He leaned his face down toward a corn plant standing before him, gently holding the leaves with both hands. “You are so beautiful, you know that?” he said. “You keep growing and growing, you beautiful thing.”
Other children gathered around him, some of them singing quiet songs to the plants while others gently brushed the corn silk hanging before them.
“It’s just so soft, Ms. Bruno,” Mason said. “You’ve gotta feel this. I just want to pick this.”
Ms. Bruno was one row away in the garden, collecting beans with a group of first- and second-graders. Another row over Hawkin and Logan stalked grasshoppers. Students had already picked piles of peas and pointed out the egg shells they saw in the compost. With zucchini tucked under their arms and cherry tomatoes bursting in their mouths, they headed to the table to turn the zucchini into noodles and basil into pesto.
Mixing, chatting, tasting. Students gathered together around the table, enjoying the fruits of their labor. 
