Compost and worm farms, School garden

Canterbury Public School Students Get Their Hands Dirty

Posted on by Erica
31
Jul

Students taking part in the Nature's Recyclers worm farm workshop
Students at Canterbury Public School in NSW have formed a gardening club as part of a composting project funded by a Coles Junior Landcare Garden Grant.
The Canterbury Green Thumbs Gardening Club includes both students and parents, and gives students who are interested in gardening the opportunity to work in the garden out of school hours. Continue reading →

School garden

The Green Sustainability Project at Hillarys Early Childhood Learning Centre

Posted on by Erica
26
Jun
Hillarys Early Learning Centre garden
The children enjoyed planting and caring for their vegetables.
Every year since 2008 Coles and Junior Landcare have been providing grants to schools and youth groups to create gardens in their grounds or community.  The Hillarys Early Childhood Learning Centre, in Hillarys, Western Australia, received a $1100 grant in 2012 to develop an interactive sensory garden that involved not only the school and parent community but also members of the wider, local community. This is their story:
The Green Sustainability Project at Hillarys Early Childhood Learning Centre is a community project involving the staff from the school, the parent community and wider community (grandparents and interested members of the local community) which turned a very lifeless patch of unused ground attached to the Early Years Learning Centre into an interactive Sensory Garden. Continue reading →

Our environment, School garden

Gardening and Sustainability Resources for Teachers

Posted on by Erica
The Clean Up Australia Day Website
The Clean Up Australia Day website is a great resource for teachers
I am often asked about sustainability and gardening resources for teachers who are after ideas to use with their students. Over the years I have used a number of different websites for ideas and inspiration when planning my lessons. Here are my favourites: Continue reading →

Recipes, School garden

Roasted Herb Potatoes for Kids

Posted on by Erica
16
Jun
Herbed potatoes for Kids
Your kids will devour these herbed potatoes - especially if they make them themselves.
Last year the preps, year 1 students and I planted potatoes in the school garden. We planted a variety including some very cool purple potatoes which the kids were very intrigued by. After school resumed this year the students were eager to head out into the garden to dig up our potatoes and see how many had grown. We ended up with enough potatoes to make two large batches of roasted herb potatoes.
This is the simple, yet delicious, recipe that we used: Continue reading →

Compost and worm farms, School garden

A Compost Critter Investigation for the Kids

Posted on by Erica
slaters in compost
Investigating compost critters
This week is International Composting Awareness Week so it’s the perfect opportunity to engage kids in the wonderful world of composting. Today my students and I rolled up our sleaves, pulled out the magnifying glasses and had a fun afternoon investigating the animals that live in our school compost. The kids absolutely loved it and I had a hard time getting them to put the compost back at the end of the lesson. They all wanted to stay after school and keep going! Continue reading →

Recipes, School garden

Broccoli, Potato and Silverbeet Soup

Posted on by Erica
Broccoli, Potato and Silverbeet Soup
Broccoli, Potato and Silverbeet Soup made by my year 1 and 2s
I recently posted about using broccoli from our school garden in recipes with my students. I promised that I would post the recipes as the kids absolutely loved them so here if the first one for you – Broccoli, Potato and Silverbeet Soup. Continue reading →

School garden

"I Don't Like……."

Posted on by Erica
Harvest for our broccoli soup
Our 'yucky' produce from the garden for our broccoli soup
So your kids say ‘I don’t like broccoli’? Well they certainly wouldn’t be the first. In fact I heard it quite a bit just this week at school. We had a lot of broccoli growing (or bolting actually) in our school veggie garden so I thought it was time we harvested and used it in the kitchen. Continue reading →