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.

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.

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.