KITCHEN GARDEN
With the beautiful autumnal 'summer’ weather of recent weeks, students have been going full-swing in the garden. We now have seed potatoes, green manure crops, spinach, silverbeet, kale, snowpeas and broad beans beginning to sprout. The potting shed is full of seedlings from seed donations (thank you everyone) as well as rosemary and hydrangea cuttings. There is a small bed of donated ground-covering succulents which has been planted near the kitchen. The worms are growing before our eyes in their bathtub worm farm and the liquid fertiliser is being used on the garden and seedlings. Donated seed has been extracted and packaged as we prepare for our first fundraiser.
GUEST CHEF
Last week was extra special with students in 4 classes experiencing their first LPS Kitchen-Garden cooking lesson with Guest Chef and parent, Scott Heffernan. Students worked alfresco-style using the BBQ to cook Potato Rosti, Pumpkin Moustaches, Savoury Pancakes, Sweet Pancakes, and Scone Rounds with lashings of freshly made raspberry jam and cream. Our thanks and gratitude to Scott for sharing his expertise and knowledge, supplying all of the ingredients, and bringing in cooking resources from his mobile catering business, Flint Kitchen.
GRATITUDES
We wish to acknowledge and thank the many students and their families, staff and community members who have made donations:
Amanda Brown – upright fridge/freezer and gardening tools
Katie Groom and family – microwave oven
Brett Gordon / Adrian Sweet – transport arrangements for fridge/freezer
Jodi Molhuysen – commercial seed packets
Yvonne Kerklaan – seedlings, chilli plants, cucamelons, pots, pots, pots!
Essie Reed – bay leaf tree and tomato plant
Oscar Tinker – relocating soil and potting mix delivery
Sam Travers – first to get started with fruit composting in after-school program
Teresa Street – pots and pans
Stacey Price – cookbooks
Luka and Nina Kumashiro – rosemary cuttings
Natalie Webb – hydrangea cuttings
Deb Lawler – buckets for composting
Mel McCarthy – Horse manure
Jodi and Tam – stationery, surplus book club catalogues for seed potato mulch
Sara Wright – networking with MONA 24 Carot program
Megan Hoult – grilling machine
Henry and Silas Barton – strawberry plants
Emily and Ben Stevenson – electric kettle
Lee Watkinson - seedlings and containers
Bunnings Mornington - $100 of gardening materials – gloves, buckets, watering cans, wheelbarrow
Thank you, too, to all students and their families who have continued to donate supermarket Discovery Gardens as we now have a healthy seed bank. (My apologies is you have made a donation and are not in this gratitude list)
DONATIONS
Our attention is now shifting to the flexible teaching kitchen which we are hoping to have equipped, up and running, and be cooking in, around the middle of next term. We are still looking for donations of cutlery, cookware, electrical appliances, utensils, mixing bowls, glasses and cups, bowls, serving platters, chopping boards, kettle, toaster, electric frying pan, urn.
VOLUNTEERS
If you know of anyone who has a special kitchen-garden skill of any kind; their WWVP registration; and would be willing to give of their time to share with students, then please let me know. All suggestions will be considered. Similarly if you’re interested in volunteering in the program at school, please let me know your availability. I’m particularly looking for people who can provide a regular hour or more to help out in the kitchen with cooking classes.
As always, thank you for your ongoing support throughout this term,
Deb Morgan
Kitchen-Garden Teacher
deb.morgan@education.tas.gov.au
