Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden 

Sonia Nista 

Kitchen Specialist

As the term draws to a close, so too does the last of the summer harvests. We have had a successful season of zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, corn, plums, basil and beans and have put all of these beautiful fruits and veggies to good use! 

We are now starting to see some Autumn fruits and vegetables come through to The Patch Café, and one of them is the wonderful Granny Smith apples that are growing outside the Year 2 classrooms. These have been highlighted in our Year 5 and 6 menu consisting of potato gnocchi with nut free basil pesto, apple fritters and a salad of the imagination. The students always love a pasta dish and by making our own pesto, they get to taste the fresh flavours from our very own basil.

Our Year 3 students have been enjoying our plentiful harvest of cherry tomatoes by making Focaccia with cherry tomatoes and rosemary and teaming it up with a fresh Greek salad.

These students have worked so hard during term 1, learning their knife rules and techniques, how to work interdependently to create a lovely dish to share, and of course, navigating their way around the school kitchen while preparing and sharing!

Last week we were visited by a representative from The Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation on behalf of Coles for a special photoshoot to highlight their upcoming Mushroom Campaign. During May, 30 cents from every punnet of mushrooms sold at Coles will be donated back to The Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation. Four students from Year 4 will appear in the Coles magazine in a double page spread, featuring this campaign. Funds raised in this campaign allow the foundation to continue to deliver professional learning to educators in schools, create resources and supports and, of course, help children develop positive food habits for life!