Thanks to a grant from the Henrico Education Foundation (HEF), Pinchbeck Elementary School fourth graders enjoy the use of 14 Earthboxes each year in which to grow food. This year, they planted and grew a variety of fresh herbs, which they harvested and washed for a solar energy picnic held June 14 at the school.

Among the varieties of teas brewed in solar jugs and sampled at the picnic were peppermint, spearmint, chamomile, lemon verbena, and pineapple sage; pouring tea, from left, are Sandra Ngo, Natalia Paolini-Medina, Samantha Davis, and Logan Martin. Students also prepared snacks of crackers topped with cheese and their own grown herbs (chives and varieties of basil), built their own solar cookers, and cooked hotdogs; showing off their specially-cooked hotdogs are (pictured, at right) Katherine Fincke, Anoushka Motswani, and Sydney Nelms. The activity complemented the fourth graders' study of plants and solar energy, as well as tying in to Virginia Studies about the growing of food by native peoples.