What a Great Week for the School

This week was a special one for all the school.

Our first piece of  good news was that two community groups have formed a partnership with the school to add their vast knowledge bank to our garden project. Both Seed Savers  and Perennial Poppies are very active in the propagation and preservation of heritage vegetables, herbs and flowers. These groups have offered their support in both knowledge and "hands on" activities to our children. This will mean that we will not only have extra hands to help us, but we also be able to access their facilities and workshops.

It is great to have these two groups working with us. This makes the the project a true community effort.

The second great thing was that the children finally had access to both the kitchen and the senior library. Thursday saw most of the year 5,6, and 7 classes have a tour through the facilities. Instead of me talking more about it, I'm putting some more photos up and some of the children's comments. These were given to me at the end of the day on all sorts of pieces of paper and notes.

I think their comments say it all.

"I can't wait to start using the new kitchen with the amazing kitchen equipment and to eat what we cook."  Shei

"I think the new kitchen is awesome. I'll finally know how to cook."  Tamika

"I can't wait till I get to be a BSS cook. It's going to be so much fun. The building looks awesome."  Kelsie

"The kitchen is totally awesome! I love the huge ovens and I can't wait to start cooking. Just imagining cooking is soooo exciting! Let's hope we can cook cupcakes."  Liv

" I think the kitchen is foodtastic!"  Mac

                        'Kitchen's great, looking forward to cooking. I can't wait for the cooking to start. I'm so excited, It's fantastic!  Brodie

"When I saw the kitchen I was pleasantly surprised. The kitchen looks great and I think the builders have done a good job."   Weng

I think the school is on to a winner with this project.

Until next week,

Stay safe and enjoy life.

Ross T 

Sneak Peak at the Kitchen

Here are a couple of photos of inside the kitchen. I was in there on Tuesday and was very impressed with the facility. I can't image many other primary schools having such a fantastic resource. Once it is fitted out with cooking utensils, small electrical appliances, cutlery etc the children will have an invaluable resource.

This is looking in from the front door. the two  island work benches each have two 4 burner cook tops and an oven underneath

Looking from inside to the servery that
allows easy access to the outside eating area.

This end of the kitchen will be the teaching area. There is a screen to go onto the wall, this will be used to project recipes, instructions etc. This then eliminates the need to use paper recipes.
As you can see, it is a very impressive building, one that all parents and students should be proud to have.


In the other area of the school, the garden fence is coming along well.  I have had great support from the groundsman Denis and we have been able to get most of one side constructed. All the post are concreted in , all that has to happen now is the panels are to be bolted into place. Once that is done I will start on the southern fence. Hopefully by this time next week the garden area will be fully enclosed and just waiting for the construction of the gardens.

When we have official access to the grounds surrounding the kitchen, I will be starting to plant the herb gardens around it. 

So as you can see we are so much closer to having full use of all the facilities needed for the garden project.
The children are starting to get excited about what they can see. All we need now is for the chicken run to be completed and we'll be fully operational.
In next weeks blog I hope to be able to have more detailed photos of both the kitchen and the gardens.

Until then
Stay safe and enjoy life

Ross T                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Great News

Welcome to the Burpengary Green Gardens update.

Some  great news this week.

First up, Bunnings Warehouse at Morayfield has donated four raised garden beds to the project. These will be assembled by some year 7 children, then in June, Bunnings will come to the school with seedlings, potting mixture, gloves etc and help the children plant the gardens.

Second piece of good news is that the fencing for the vegetable garden has arrived. In the next week or so I’ll be starting to build it.  It's come in sections, all I have to do is follow the instructions and install it. Hopefully I won't experience any major construction problems.

The Kitchen has been delayed, but the hand over is now scheduled for next week, so it looks like both kitchen and garden will come on-line simultaneously.

Once I have access to the kitchen I'll be able to post those photos I promised you awhile ago. At least any photos taken now will not include all the rubble from the builders and installers.

I am really looking forward to the next couple of weeks as that is when I can really start to get things "growing". It has been a long time coming but at last we are at the end of the wait.

Until next week,

Stay safe and enjoy life

Ross T

Welcome Back

It's been a couple of weeks since the last update. With the Easter break, then the long weekend, time certainly flew.
While we were away from the school, the construction workers were busy.
I did a walk through of the kitchen today and it's looking great. I was amazed at how much room there is inside. Now that all the cabinets, benchtops and work spaces are in you can see that there is space for a whole class, and helpers to work comfortably.
At the moment the handover of the kitchen is planned to take place in the second half of next week.

I saw a great article on Litter Free Lunches during the holidays. I have modified it slightly so that it is more suited to a school environment, but I think a concept like this is a great way to start to reduce litter.
Give me some feed back on what you think, I would like to get something like yhings going in the school. The amount of rubbish going into landfill would greatly be reduced.

Next week I hope to have some photos of the kitchen on the site. It will give you a chance to get a sneak preview of what the school has had constucted.

Until then, stay safe and enjoy life.

Ross T

Sprouts are Delicious

The sprouts are growing beautifully and went into the tuck shop on Wednesday. From all reports they have been enjoyed by everyone who has had them. The zingy taste from the radish and the fenugreek has been a hit. far better than the plain old alfalfa sprouts.

One Year 5 class was so concerned about their sprouts, they sent them home with their teacher over the weekend. They were well looked after. Mrs Johnson gave them their own lounge chair to stretch out on, kept their fluids up and made sure they had a weekend to remember. Here's a photo of our laid back sprouts. I'm convinced that's why they have so much flavour.

We are starting to get a stockpile of fruits and vegetables that we can replant into the garden once it is established. Seed potatoes are available at the moment so I have collected some of those. They will be the first vegetable to be planted into a no dig garden.  I use an easy harvest method to grow my potatoes, so I'll put it in next weeks blog. It is a great way to grow them especially if you're short on space. The other advantage is that you don't need to use forks or shovels, so it is a very safe activity for children. 

I've also got some raspberry canes for planting against the fence. These will have a dual purpose. One is that we'll get some great fruit once they are mature and two, they make a great deterrent against intruders.

There has been a lot of paperwork to be done this week. There are risk assessment tasks to complete, Agriculture Operations and Animal Welfare and Ethics policies that must be strictly followed, and various checklists made. Once completed and implemented, you’ll have the comfort of knowing that your children will be working in an outdoor environment that has met all safety standards set by the relevant government departments.

As I walk through the school, the interest shown by the children is amazing. Kids from all year levels are asking about both the garden and the kitchen. Down in Year 3 the children have been learning the art of persuasive writing. I spent about 40 minutes listening to some very compelling  arguments as to why we must grow tomatoes in our vegie garden. These children had done their research and knew the health benefits, and the needs and requirements of tomatoes. Going by their eagerness and knowledge I am feeling confident that the gardens will be in good hands.

Until next week,

Take care and enjoy life

Ross T

Earth Hour and Sprouts

Welcome to another Burpengary Green Gardens update.

At 8:30 pm, 26 March 2011 lights go off for Earth Hour.

This phenomenon was started in Sydney in 2007 when 2.2 million individuals and more than 2000 businesses turned their lights off for 1 hour to take a stand against climate change. On Saturday 27 March, Earth Hour 2010 became the biggest Earth Hour ever. A record 128 countries and territories joined the global display of climate action. Iconic buildings and landmarks from Asia Pacific to Europe and Africa to the Americas switched off.

2011 has seen even more countries, businesses and individuals pledge their support for this chance to help the planet.

This year wouldn't it be great to go beyond the hour and make a change in your lives that will benefit the entire planet. So after the lights go back on, think about what else you can do to make a difference.

Together our actions add up.

This  week it was the Year 5 children who commenced their kitchen garden project. Each class has a sprouting kit and have now started the process of germinating their seeds.

I brought along a couple of already prepared sprouts for the children to see and to taste. Most kids were keen on the alfalfa, but were not too fussed on the mung beans. I explained that by themselves these can be quite bland, that is why we are using a blend of alfalfa, wheat, mung beans, radish and fenugreek seeds. This gives the mixture some extra "bite" to it. If going by the children's reaction, the fenugreek seeds were a winner in the mix. Just the aroma of them had the kids taste buds in overdrive.

The kids made sure they had the correct mix of seeds,

Stacked the trays,

Then added water to encourage their seeds to sprout.

I mentioned last week that I would post the recipe for the sprouts the kids are growing. Here it is below.  You don't need to have a kit like the kids have used, a large glass jar will do the job.

GROWING SPROUTS

                    Sprouting Mix

                    Ratio of mix is comprised of

4                 alfalfa

1                 wheat

1                 lentils

1                 radish

       1                 fenugreek

          1                 mung beans

The first thing you need is a glass jar, ideally with the opening at the top slightly smaller than the bottom. Ajar approx 20 centimetres high by 15 centimetres in diameter is ample.

The only other pieces of equipment you will need are a strong rubber band, and a square of fly screen gauze, preferably made of nylon for easier use and cleaning.

Growing

The first step is to soak the seeds (approx 3 tablespoons) in the jar for 3-4 hours, or overnight.

After soaking, the gauze is secured over the mouth of the jar and the water is emptied out.   At least 3 or 4 good rinses with fresh water are necessary to remove any of the old residual water. All the water is then drained off completely and the seeds gently rolled around so they spread over the entire inside surface of the jar, to which they adhere quite easily.

The jar is now left in a light place  --  but NEVER in direct sunlight.

Rinses such as these are repeated twice every day, always making sure to rinse well and drain the water completely before returning the jar to its position.

Within a week the sprouts will have germinated and are ready for harvesting.

Rinse the sprouts 3 or 4times and place the sprouts in a salad spinner and spin all excess water from them.

Store in a sealed container in the fridge where they will keep for about a week.

The Worms Have Arrived

Latest news to report is that the the Year 4 children have all got worms. They have Red Wrigglers, Blue Worms and Tiger Worms. At least there is no need to panic. All worms are well and truly being looked after by the keen worm farmers.

The children went through the process of assembling the

worm farms, starting by locking in the legs onto the base.

Once that was completed they placed wet newspaper

 down as bedding for the worms and to stop the worms

 from falling through into the bottom tray.

Next came the exciting part for the kids. Their first chance to sight

their worms.

 All the children handling the worms, both while setting them up and when they feed them daily will be wearing gloves. The importance of this is twofold. It is important from a hygienic side. Washing of hands after they have finished has also been stressed. 

The other reason for the gloves is for the health of the worms. Coming in contact with human skin is not healthy for the worms.

Once the worms had been removed from their box, the children then helped settle them into their new home

After  settling into their homes they were fed and then finally put to bed to have a good night sleep.



It won't be long before the children are collecting litres of great liquid fertilizer for the garden.

To Other News:

The Year 5 children begin their projects for the garden. In Science they are doing a unit called Plants in Action. As an add on to this unit they will be growing sprouts for the tuckshop and eventually for the kitchen as well.

I will post photos of the children starting their sprout gardens and also a very easy method to grow your own sprouts at home.

Until next week,

Stay safe and enjoy life,

Ross Tattersall