Sapelo Island Peas with FEAST

In early October, 5th graders at Lucy S Herring participated in an extra special FEAST class that integrated themes from a book the class was reading in ELA - “The Last Cuentista”. The class wove a basket out of kudzu vine with Farmer Lark, with each student sharing their story about what makes their community special while weaving in a piece of vine, discussing as a group the symbolism of their stories being woven together into this beautiful shared basket. Students then used the basket to harvest Sapelo Island Peas, while Farmer Nicole shared their special story.

It is said that these peas were smuggled here in the hair of enslaved Africans and have been cultivated and saved from near extinction by the Gullah Geechee community on Sapelo Island off the coast of Georgia. These seeds were donated to Bountiful Cities by a volunteer named Martin, who visited Sapelo Island and was gifted the seeds by the Gullah Geechee community with the promise of sharing them and their story. We are so lucky to have these growing in our school and community gardens!  We will continue to honor these precious peas by saving a few to plant again in the spring as well as sharing them. Each student was able to take one tiny pea home with the hope they can care for it until the spring when it is time to plant

They finished class by tasting a vegetable soup with Sapelo Peas. It was a special class, and now we have these special baskets to use when harvesting from the garden in the future! Of course all the kids want to make a basket of their own and because Farmer Lark also happens to be a TAPAS artist and skilled weaver!