Get Ready for this School Year with Growing Teaching Throughout the Seasons (GTS)
Growing Teachers Throughout the Seasons (GTS) was developed by Extension professionals in partnership with Columbus City Schools, the state’s largest school district, to empower teachers to engage students in growing foods at school during the school year. Students can plant, maintain, harvest, and taste nine varieties from September to May using three growing methods: seed starting under LED lights, raised beds with season extension, and indoor hydroponic units. Supported by a USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture grant, GTS is data-driven and teacher-informed. GTS resources include a step-by-step guide, 20 online modules, and a virtual introductory training that supports teachers in achieving science, technology, math, and language arts outcomes while fostering agriculture awareness and healthy eating. GTS activities can be adapted for all ages and grade levels. GTS was first published in April 2024 and has sold over 1,469 copies!
Among the recognitions that Growing Teachers Throughout the Seasons has received:
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First Place for 2024 Best Bulletin or Educational Guide, awarded by Epsilon Sigma Phi and the Ohio Joint Council of Extension Professionals.
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2025 Program of Excellence in Engaged Scholarship, Ohio State University Office of Outreach and Engagement.
Now is a great time to organize a garden team and prepare for nine months of harvests at your school in 2025-2026.
Watch the GTS Videos on the OSU Extension Farm to School website: Growing Teachers Throughout the Seasons › Farm to School
Online Trainings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KE03A_f7mHg Share this with teachers interested in implementing school gardens. For Early Care and Education training, see the information below.
GTS guidebook: Order a copy at https://extensionpubs.osu.edu/growing-teachers-throughout-the-seasons/
The guidebook and modules provide material lists to show what you will need for the growing methods.
Garden Supplies: Check your school budgets, request donations, and/or hold a garden fundraiser. Materials for all three methods cost about $500-600.
For more information, contact GTS lead author Carol Smathers at smathers.14@osu.edu.
 GTS provides students and staff with tools to grow and harvest different produce throughout the school year.
Ohio Grown: Student Chef Showcase Features School Lunch Recipes Full of Flavor and Local Produce!
 On May 9, five teams of students in grades six through twelve from across the state gathered at Columbus State Community College to participate in the inaugural Ohio Grown: Student Chef Showcase! This event celebrates and nurtures the budding talents of student chefs, offering them a platform to showcase their skills and creativity in the kitchen. Dishes were judged on overall appeal, appearance, execution, taste, and presentation. While all teams presented outstanding dishes, the top score went to the CLC Bulldogs from Hamilton City Schools for their Sweet & Spicy Rainbow Tacos!
The event highlighted the importance of local ingredients in school meals and inspired these young chefs to think creatively when cooking with fresh ingredients. Thanks to the remarkable talent displayed by these student chefs, the future of Ohio's culinary scene looks bright.
Congratulations to all participating teams!
- CLC Bulldogs, Hamilton City Schools – WINNER
Recipe: Sweet and Spicy Rainbow Tacos
- Sensational Culinary, The Ohio State School for the Blind
Recipe: Sweet Heat Mediterranean Bowl
- Cookin’ Crusaders, Seton Catholic School/Hudson City Schools
Recipe: Spinach Spaghetti with Cherry Tomatoes and Chicken Italiano
- Cooking Classy, Milford Exempted Village School District
Recipe: Sizzlin’ Honey-Glazed Cluck & Spud Delight
- Earthy Eats, Southwest Licking Schools
Recipe: Loaded Fries
Check out the following news coverage about the event:
Student chefs compete to have their dishes served in schools | NBC4 WCMH-TV
Milford students create meal that could end up at all Ohio schools | WCPO 9 Cincinnati
HCSD Student Chef Showcase | TvHamilton
Stay tuned for upcoming details regarding the 2026 Ohio Grown: Student Chef Showcase by visiting the webpage.
 Ohio Grown: Student Chef Showcase participants prepare school lunch dishes featuring fresh, local ingredients
Sweet and Spicy Rainbow Tacos
Created by the CLC Bulldogs
Makes: Six servings (three tacos per serving)
Time: 1 hour
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Ingredients
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Sweet Potato Hummus:
· Sweet Potatoes, peeled, cubed, 1.5 lb.
· Canola Oil, 1 T plus 1/4 c
· Reduced Sodium Chickpeas, 1 c
· Tahini, 1/4 c
· Lemon Juice, 1 1/2 T
· Garlic, minced, 1 T
· Cayenne Pepper, 1/2 t
Sunflower Sauce
· Sunflower Butter, 1 cup
· Reduced Sodium Soy Sauce, ¼ cup plus 2 Tablespoons
· Apple Cider Vinegar, 2 Tablespoons
· Ginger, fresh, grated, 1 Tablespoon
· Cayenne, 1/2 t
· Orange Juice, 1 ½ c
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Pickled Onion:
· Apple Cider Vinegar, ½ cup
· Sugar, ¼ cup
· Water, ½ cup
· Red Onion, thinly sliced, 1 small
Tacos
· Radish, thinly sliced, 7 each about 7 oz, roasted
· Apple, thinly sliced, 1 small, about 1 cup, soaked in water with lemon juice
· Cucumber, julienned, 8 oz, mini or seedless
· Bell Peppers, thinly sliced, 3 each, about 3 cups
· Canola Oil, 2 teaspoons
· Carrots, matchstick, 1 cup
· Salt, ¼ teaspoon
· Pepper, ¼ teaspoon
· Corn Tortilla, 18 each
· Butter Lettuce, chiffonade, 6 oz
· Wasabi Microgreens (optional garnish), 3T
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Directions
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(1) Pickled Red Onion
1. Bring water, sugar, and apple cider vinegar to boil in a small pot stir until dissolved.
2. Wash, peel, and slice onions
3. Turn heat off, place onions into liquids, stir and set aside.
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(2) Sunflower Sauce
1. Wash, peel, and grate fresh ginger.
2. Add sunflower butter, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, ginger, cayenne, and orange juice into the medium bowl and whisk until combined
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(3) Sweet Potato Hummus
1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. Wash the potatoes and drain and rinse the chickpeas.
3. Peel and chop the sweet potatoes and mince the garlic if not pre minced.
4. Toss sweet potatoes in a bowl with 1 tablespoon canola oil then place on a baking sheet and cook for 15 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 205°F.
5. While the sweet potatoes are roasting add the chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, ¼ cup canola oil, garlic, cayenne into the food processor.
6. Add cooked sweet potatoes to the food processor and blend until smooth.
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(4) Sauté Bell Peppers and Carrots
1. Wash the bell peppers (and carrots if not precut).
2. Slice the bell peppers and matchstick the carrots if not precut.
3. Toss the sliced bell peppers, carrots, oil, salt and pepper in a medium bowl.
4. Heat pan over high heat, then add the vegetables.
5. Cook until peppers are charred and softened, for about 5 minutes.
6. Place back in the medium bowl and cover until assembly.
7. Clean the pan to use for the tortillas.
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(5) Tortillas
1. In a small pan, heat the tortillas over a medium high heat for 15 seconds each side, flipping with tongs, and place them in foil until use. Alternatively, heat in oven for batch cooking.
2. Fill 6 - 2 oz cups with the sunflower ginger sauce for dipping.
3. Wash the butter lettuce and chiffonade.
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(6) Assembly
Lay out the three corn tortillas and fill:
· 2 T sweet potato hummus per taco
· 2 slices of apple per taco
· ⅓ oz chiffonade Butter lettuce per taco, about 3 leaves
· ¼ cup pepper carrot mixture per taco (3 peppers per taco plus 1 teaspoon carrot)
· 4 cucumber sticks per taco
· 1 t radish per taco, about 4 slices
· 1 T sunflower sauce per taco
· 1 t red onions per taco
· 1/2 t wasabi microgreens Per taco
Place 2 oz cup of dipping sauce to the side and serve!
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Ohio State University Extension’s Farm to Early Care and Education (ECE) Farmer Assessment
To strengthen the Farm to ECE movement, Ohio State University Extension is conducting research on building connections between local farmers, producers, and early care and education (ECE) sites in Ohio.
The survey covers current selling methods, communication, and interest in working with ECE sites to better understand the current landscape of local food sales and identify ways to build connections between Ohio farmers and ECE providers. All Ohio farmers and producers are eligible to participate. The online survey takes about 15 minutes to complete. Those who complete the survey may be entered into a drawing for a $25 Amazon gift card.
How to participate
By September 21, 2025, click on this link to access the survey. By completing the survey, you provide consent to participate in the research. Click here to review the full consent.
Questions?
For questions or concerns about the study, contact project coordinator LaVanya Watkins at Watkins.1008@osu.edu.
Introducing the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce’s New Farm to School Culinary Instructor: Chef Jim Warner
The Office of Nutrition welcomes Chef Jim Warner to Ohio Farm to School! Chef retired from The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in 2023 after 31 years of service culminating in the position of Program Director, Food and Nutrition in the Nutrition Services Department. His primary responsibilities included integrating food and nutrition education throughout the medical complex, as well as engaging with numerous community initiatives involving food and nutrition programming.
Chef Warner comes with decades of experience as a private chef, executive chef for hotels, resorts, and restaurants throughout the eastern part of the country, as well as owning his own catering company and working in the Nutrition Services Department for Upper Arlington Schools.
Chef Warner will be working with child nutrition sponsors, food service staff, students and families on incorporating fresh local foods into school meals. Get in touch with Chef Warner at James.Warner@education.ohio.gov.
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Farm to Summer Fun: Learning and Farm-tastic Activities
If you are a summer meal provider or a partnering organization participating in the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), Seamless Summer Option (SSO), or Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), consider offering local foods in meals, taste tests, and learning activities. Below are some ideas for participating in farm to summer:
- Host a Cucumber Crunch event July 10, or any time in the summer that works for your organization. Schools, early care and education sites, hospitals, colleges and universities, farms, state and local agencies, non-profit organizations, local businesses, groups, and households are all invited to crunch!Register your Crunch and receive no-cost stickers for your Crunch participants!
- The State Library of Ohio, has provided a children’s book list to promote the Cucumber Crunch! Enjoy these cucumber-themed books with your young readers. Check the map to find a local public library to find any of the featured books.
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From Garden to Pickle by Penelope Wilson
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Pickles, Please! A Dilly of a Book by Andy Myer
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The Big Cucumber by Julie Wood
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I Hear a Pickle (and Smell, See, Touch, and Taste It, Too!) by Rachel Isadora
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Pandas Love Pickles by Liz Lynch
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Fickle's Pickles by Lori Ries
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Pickle Party! by Frank Berrios
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Pickles to Pittsburgh: the Sequel to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett; illustrated by Ron Barret
- Visit a local farm stand, farmer’s market, or pick-your-own farm. Use the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s Ohio Proud directory to find farms and farmers' markets near you!
- Coordinate a garden scavenger hunt! Have children explore the garden by finding different plants, bugs, and natural elements. Search the internet for scavenger hunt cards like this one from Kids Gardening!
- Host a taste test with locally purchased or garden-grown produce.
Register for the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce’s Farm to Summer Challenge. Participating Child Nutrition program sponsors will receive statewide recognition and a digital badge to share on future marketing material and email
 New Ohio Farm to Summer digital badges will be awarded to sponsors completing the Farm to Summer Challenge.
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