We had an awesome time with students from Mrs McFarlanes room 5! Even though it was only a small class, some very delicious food was made – see recipes to the left – and everyone enjoyed a yummy, tasty, healthy, lunch together. It always makes me so happy to see everyone working together to produce something outstanding. Cooking isn’t all fun though, everybody had to chip in to wash, peel, grate, weigh, mix, wipe, wash, dry and put away – but many hands make light work and the not so fun stuff goes quickly when you have your friends around to help you. I hope everyone enjoyed there lunch and has given one of the recipes a goat home with your whanau.
It was a wet morning so we started off planting wheat heads (I wonder how these are looking – I’d love to see some photos!) inside followed by learning about how long things take to break down using a recycling timeline. The weather did clear up a little bit and there was plenty to be tackled in the garden beds so we braved the cold. Before the end of the term Mrs Wasley weeded all the garden beds beautifully, but with the warm, wet autumn weather new weed seedling started popping up everywhere. Room 5 you did a magnificent job getting these ratbag weeds out of a two of the beds and preparing preparing them for planting. Thanks to our friends at Awapuni Nurseries there were lots of healthy herbs and vegetable seedling ready to go. I hope that you have been checking the gardens regularly to make sure it is well watered and the weeds are kept down. I am looking forward to coming back in term 2 and hope to be able to harvest some of the produce to use in the cooking!
It was a wonderful day and I hope everybody enjoyed themselves, I look forward to seeing you again later in term 2.
Until then, happy gardening everyone! Jacinda
GARDENING ACTIVITIES
Growing an Avocado tree is so much fun! It does require quite a bit of patience – they can take up to 8!!!! years to produce fruit, but they are lovely trees and a challenge is good!
GARDENING TIPS
JOBS FOR THE AUTUMN GARDEN.
Autumn is the time to harvest the last of the summer produce, clear and prepare for the winter garden planting. I find the garden starts to look a little rough around the edges in autumn. Pruning fruit trees, pulling out the old zucchini plants and spent tomatoes to tidy things up is a great plan. Remember not to put your tomato plants in the compost bin as they can spread any diseases this way.
Once the garden has been tidied you can start to replenish the soil with compost, sheep poo or whatever you usually use. once worked into the soil get your winter vegetables in. Sow carrots, radish, swede and turnips directly into the soil and keep the soil moist. Brassicas – cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and kale – but make sure to watch for slugs and snails. Also, white butterfly caterpillars can destroy your crop in a few days. Kiwicare has a great organic spray you can use which won’t hurt our bees and other beneficial insects. Lettuce, silverbeet and spring onions are also great to plant this time of the year – Red lettuces grow better in the winter than green ones do, so they are a great option.
Gardens can be mulched after planting which will help to keep weeds done over the wetter months. It’s a good idea to turn your compost bin before it gets to cold and if you get frosts cover the bin. I use an old piece of carpet and some black plastic to keep the heat in.
Most importantly, enjoy the warm evenings outside before the cold sets in – walk around your garden and pick the last of the cherry tomatoes and strawberries.
