with weeding the garden or picking vegetables. There is a lot of extra time other than just in the classroom.”

All of the potential classroom benefits are good, but the underlying fact is it’s a pretty good time for the kids.

“Yeah, I like it. I do,” said an excited Tyler DeMaine, one of the Center’s students. “I like cooking and being in the garden.”

Students are also taught the importance of recycling throughout the process from planting to eating. Purchased salsa ingredients are transported in ‘green’ grocery sacks. Emptied cans are taken to a recycling center and the jars that hold the salsa are often returned by people who buy the salsa. Many people have also started donating jars for the students’ project.

When you buy your jar – or jars – remember to look for the special ingredient in each jar. You won’t be able to see it, but you’ll be able to taste it.

2008 ACC Salsa Statistics

Over 500 jars of salsa were made between two classrooms – the highest production so far for the Center.
Students and staff combined to make just over 100 gallons of salsa.
A definite count is not available, but it is believed thousands of tomatoes and hundreds of peppers and onions were used in this year’s salsa selling.
All the money made from the salsa goes into costs for growing plants and expanding the garden next year.