Having a full service cafeteria/culinary program relying heavily on local products, the most logical next step was to produce our own products. Through the farm to school program we were able to transform our once unused courtyard into a bustling garden producing, salad greens, herbs, apples from an existing tree, rhubarb, with plans for further growth in the coming years. The project itself was a fantastic team building exercise that drew on students not just from my culinary program but also, from the biology classes and even some of the students who are not regular attenders of class. In order to prepare for the garden we had to remove some old stumps and transplant some hedging that didn’t fit with our planned space. The enthusiasm and energy that every student put into this task was inspiring. After the initial work of clearing was done we went to work on building a hoop house to shelter the raised beds that would house our greens. The remaining space was landscaped to include foot paths, herb gardens and a rhubarb patch. It was great to see the students who stepped up to take on a leadership role in the garden project, many of which may not have been the ones I anticipated would be the leaders. Overall the project thus far has been a great success that has begun taking on a life of its own as further students and teachers take the time to be involved in the project. One of the future goal is to turn an old tool shed into a possible smoke house for curing and smoking products for the culinary program. Further we would like to advance the production of the garden to include more items to help feed the school population. It is great to see the pride the students have in working with and serving local products and now grown in house products. You can see just how important this is to them when they are asking daily where products are coming from, always hopeful it is a local product.