Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden
Welcome to 2021 in the Garden
Welcome back to all our students, I hope you all had a terrific break. This will be my first year at Teasdale Primary. I am looking forward to getting know the students, staff and parents.
Our chickens are back after their stay with the Mercer family over the holidays. Thank you very much for looking after them. The students collected five fresh eggs Wednesday morning. We have harvested plums from the garden this week and Mrs O’Mealley has turned them into delicious jam for the students to use in their cooking. We have been sowing lettuce, broccoli, and radishes this week in the wicking beds, fingers crossed they will be ready to harvest in the coming weeks.
The kitchen garden program runs on a Wednesday. I would be thrilled to have any parents come and join us in the garden. Parents do not need be experienced in the garden, just willing to get their hands dirty and help the students. All helpers require a Working With Children Check (refer to the Admin page of the newsletter for more information), closed toe shoes and a wide brim hat. The students are in the garden from 10am till 11 and 12:30pm till 1:30pm.
Karen Biscan
Gardening Specialist
In the Kitchen
Welcome to another year in our kitchen.
We would like to welcome Mrs Biscan to our Kitchen/Garden team this year.
Mrs Biscan has some really exciting ideas to enhance our program and we look forward to seeing them come to fruition throughout the year.
Some really exciting news is that we have just had brand new ovens and cook tops installed. Our new ovens will be a great asset to our program.
Last week Grade 5 and 6 had an introductory session that reiterated safety in both the kitchen and garden. We also took this opportunity for the students to express what they mike like to see included in our program. The philosophy of The Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program is “Pleasurable Eating”. We explained what this term meant and what sort of foods and recipes they will experience throughout the year.
We finished our session with a selection of smoothies. They were quite different from normal as we used ingredients from our garden.
*Pineapple, kale and cucumber
*Apple, walnut and cinnamon with almond milk
*Strawberry cheesecake
The children in Mrs Wells class will be enjoying the kitchen each Friday during term 1.
Their program will be based on learning basic kitchen skills, these include grating, cutting, peeling and slicing.
The students will also continue to learn about healthy eating and make a variety of foods using the fresh produce from our garden.
As an introduction last week the children created an assortment of vegetable bugs using a variety of ingredients.
We are seeking parents/careers from Mrs Wells class to support in the role of volunteering in the kitchen to assist the children in learning new skills and how to safely work in a kitchen environment.
You do not need to be a “Master Chef” to join us. If you are able to offer your support as a volunteer, please let me know.
Sue O’Mealley
Kitchen Specialist
Jars Urgently Needed
We desperately require clean jars with labels removed please and pop lids for preserve making in our kitchen garden program. Before you pop them into the recycling, please save for school. Jars can be dropped off to the office.
Recipes
Recipes will be included in the newsletter following their cooking session.