Last week, kitchen-poet Sammi Gay ( @letmeusemyhands ) came to the outdoor learning kitchen we’ve developed with @forgeprojectny to lead a lacto-fermentation workshop with the ReGen Crew from @kitesnest and the Food Futures Group from @north.east.community.center We started the day with grounding exercises before taking a meditative walk through the green expanses around Forge Project. On our stroll through the meadows, Sammi encouraged us to fully experience the moment through our five senses while she waxed poetic about ecosystems, microbiomes, and symbiosis, priming our minds for the pickling process ahead. Back in the kitchen, Sammi explained the process of lacto-fermentation and guided us step-by-step through the creation of our very own pickles, using cucumbers harvested from Sky High by our farm team. Dill, garlic, onions, peppercorns, juniper, orange peels, Chile Morita peppers, and ancho chiles were added by personal preference to each jar, along with filtered spring water and salt, creating a range of flavors and memories that were locked into brines, individually adorned, then packed up and taken home with each student, for a slow and ongoing fermentation process. Sammi also made a meal highlighting the seasonal harvest available last week at the farm - zucchini, kale, and cabbage were centerstage. The workshop was about sustenance and preservation but also about memory-making, and the understanding that creating and sharing food is a powerful tool in writing and sharing our own personal stories. Thanks to all the youth from @north.east.community.center and @kitesnest for really showing up, and to @letmeusemyhands for shepherding us through the land and the biological play. 📸 @saramesahgal