Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden

Garden Report

The kitchen garden is enjoying a bumper season!  Warmer soil temperatures, combined with some great rain has ensured the beds not only look great but are producing well too.

Over the last two weeks we have been lucky enough to enjoy plums, nectarines, pumpkin, apple cucumbers and zucchini.  We also harvested the first of the tomatoes - both the Roma and Cherry Tomato bushes are laiden - and the first of many buckets of Nashi Pears.

Much of the fruit has been preserved or made into jam or chutney.  Look out for these to be sold at our Mudbrick Cafe next month.

Students have sown trays of seed which all emerged during the week and promise to keep the garden supplying well for the next few months.

The students' hard work this term shows in the beautiful way the garden looks.   We have spread the (well rotted) straw from our experimental straw bale garden and created a rich base onto which we emptied the compost made from the kitchen and classroom food scraps and garden waste.  It looks amazing and we are excited to plant it out in the coming weeks.

Happy Gardening.

Kath Mitilineos

Garden Specialist

Eggs for Sale

Our hens have been very busy and we have lots of eggs for sale!

Available from the office for $4 a dozen. First come first served.

All proceeds returned to our program and the up keep of our chickens.

Kitchen Report

Our kitchen sessions are well underway and the children are learning about seasonal produce and different ways they can be used in cooking.

It is wonderful to see the children trying new and exciting things in the kitchen.

Continuing with our “Healthy Me”  theme and healthy lunch box alternatives saw grade 1/2 Wells make a Rice Salad that we ate with Corn Chip Dippers. We also made delicious Pizza Pancakes and Fruit Skewers with yummy Milo Yoghurt Dip.

Grade 5/6 explored how to create “Salad of The Imagination”. This salad has no specific recipe as we use fresh produce that is available at that time in the garden. Students also experimented with making salad dressing to accompany the salad. The dressing was made through trial and error using  ingredients found in the pantry. We used oil and a vinegar of our choice as a base, then added something sweet, spicy, sour, or even fresh herbs until we created a taste we were happy with. The children really enjoyed discovering what flavours worked well together and those that perhaps didn’t taste so good.

To accompany our students made Pumpkin Pasties. These are just as yummy cold in a lunchbox as they are hot straight from the oven.

This week the our senior students used the abundance of cherry tomatoes to make pizzas and accompanied them with an Avocado and Edamame Salad served on crusty bread.

You will find all the recipes attached for you to try at home.

Till next newsletter happy harvesting and creating in the kitchen.

Sue O'Mealley

Kitchen Specialist

Recipes

Mudbrick Cafe

Wednesday 18th March