Although it competed for attention with the coveted egg-and-cheese sandwiches and tater tots, this year’s batch of Harvest Soup at Pocantico Hills School was a hit with many students and staff.
Third- and fourth-graders picked Swiss chard, butternut squash, winter squash, tricolored carrots, tomatoes, parsley, garlic and other vegetables from the school garden on Oct. 20. Eight days later, Kristin Ripka, kitchen manager, and her staff served up the Harvest Soup. School custodian Jose Zamora is the master gardener at Pocantico.
Dax Odom, also a third-grader, picked dried beans for seed saving and carrots for the soup. He and others had to dip the carrots in water to scrub off the dirt. “It’s really good. I like it,” he said of the final product.
The soup had vegetables fourth-grader Caroline Papa doesn’t usually eat, such as green beans, but she liked it. “I normally only eat chicken noodle soup,” she said.
Seventh-grader Diamond McRae sounded surprised when she tried the soup during her lunch period. “It actually tastes good,” she said.
Joseph Tedesco, who is also in seventh grade, agreed. He remembers picking vegetables from the school garden when he was younger. “It’s good. I like it. I like all the different tastes to it.”
