Applications for next year's Chef in the Garden program are closing soon!
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Watermelon Wednesday
April 2026 Issue #19
16 Days Left to Apply for our
2026-2027 Chef in the Garden program!
Blue Watermelon Project will celebrate our 10th anniversary next year! Apply to be part of our Chef in the Garden program for School Year 2026-2027 and celebrate this milestone with us.
Participating in our Chef in the Garden program means you and your students will receive:
🌱Recipes specially designed by one of our partner chefs which are centered around a local, seasonal ingredient that can be grown in your school garden
🌱Bilingual lesson plans with culinary and garden activities designed to reinforce core learning concepts taught in the classroom
🌱5 kits throughout the year that include all ingredients and materials needed to complete the lesson
Apply today and join other schools across Arizona as we work together to help our students develop healthier relationships with food!
Our Spring Fundraiser dinner is SOLD OUT!
Thank you to everyone who purchased tickets.
If you didn't grab a seat at this year's event but still want to support our growth this spring, please consider giving via the Arizona Gives platform between now and April 7th:
Arizona Gives Day, celebrated on April 7th 2026, is a 24-hour giving movement that inspires people to build a thriving and stronger Arizona by supporting nonprofit work. Using this online platform, BWP has set a goal to raise $10,000 to support more campuses to participate in our programs.
Students participating in our March Chef in the Garden lesson enjoyed Chef Christa's Watermelon Salad recipe, a delicious dish highlighting a variety of local products, including watermelon! Students had the opportunity to practice making a vinaigrette using a few key ingredients. Gardener Melissa shared all the tips and tricks to successfully plant watermelon.
Click the button below to watch Chef Christa walk us through her recipe, Gardener Melissa show us how to plant watermelon and see more information about March's featured chef and grower!
Christa Chase is a chef at Tratto, Chris Bianco’s Italian trattoria, in Phoenix. Originally from Tempe, Christa has been cooking as long as she can remember.
For one of her first jobs, she worked at Quiessence at the Farm at South Mountain in Phoenix, cementing her love for seasonal-forward cooking.
She grew her career in the Bay Area for 15 years and returned to Arizona in 2022, where she lives with her husky Lobo and husband Jose Flores,her co-chef at Tratto. She loves to travel and spend time with her family and friends.
Bio provided by Chef Christa Chase
Melissa Peeples, owner of The Desert Smells Like Veggies is a Sonoran Desert gardener, food enthusiast, educator, and life-long learner growing tasty food in Zone 9b (Phoenix, Arizona). She has been trained as a Master Gardener and worked as a Community Garden Coordinator and Seed Bank Manager. She wrote a book on Seed Saving and numerous articles and blogs for local and national garden organizations. Her passion is helping people learn about foraging, gardening, and seed saving. She offers heirloom or open-pollinated seeds for sale and hosts educational classes to learn more about sonoran desert gardening.
Adapted from The Desert Smells Like Veggies
Quote Corner
Check out what our students had to say about Chef Christa's recipe!
“This recipe is delicious, delicious, delicious!” - 6th grader
“I wasn't sure about the onion, but it actually goes with the watermelon.” - 4th grader
Larry C. Kennedy School
“I love watermelon, I never knew it would be so good in a salad.”
Florence, Royal Palm Middle
"I love the sour flavor" & "Watermelons are the juiciest"
Bella Montessori
"This watermelon is delicious!" & "More please."
Curry Elementary
Volunteer with us!
Consider joining us in April or May as we finish up the school year! Help us with kit packing, visit our schools by participating in kit delivery, or experience the magic of the classroom at one of our chef demos. Whichever shift you choose, we look forward to seeing you!
Get started today
Ready to join us? New volunteers can click the button below to sign up for a Volgistics account to see all of the upcoming shifts on our calendar.
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