Kitchen Garden
Richmond West Primary School
From Simone & Jill
LA1
LA1 are a prep class who were in Kitchen Garden in week 1& 2 of term 4.
Week 1
Friday 8 October
Today we were joined by LA1 for their very first Kitchen Garden class. It was such a lovely day we started outside with an Acknowledgement of Country under the trees in the garden. It is the Eastern Kulin season of Poorneet, tadpole in the Woi Wurrung language, and Jill brought in some books related to Poorneet from East Melbourne library. After talking about how the Wurundjeri have sustainably cared for Country for hundreds of generations, we turned the discussion to some of the many ways we embrace sustainability at RWPS including keeping as much rubbish as we can out of the storm water drains where it will make its way to Birrarung (the Yarra).
After a garden tour & exploration of the garden, we discussed what was found and the last of the broad beans were harvested along with silverbeet, rainbow chard, carrots and beetroot. Everything was washed and the greens and root vegetables were refrigerated. We blanched the broad beans then the beans were podded and the jade green pieces frozen, ready for LA1’s kitchen session next week. After lunch it was back outside to fertilise all edible plants with a seaweed tonic.
Friday 9 October
LA1 were doing two garden days this week, and again, we commenced the day outside, joined by some of Victoria's student helpers. LA11 students gave Acknowledgements in Norwegian and Mandarin, inspiring some of LA1 to offer Acknowledgements too.
Following our discussion about the importance of a healthy Birrarung on Thursday, Victoria read Miracle at Christmas Creek, the story of the rescue of a platypus puggle who was successfully released back into the wild after recovering at Healesville Sanctuary. In preparation for the Birds in Backyards bird count we then explored the birds living in our grounds including a crow, rainbow lorikeets and a trio of very noisy miner chicks. Jill shared the experience of seeing the neighbourhood peregrine last year. If all the birds in our gardens suddenly fly away in one direction, LA1 will know where to look to see who has frightened them.
Next on LA1’s to do list was a discussion about composting and soil health and a visit to the compost tumblers, which was not as exciting as the promised visit to the worm farms where everyone was able to hold a worm or give them their favourite banana peel treat. All worms were gently handled and many questions about their role in the environment and their contribution to soil health were answered. Well done to all students who overcame their initial fears and handled a worm. After lunch was some seed identifying & looking at fresh broad beans, LA1 were able to identify the parts of the seed.
Week 2
Thursday 15 October
It was all cooking this week, and today LA1 were learning about and cooking with seeds. They looked at where seeds are on different plants and how seeds turn into new plants. Then we did some cooking with edible seeds, using sesame seeds, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds to make seeded bread sticks that LA1 shaped into their initials. While they were baking, we made a dip to eat with the bread sticks, using the broad beans the class had picked and podded last week in their gardening class. Everyone picked some mint from the garden & mixed it with the beans and some lemon juice. A lovely bright green dip to delicious to have with the toasty grissini.
Then we wound up the day by reading a seed story.
Friday 16 October
In their second cooking day in the KG kitchen, LA1 worked hard on their knife skills. Some children in the class were familiar with cutting from helping cook at home, but for others this was the first time they had used a knife. We had lots of veggies to learn and practice on, as we were making rainbow rice paper rolls. The children carefully cut their way through capsicum, snow peas, cucumber, avocado and lettuce & picked some mint from the garden. Last week they had pulled up carrots & beetroots, then scrubbed and stored them in the fridge for this week. I cooked them a little before class, so they were both easier to cut. Everyone soaked their rice paper sheets then carefully arranged their beautifully coloured veggies before rolling it all up.
It can be a bit of an ask to get the kids eating so many veggies at once, but almost everyone gave it a go eating two big mouthfuls & most of the class gobbled it all up. Some even made a second one!
Thank you for joining us for your first Kitchen Garden classes LA1, we hope you had a fun time!
Thank you Lynette, Aileen & Maureen K for coming to help us.
Thanks also to Victoria’s student helpers for joining LA1 for their first gardening classes, and to Snow, Keira, Candy, Tiffany, Noor and Abdi for helping with maintenance and watering on a hot day.
Please scroll through all the photos below to see LA1 in action!
