Last year the Ortutik Association Now organized for the first time summer colonies at the Allende Salazar school in Gernika. Given the good response, they have decided to repeat this year, but a novelty has been added: in addition to cooking, the participants of the summer colonies also work in the vegetable garden. In short, the idea is to put into practice the very name of the association with children: that that path from the orchard to the mouth start and end by themselves, closing the cycle.

Deepening the relationship initiated in the school dining room

“The children of the school already knew us beforehand, as we brought to the kitchen of the dining room the organic vegetables produced by us,” explains Irati Sáez de la Fuente, member of the association. The main objective of the organizers of the summer camps has been to work and give continuity to that small relationship they already maintained with the children of the school: “It’s about working pedagogically on these issues with children, that they also see the importance of consuming local and ecological.”

If last year they were only in the kitchen, this year a good opportunity emerged for Ortutik members Now: The Allende Salazar School Association of Fathers and Mothers launched the school garden, with which they have managed to complete the summer camps for cooking and agriculture. “We cultivate the organic garden that they have created, we know where vegetables and seeds come from, and from there we go to the kitchen to prepare them with the children.”

What you do is always sweeter...

The colonies began in late June and will continue throughout July, divided into one-week blocks. “In total, there are five blocks, each of them about 20 children. Whoever wants a week ago on a topic, who wants to repeat more than a week or the full five weeks,” explains from the Source. Kids meet only in the morning, and they pick it up from the orchard and do lunch and food with cooking.

“They are mixed groups, made up of children from five to 12 years old, and that is enriching for them: the older ones help the younger ones and the younger ones receive a lot of the older ones.” The colleague says that this collaboration between boys and girls of different ages is very nice. In addition to cultivating the vegetable garden and cooking it, every Monday they go to the Gernika fair to meet the producers and products of the area. The organization has stressed that the response of children is very good: “Today, for example, we’ve made pizza and put the first tomatoes and peppers in the orchard. The children were thrilled!”