Food Network recently sprouted our first Good Food Garden, our joint effort with Share Our Strength and Teich Garden Systems to provide kids with nutritious food where they live, learn and play. We showcased our model garden at Slow Food Nation in the heart of San Francisco. In a city ripe with exceptional food and sustainble food stalls, our garden seemed right at home. But just across the Bay Bridge, on Treasure Island, lies a virtual food desert – a community full of families, but not a single grocery store let alone a farm stand. And that’s where the Good Food Garden will make its home – at the Boys and Girls Club of Treasure Island with hope and faith that more projects like it will follow until access to healthy food is universal in San Francisco.

But first, we shared the magic of the garden with the thousands of families who visited Slow Food Nation over Labor Day weekend. It’s that magic that draws kids, one and all, pulling their parents by the arm inside to discover the secrets of the garden. The magic that makes broccoli growing in the ground suddenly more intersting than any toy. The magic of nature.

Inside a structure of indigenous cedar from Northern California, the Good Food Garden’s lush baby vegetables and dwarf orange trees drew curious touches, tastes and questions. At one point, there was a chorus of little voices saying “can I taste?” followed by brave little hands reaching for pea, broccoli and collard green sprouts. Even the pickiest of eaters found something to taste, like one little girl who told me she was a fairy that only ate flowers. When I offered her a handful of edible marigold petals, her eyes widened with delight.

Our garden sprouted much life over the weekend, and became a gathering place in which children and parents shared stories of their own school, community and backyard gardens. We were encouraged to hear about the programs that aim to provide healthy food to kids all across America, but there are still many communities and children in need. So while our garden gets relocated to its final home – the Treasure Island Boys and Girls Club – we’re heading back east to start plans for another garden in our own backyard in New York City.

Meanwhile, in my own garden the tomatoes are slowly changing from green to red, beans are in full production and I’m ready to plant fall greens like collards and kale that don’t mind the cooler weather. There are still a couple of months left for you to start your own garden, and bring Good Food to your table!