Excerpt from invergroveheights.patch.com

A group of 13 Inver Grove Heights Middle School students gathered after school in a classroom at Simley High School Wednesday afternoon, filling the air with – of all things – the pleasantly appetizing smell of cilantro and other fresh vegetables they had just cut.

That wasn’t the only thing they appreciated about their work.

“I love the sounds they make,” said seventh grader Sam Church, referring to the fresh basil leaves she was tearing to prepare homemade pesto sauce.

“I know — it’s crunchy,” agreed seventh-grader Gabby Patterson, who assisted Church.

The students were participating in the first day of Laura Greene’s “Becoming a Natural Chef” course — a modified version of a course she teaches as part her Chaska, Minn.-based “Grow. Eat. Share.” program. “Grow. Eat. Share” teaches kids to garden, cook with what they grow and donate the rest of their produce to a food

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