Posted on July 7, 2021 by hartj

Due to a mild summer and regular rain we were still harvesting many of our summer vegetables in mid autumn! We had a huge crop of basil. It grows as a small bush with lots of leaves on each stem. At the end of the plants lifecycle you see beautiful purple/white flowers.

The smell of basil reminds us of pizza and tomatoes as basil and tomato are campaign plants. They like to grow together because the smell of the basil deters Aphids. Aphids suck the sap from the leaves and fruit of tomato plants. Year 4

Harvesting some of our big rooted parsnips was a real team effort!

Parsnips grow in soil with pH 6.0-7.0, that means it is slightly acidic. In the below photo we are testing the pH of the soil in our garden beds using universal indicator. We concluded that the pH of our soil in our garden be 7 which is neutral and the best for growing most vegetables. We are also testing the pH of many everyday items to develop a better understanding of pH levels.

The light intensity should be high but slight shade is ok. They like soil with lots of fertilizer which puts nutrients into the soil.

Parsnips are a root vegetable that is high in fiber and a good source of Vitamin C.

Parsnip, sweet potato and red lentil soup is delicious!

Our Year 4 and 5 classes enjoyed baking Hamantashen in their Kitchen classes in preparation for the festival of Purim. Several Year 6, 7 and 9 Hebrew classes also helped bake for our school community. It was so lovely to see students sharing this experience with their family too as volunteers are once again joining us in Kitchen. Chag Sameach!

FOR MORE INFOMATION CHECK OUT THEIR BLOG https://iotkg.org/blog/

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Great stratigies to increase childrens vegetable intake.

https://www.vegkit.com.au/globalassets/vegkit/documents/oshc–schools/infographic-best-practice-guidelines-for-increasing-childrens-vegetable-intake.pdf

https://www.vegkit.com.au/globalassets/vegkit/documents/oshc–schools/7-days-of-veggie-snacks.pdf

Shava Tova from all the Year 4 and 5 students in our Kitchen Garden Program!

This week students were busy baking Honey cake in their Kitchen classes in preparation for Rosh Hashanah. They also explored the significance of other symbolic foods to see in the New Year.

Way to go Year 2!!! That Egg and advocano on toast looks delicious and it VERY healthy with lots of essential fats and vitamins!

Bill Botanist has just received a collection of plant specimens in the mail. It is urgent that the specimens be planted as soon as possible because the world is counting on the oxygen that they will provide. Travel with Bill on an expedition to each of the world’s biomes to help him study his specimens. Your mission is to get each plant specimen planted in the best possible biome.

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/experiments/biome/plantindex.php

The Year 5 Kitchen classes commenced Term 2 learning about the many different ways that mixtures can be separated in the kitchen and how these techniques can prevent food waste.

Separation techniques used in the Kitchen may involve physical separation (eg. Filtration using a strainer), or it can involve chemical separation using a catalyst, such as vinegar or lemon juice. Students learnt that catalysts are used to speed up a chemical reaction and the separation of a mixture.

For centuries, people have used such separation techniques to create cheese as a way of preserving and storing food for later. As you can see below, the Year 5 students thoroughly enjoyed making their own Homemade Ricotta cheese and were very surprised how quick and easy it was!