{"id":10014,"date":"2018-09-05T20:41:34","date_gmt":"2018-09-05T20:41:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=10014"},"modified":"2018-09-05T20:41:34","modified_gmt":"2018-09-05T20:41:34","slug":"student-applies-living-local-theme-to-personal-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2018\/09\/05\/student-applies-living-local-theme-to-personal-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Student Applies \u2018Living Local\u2019 theme To Personal Project"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY AIMEE DURAND<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
Carly Ching digs into her first backyard garden. Courtesy photo by Nicole Ching<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hailey native Carly Ching, 15, spent her summer digging in with a school-required personal project she calls \u201cLiving Local.\u201d All sophomores at Wood River High School must explore interests outside of the classroom for this project. For Ching, this hands-on challenge blended a trio of unexpected interests: a green thumb mixed with culinary passion and a dash of Valley life.<\/p>\n

While exploring her options, Ching at first considered dance as her focus. With her background as a dancer with Sun Valley Ballet, it seemed the natural way to go. However, other passions began to emerge.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love to be outside, surrounded by plants and trees and the world around me,\u201d Ching said.\u00a0 \u201cA garden seemed fun and I always wanted to start one, but I also had a newfound love to cook.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ching, with her mother\u2019s advice, decided to merge her love of cooking with a desire to start her own garden. The plan to use only locally harvested herbs, fruits and vegetables as ingredients set in motion Ching\u2019s creation of a companion cookbook.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am glad she found something she can be passionate about for this project,\u201d said Nicole Ching, Carly\u2019s mother.<\/p>\n

Planning the garden enclosure, preparing the materials, construction, soil arrangement, choosing seedlings and planting took Carly about 20 hours.<\/p>\n

All building materials she used were recycled or donated.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe process of tearing down several pallets was the most time-consuming,\u201d Ching said. And it quickly became a family affair.<\/p>\n

The garden consists of two raised beds, each measuring 10 feet long by 3 feet wide. The beds are enclosed with wood and sheetmetal and are adorned with arches and cover material.<\/p>\n

Ching found relaxation in the growing green scene.<\/p>\n

Wandering about nature provided a connection to the world around her, she said.<\/p>\n

During this waiting period, ideas for dishes garnished with basil, cucumbers, green onions, tomatoes and radishes grew. The crop and recipes flourished, but some ingredients were missing. Realizing she couldn\u2019t produce every item on her own, another local element was thrown into the mix.<\/p>\n

Ching\u2019s field of vision expanded to the neighborhood farmers\u2019 market and surrounding stores. She decided they could supply items such as regional cheese and eggs. Local staples became part of the \u201cLiving Local\u201d plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis project opened up my horizons to the great things available in this Valley,\u201d Ching said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTaking care of my plants was very relaxing,\u201d she said. \u201cI could hear the birds and was surrounded by the greenery.\u201d<\/p>\n

Basil, cucumbers, green onions, tomatoes and radishes are some of the items Ching grew.<\/p>\n

\u201cTiming of the crop influenced my recipes,\u201d she said. \u201cI tried to build recipes around what was available. My mom said if Carly is cooking, we know it will be good.\u201d<\/p>\n

From arugula to radish, all edibles were whipped up for taste trials.<\/p>\n

\u201cA favorite fare in the household was a tomato bruschetta,\u201d Ching said.<\/p>\n

The incorporation of homegrown tomatoes and basil with locally sourced Mozzarella is one meal for the book.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy goal for the cookbook is to develop 10 recipes, and so far I have four,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The project is, in a way, without end, as Ching continues creating in the kitchen and dreaming about next summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will definitely have a garden next year,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY AIMEE DURAND Hailey native Carly Ching, 15, spent her summer digging in with a school-required personal project she calls \u201cLiving Local.\u201d All sophomores at Wood River High School must explore interests outside of the classroom for this project. For Ching, this hands-on challenge blended a trio of unexpected interests: a green thumb mixed with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[74,18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-10014","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-education","7":"category-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10014\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}