Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden
SAKGP Garden and Kitchen Programme
News - from the kitchen & garden with Chris and Eve
Our cooking and gardening classes are each Tuesday
We would love to have more volunteers in both the garden and kitchen classes.
No garden or kitchen skills required, enthusiasm to support the students as they learn is all you need.
If you would like to know more, come into the office and see Chris (Principal)
gardening with Eve
This week in garden class the prep/1s had a class focussing on seeds - sowing them and harvesting them to eat. We started the class with a walk up to the veggie gardens near the MP Building and this year’s preps showed our 2026 preps the garden. Together we harvested our broad beans and had a taste of a few other things. We harvested a couple of big Kohl Rabi’s for Chris to use in cooking class. They look like purple aliens! A few students had a taste - they were quite sweet and so crunchy, delicious!
We headed back to our outdoor tables and one group sowed seeds for our Sunflower patch (planting them now means that they should be flowering/nearly flowering when the students return from holidays) and read a book called ‘Rosa’s Sunflower Experiment’. Students decorated a pot and wrote their name on it, then chose a seed, filled their pot with potting mix and and sowed their seed. Students took turns watering them with a watering can. While one group was doing this the second group de-podded our broad beans from the veggie garden and then the groups swapped over.
The broad beans will be blanched and saved to use for a yummy dip, while others will be frozen and incorporated later into cooking class dishes.
The 5/6 class are spending their last few sessions doing a small legacy project to leave behind for younger students. We spent this weeks session finalising plans and making material lists. The students narrowed down their projects and in small groups are doing the following: one group is making a scarecrow for the veggie gardens, another is creating ‘kindness rocks’ with inspiring messages and beautiful patterns that they will hide around the school garden for students to find next year, another group is making a hanging installation using weaving with colourful yarn, and the final group are painting sticks and drilling through them to hang them as a colourful art sculpture that should move in the wind. We are talking about trying to incorporate sound as well.
The 4/5s have been creating storybooks this term so in garden class we are using pressed leaves and flowers from our garden and the cyanotype technique to create an illustration for their books. I explained the history and technique of cyanotypes (some of the other classes did this earlier in the year) and the students went for a walk around the school to gather flowers, leaves and grasses to press ready for printing next week. A few students were absent so we have pressed extras for them. We also prepared some sheets for printing, painting them with our cyanotype mixture.
In other garden news Harper found the most GIGANTIC egg in the chicken coop on Tuesday and drew a face on it :) Definitely a double yolker we think. Harper has taken it home and will report back!
cooking with Chris
This week in Cooking Grade 2 and 3 made Pumpkin and Silverbeet Cannelloni (using handmade pasta), GF, Dairy Free, Oil Free Pumpkin and Silverbeet Cannelloni and Salad of the Imagination.
From the garden we used pumpkin, silverbeet, sage, thyme, parsley, celery, chives, cos lettuce, mizuna, broad beans, kohlrabi, duck and chicken eggs, and tomato passata, pumpkin and greens (oil free and GF) from the freezer.
Aleida, Percy, Bobbie, Oliver, Sidney and Noah worked well together to knead the pasta dough until it was smooth and soft. They shaped the dough into rectangles and used the pasta makers to roll it into thin, see through, pasta sheets. It was great to see how well the team worked together to make sure each sheet was rolled to the right thickness and size to be cooked. Chris cooked the pasta sheets in boiling water in batches as the team was rolling out and cutting the pasta sheets. Percy and Bobbie and their team took turns to lay out the cooked pasta sheets on the tea towels to drain and cool.
Rui, Owen, Douglas, Johnny, Cooper, Jayden and Pete worked with Emma to wash and chop the silverbeet, and garlic and onions and cook it for the Pumpkin and Silverbeet filling for the Cannelloni. They grated the parmesan, grated the nutmeg and drained and mixed in the ricotta cheese and added the mashed pumpkin. After the silverbeet mixture cooled they mixed it into pumpkin and cheese mixture to create the delicious filling.
Ella, Vega, Marlin, Lacey and Bonnie worked with Scout to make the GF, Oil Free Pumpkin and Silverbeet Cannelloni. They used the GF, Oil free baked pumpkin and chopped and cooked the silverbeet and onions and garlic to add to the pumpkin for the filling. They used the tomato and greens passata (they made last lesson) from the freezer for the sauce. To make the Cannelloni GF and Oil free they used rice paper instead of pasta sheets to make the cannelloni. Marlin was happy with this GF version of Cannelloni. See the photos and comments.
After recess, we worked in teams to fill and roll up the pasta to make the Cannelloni and add it to the baking dishes, in layers, with the tomato passata.
While the Cannelloni was baking, we divided into teams to clean down the tables and set the tables with cutlery and cups. Aleida and Rui and their team made the Salad of the Imagination and harvested the salad leaves, silverbeet, lettuce and herbs from the garden. They finely chopped up the Kohlrabi that Eve’s garden group harvested from the garden in the morning.
Great cooking Grade 2 and 3. Thanks Cam for harvesting the silverbeet, celery and herbs before class and Emma and Scout for all your help with your groups.
This is what Grade 2 and 3 said about what they cooked and tasted.
I really liked the pasta This is one of my new fave foods! It would be good as a traditional family meal. You should try it! Noah
I reckon the salad and pasta go well together. Johnny
The Cannelloni was to die for! I made the pasta sheets for the Cannelloni. Percy
I made the Gluten free, dairy free, oil free Pumpkin and silverbeet Cannelloni. It tastes good. I soaked the rice paper and rolled up the Cannelloni. Marlin
The salad is good for a quick and easy dish. I made it and used basil, lettuce, Broad beans and Kohlrabi. Rui
photos and recipes below
