Kitchen Garden

On Tuesday 22nd of October, students in Years 1 and 2 were in our Chatham vegetable garden exploring, nurturing and learning from the many fascinating wonders that our garden produces. This week we focussed on our soil and the importance of airing it regularly. Students learnt how to enact this process, before topping the garden beds with our compost. It was then time to plant our spinach and lettuce seedlings that had been growing from seed over the last eight weeks. All the root systems of these seedlings were exposed, which was great for the students to investigate.

The discovery of aphids on our brussels sprouts led to conversations around how we could protect our growing vegetables. We discussed companion planting as one option and we also discussed the option of planting Marigold flowers, as they are a wonderful deterrent due to their distinctive smell. Finally, we decided to make a natural deterrent by mixing liquid detergent, vegetable oil and water. Students then eagerly sprayed this on to the brussels sprout leaves. 

Continuing our spring planting, we also planted cherry tomatoes, basil, zucchini, capsicum and sunflowers. Some of these plants were planted from both seed and seedlings, to demonstrate to students the growth time involved in both options. All of our new plants were then thoroughly watered and topped with sugar cane mulch. 

Whilst students were thoroughly engaged in undertaking all of this planting, the most exciting part of our whole session was without question collecting and opening our rocket seed pods, exposing all the tiny seeds inside! Once all of the seeds have fully dried-out, we will plant them in pots together during our next session. 

Happy gardening!

Leda Semercioglu

Kitchen Garden Coordinator