Planting Year 7 & 8 Boys

Today Mr Rush and I had some Year 7 & 8 boys come out and plant the native trees donated to us by Trees for Canterbury. The rain didn't put them off at all.

We have planted outside Room 26, Room 13, Room 6, Oscar and the Dental Clinic.

Thanks for the help.

Pumpkin Patch

We have created a new garden area behind the boiler which some helpers from Year 4 helped me plant some pumpkins. This space will have mulch added to it to help keep the weeds down, put some nutrients into help the pumpkins grow and will eventually turn into another food forest.

Compost and Spiders

We have our own compost bins at Oaklands School which we use to dispose of some food scraps and our garden green waste. I had some Year 7 & 8 boys come down and help me by moving the compost into the neighbouring bin to help compost break down more quickly. Some of the boys were a bit scared of the spiders in the bin but I wont tell who.

On a much bigger scale is the operation at Living Earth who have very generously given us a huge trailer load of their compost. They used a massive front end loaded with a 7 cubic metre bucket on it to fill the trailer.

Thanks heaps to the friendly staff over there who didn't seem to be at all concerned about spiders!!

Espalier Apple Trees

On the fence by the vegetable gardens we have got some apple trees that we are training to grow along the wires. This is called Espalier and is a way of maximising how much fruit we can get off a tree when there is only limited space.

The branches get bent over and tied to the wires using soft material. The branches then grow that way so that if the cloth rots away the branches stay in that position. It is a slow process!!

The students that watched me bending the branches and tying them down were worried I was going to snap the branches, but by doing this often the branches are moved when they are young and flexible.

I wonder if we will get any apples this year?

Ginger Carrots, Kale and Silverbeet

This was Mars groups cooking project today. Our juniors had to cut the carrot nice and small so they cooked through. We cut and then cooked the leek, kale and silverbeet till they were soft and then we added some ginger, salt, lemon juice and water. We stirred it carefully until the water had all evaporated and the flavours had been absorbed. Then we spooned it onto rice crackers to share with the parents who had come to pick up junior students. We also took some to the office, the library and left some in the staffroom for our cleaners.

 Thanks again to the awesome Year 7 and 8's who came and helped with the cooking today. They supported our Juniors in a positive and friendly manner.

Year 7 & 8 Helpers

We are very fortunate to have Year 7 and 8 students come down to our cooking classes. The Junior students love working with the "big kids" and the attitude and patience of the seniors is amazing - they are learning valuable skills relating to working with others.

Thanks to all our helpers so far this year. It makes a huge difference.

Beetroot Relish

Today it was the Venus planet groups turn to cook. We grated beetroot, cut onion and leek and fried it all up. Then we added vinegar, sugar, salt, mustard seeds and curry powder and let it simmer down.

Then we spooned it onto rice crackers and shared it with the Year 4 students in Room 8, 12 and 13.

Yum!!!