Such a wonderful start to our 2024 Kitchen classes!

Year 4 and 5 students have been very busy this term learning lots of new skills and cooking delicious recipes using fresh produce they’ve grown and harvested in our Kitchen Garden.

This term Year 4 students have learnt about food safety, safe knife handling skills and practised the following techniques while preparing fruits and vegetables from the garden: the bridge, bear claw, rock and chop techniques. They have also learnt to identify many fruits and vegetables and prepared them in a variety of recipes. It is so lovely to see students enthusiastically tasting new dishes and flavours with their peers. This is what pleasurable food education is all about!

Year 5 students are building on the skills learnt so far in the program with recipes that are more complicated and challenging. All classes are rising to the challenge with great enthusiasm and having lots of fun in the process! Students are making lots of cross curricular links while learning in the Kitchen with Science, Maths, English, Jewish studies and so much more!

Volunteers are make such a valuable contribution to our program. It’s such great way to observe student learning in action. We are so appreciative to all those who have volunteered their time to help in our Kitchen and Garden classes so far this term. Parents, grandparents, family and friends are all welcome to sign up! If you’d like to join one of our classes, please click on the VOLUNTEERS tab at the top of the home page.

Companion planting in Autumn – broccoli, cauliflower and onions

Today in our kitchen garden lesson, we dug deep into the world of root vegetables! Carrots, potatoes, and beetroots where harvested and the funny-shaped carrots where fascinating. It was like uncovering hidden treasures right in our school garden! We learned that these veggies need plenty of space to stretch their roots and grow big and tasty.

We are preparing for our autumn and winter crop by planting broccoli, cauliflower and onions. They are companion plants because they provide various benefits to each other when grown together in the garden. For example, onions emit a pungent scent that repels pests like aphids, which are known to attack broccoli and cauliflower. In turn, broccoli and cauliflower produce chemicals that deter pests that commonly target onions, such as onion flies. This natural pest control helps all three plants thrive without the need for harmful chemical pesticides.

Additionally, the different root structures of these plants allow them to occupy different levels of soil, reducing competition for nutrients. Onions have shallow roots, while broccoli and cauliflower develop deeper root systems. This allows them to effectively utilize nutrients from different layers of the soil without competing directly with each other. By growing together, they optimize the use of available space and resources in the garden, promoting healthier growth and higher yields for all three crops.

Congratulations to 2023 Year 5 Graduates!

The 2023 Year 5 Graduation celebrations were abuzz with excitement as students gathered in the Kitchen Garden. With parents, teachers, and community members, students and their guests knelt beside designated patches, planting summer seedlings with care and laughter.

Amidst conversations, students shared their learning from the past two years of the Kitchen Garden program. Their plants, symbolizing growth, and creation proud of the memories created during their Primary School journey.

The wonder of broad beans

Winter harvesting of broad beans provided was an enriching experience for students in the garden. Broad beans, also known as fava beans, are resilient cold-season crops that thrive in cooler temperatures. In the process of planting, tending, and harvesting broad beans the students learnt about plant life cycles and the importance of scientific observations. Students witnessed the transformation of broad bean plants from seeds, seedlings to mature plants, fostering a sense of responsibility and connection to the natural world.

In the kitchen, broad beans offer a versatile and nutritious addition to winter recipes. Students prepared delicious meals using their harvested beans. Such and dips and frittatas. These recipes encouraged students to experiment with different cooking techniques.






Donating to FoodFilled

As part of the Year 4 and 5 Kitchen Garden Program we are very pleased to be supporting FoodFilled; a not-for-profit devoted to combating food wastage and hunger. Students harvested their very tasty fresh produce and used them to cook delicious pumpkin and lentil soup, cheesy broccoli pasta bake, orange cupcakes and basil, pesto and cheese scrolls. The food was given directly to local charities by FoodFilled. Students also brought non-perishable food items to donate with the fresh produce and meals.

Celebrating Yom Ha’Atzmaut in Kitchen Garden

Year 4 and 5 students cooked up a delicious Israeli feast to celebrate Yom Ha’Atzmaut (Israel’s Independence day) in Kitchen classes this week. Dishes created in their feast were vibrant and nutritious using fresh produce harvested from our garden. Students made Israeli salad, Shakshuka, Majadra, fresh fluffy pita and Israeli hummus. All recipes can be found under the RECIPES tab above.

Port Phillip EcoCentre School Sustainability Festival

We are a passionate group of Year 4 and 5 students. We proudly ran an active Science and Sustainability workshop using the Kids Teaching Kids methodology taught to us by Julie Hart. We represented the school and taught other students from local primary schools about how we protect and enhance local habitats at school. Especially in the Kitchen and Bush Tucker Gardens.

In the afternoon we learnt a lot at the adult-led activities. We especially enjoyed learning about sustainability practices from Darren the Indigenous Educator from the Boon Wurrung Foundation. Testing the lake water to identify macro invertebrates to determine the water quality with the Environmental Educators from the EcoCentre was really interesting and fun. We learnt a lot on the day that we will share with our peers so at school we can all take more action to make a positive difference.