Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden

SAKG Programme 

News - from the kitchen & garden with Chris and Hadley.

Our cooking and gardening classes run each Tuesday, and we’d love to welcome more volunteers to support these sessions. No gardening or cooking experience is needed — just a willingness to work alongside students as they learn.

If you’re interested or would like to know more, please drop into the office and chat with Jess or Chris. 

Cooking

Grade 2/3 Cooking Week 2

In Cooking this week Grade 2 and 3 made a Feast of Carrots!

We used eggs, lots of huge carrots, spring onions, garlic, chives, parsley and cucumbers from the garden.

Scott’s group made the Carrot Salad.  They learnt how to peel the carrots and grate them safely using the box graters. They chopped the herbs and measured out the ingredients for the delicious dressing.

Johnny, Phoebe, Poppie, Zak, Oliver and  Cooper made the Carrot Fritters.  They learnt how to peel the carrots and grate them safely using the box graters. Pete cracked and beat the eggs and added them to the grated carrots to make the fritter mixture. Johnny and his group measured out the flour, feta cheese, chopped the garlic and added the chopped herbs to the mixture.

Ella, Matilda, Allie and Aleida worked with Piper to make the GF and Fat Free Carrot Fritters.  They needed to problem solve and modify the recipe as the mixture did not hold together very well at first.  They then cooked them in the air fryer so they were fat free.

After recess Cooper, Oliver, Noah, Zak, Phoebe and their group cooked the Carrot Fritters.  They had to make sure they carefully monitored the heat of the frypan to make sure the fritters cooked evenly. They learnt how to use the spatula to turn the fritters over when they were cooked.

Elio and Johnny worked well together to make the Cucumber and Yoghurt Sauce. They peeled and chopped the cucumbers into small pieces and measured out the lemon juice and yoghurt.     

While we waited for Carrot Fritters to cook.  Scott’s group set the table and picked some beautiful flowers from the garden.  Poppie, Noah and their team rinsed and dried the dishes.

Well done Grade 2 and 3 for a great cooking session and thanks Scott, Piper and Hannah. 

This is what Grade 2 and 3 students said about their cooking this week …

-I liked the fritters with the Cucumber and Yoghurt Sauce.  Matlida

I liked the Carrot Fritters. I made the GF Carrot Fritters with Ella and Matilda. Allie

I cooked the Carrot Fritters. They’re my second favourite food.  Noah

The Yoghurt and Cucumber Sauce I made with Elio was yum!.  Johnny

The fritters are really great. I want the recipe. It was all tasty and yummy!  Phoebe

I liked the Carrot Salad. Scott

- It was my first favourite food in the world!  I grated the carrot and cooked the Carrot Fritters. Cooper

The recipes for the dishes we cooked are attached.

Grade 4/5 Cooking Week 3

In Cooking this week, Grade 4 and 5 made Spanakopita Parcels, Tomato and Garlic Sauce and a delicious Beetroot and Rockmelon Salad. 

From the garden, we used Basil, Parsley, Spinach, Silverbeet, Cavolo Nero, greens, mint, garlic, chives and sage, spring onions, Rockmelon and Beetroot

Thea, Perla and Vega worked with Lea to make the Tomato and Garlic Sauce.  They chopped the last of the ripe tomatoes and used lots of garlic to make the delicious sauce, which they cooked down until it was thick and tasty.

For the Spanakopita Parcels, Rosa, Jayden, Ulla and their team chopped the silverbeet, spring onions and spinach and Owen chopped the mint and herbs very finely. Jayden and his team cooked the spinach and spring onion filling and we cooled it in the fridge over recess.

Frankie, Douglas, Harper and their team made the Olive Pastry for the Spanakopita and then grated the cheeses and whisked the eggs for the filling. 

Syd and Harper and their team did a great job of rinsing and washing and stacking the dishes for the dishwasher, as the groups finished with their dishes and bowls. 

After recess Frankie and her team divided up the pastry into even pieces and everyone learnt to roll out the pastry into thin circles and carefully fill them with the spinach and cheese filling, then fold them into parcels.  Everyone did a great job creating perfect Spanakopita Parcels ready to be cooked. Vega made a gluten free version of the Spanakopita, using rice paper instead of pastry for the parcels and she used the airfryer to cook them.  They looked great!

Rui, Sid and Owen and their team, chopped the rockmelons into quarters and used a measuring spoon to scoop the melon out into balls- very creative as we didn’t have a melon baller!  They chopped the baked and cooled beetroot  into small pieces and Thea, Perla and Owen measured out the ingredients for the delicious dressing.

The other teams set the tables and plated up the Beetroot and Melon Salad and Tomato and Garlic Sauce.  Rosa and her team washed and dried the dishes. 

Everyone worked well together to create the delicious dishes using the last of our summer harvest.  

Well done Grade 4 and 5 on your great cooking and teamwork and thanks Lea. 

The recipes are attached.

This is what they said about their cooking this week …

DELICIOUS! I cut the mint very finely and made the dressing for the salad .  Owen

I made the parcels with rice paper. It was sticky but fun to do. Vega

I made the Spanakopita Parcels . Ulla

I cut up the spinach and cooked and stirred the mixture.  Jayden 

Gardening

The first few weeks of garden classes in Term 2 have been a great introduction for me as the new gardening teacher. It’s been a pleasure getting to know all the Taradale kids and learn about what activities they enjoy doing in the garden. 

As the weather starts to cool down and the garden has already experienced a frost, the students have spent time clearing out the garden beds, topping them up with soil, planting seedlings and sowing seeds. This will ensure there’s plenty to harvest during the cooler months. 

In the third week of term we talked about the importance of leaf litter and why we need it to help build up the soil to grow more plants. We celebrated autumn by creating leaf bunting and looked at the different shapes of leaves through leaf rubbings. 

We’ve had a wonderful time so far in Term 2 and looking forward to more sessions of tending to the garden and learning how it grows! 

Hadley 

photos from 5/6: