Students’ freshly ground wheat became pizza dough for teachers

During the last month of school, PE students ground a 25 lbs. bag of hard red wheat grown at Heartland Harvest Farm (50 miles from Buford) into whole grain wheat flour.

So we asked ourselves, “What’s a school garden program to do with ~120 cups of flour?” Hmmmm….

And then we realized – MAKE PIZZA! So it was Mona Lisa Pasta, located on Preston Avenue, that saved us from drowning in all the flour. Jim Winecoff, the owner, opened up his kitchen and provided us with the tools and equipment necessary to make 100 frozen pizza dough balls to give as an end-of-the year thank you to all Buford faculty and employees. It is incredible to see the dedication of all of the teachers, administrators, faculty members, maintenance staff, and kitchen crew to the students. I feel so fortunate I get to work with and learn from them for another year.

Big thanks to Jim and the rest of the staff at Mona Lisa for letting us occupy their kitchen. I heard nothing but rave reviews from everyone (see staff photos of their pizzas below). Mona Lisa sells their own frozen pizza dough balls, in addition to fresh, homemade pasta & sauces that rock, so check them out! Fun fact, all the kitchen compost from Mona Lisa goes to another friend of CSG, Farmer Tom at Open Gate Farm, to feed his pigs.

Ideas for what we can do with the remaining ~ 60 cups of flour?!? Email Emily at emily@cityschoolyardgarden.org.