Adventures in Learning and Growing, Term 3
The term started with an exciting hands-on project. Our enthusiastic young gardeners created their own personalised seed envelopes by folding them in the origami way. We then filled these envelopes with different types of seeds, ready for them to take home and use in their own garden. Their own individual designs were just adorable!
For a special Friday, the grandparents have been invited to the school. We contributed a fresh Garden Salad made with ingredients freshly picked from the school garden, including lettuce, radishes, carrots, and herbs. Since the garden was full of beautiful winter flowers, the tamariki decided to decorate the tables with beautiful flowers, adding a pop of colour to the tables.
Our young gardeners also explored the world of composting by setting up a new worm farm. Learning about composting is not only eco-friendly but also a lot of fun! Our young gardeners explored the differences between earthworms and Tiger worms and gained an understanding of the role of worms in turning kitchen scraps into rich, nutrient-packed soil and “worm tea.”
This term, we also engaged the junior classes to take part in the gardening program. I was invited into their classroom to present a slideshow about sunflowers. We explored the world of sunflowers, including their growth cycle, the number of seeds they can hold, and how tall they can grow. Our new entrant kids were then inspired to plant sunflower seeds in punnets and around the school garden. These sunflowers will soon greet everyone with their vibrant colours and provide our bees and butterflies with pollen and nectar.
“When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade!” This is always a winner. We squeezed some juicy lemons and mixed them into a yummy lemonade. The tamariki had a lot of fun decorating their drinks with fresh mint leaves and a slice of lemon.
It’s great to see our young gardeners trying new vegetables they’ve never tasted before, like Kohlrabi! We had quite a lot of it growing in our school garden, and after some hard work in the garden, we picked some Kohlrabi, peeled it, and cut it into slices.
Here’s a funny story: a few weeks later, a girl asked me, “Nina, is there still some of the purple stuff in the garden?” I was wondering what she meant. “The one we were eating last time.” Ah, you mean Kohlrabi! “Yes, that's the one. I loved it!” There was one lucky last piece growing in the garden, just for her to take home. What a big smile!
As we wrapped up this term, we spoiled ourselves with a sweet treat called ‘flower chocolate.’ This delightful creation featured edible flowers from our garden, adding a touch of natural beauty to our initially melted chocolate. Afterwards, it was chilled in the fridge. Once broken into pieces, it was finger-licking delicious.
We can’t wait to see what the next term brings as we head into our probably most favourite season: Summer! Wishing everyone a restful and joyful holiday!
