Term Two in the Garden – Kumara, Birthdays & Butterflies!
Term Two has been full of excitement, learning, and hands-on discoveries in our school garden!
One of the biggest highlights was harvesting our very first kumara crop — all grown from just one kumara we sprouted last year. We removed the greenery and talked about how we needed to be careful when digging up our treasures so we didn’t damage the kumara’s skin. The kids had an absolute blast digging in the dirt and discovering the kumara hiding underneath. And what a haul it was! The harvest was used to make a tasty Matariki soup, which the class helped prepare as part of their Matariki celebrations.
It’s not just butterflies we want to attract — this coming term, we’re also focusing on bumblebees! The NZ Bumblebee Trust has kindly given us a bunch of books to learn more about bumblebees, along with packets of wildflower seeds to help encourage their arrival. Not only are bumblebees super cute — they’re also fantastic pollinators for our fruit trees! We’ve prepared a large garden bed ready for the bumblebee seed mix to be scattered. With a bit of luck, we should start spotting the first results in early spring!
Another fun activity this term was creating something special for the mums for Mother’s Day! Since the garden had plenty of flowers to offer, we headed outside and gathered a variety of blooms. Back in the classroom, the tamariki drew vases on square pieces of cardboard. Then they poked little holes in the cardboard and carefully placed the flower stems through them. I was amazed at how beautifully the project turned out — the tamariki were so creative, and the final results looked absolutely adorable!
Even though it’s winter, the garden is still going strong. We were surprised to find loads of healthy veggies still growing in June — kale, beans, kohlrabi, and even a few bright yellow courgettes!
Another creative end-of-term activity was making lanterns for a Matariki celebration. The Shepherd community, who help care for the garden, led the way in designing garden-themed lanterns. Using recycled plastic bottles, the tamariki helped paint and decorate them to look like colourful mushrooms. They looked absolutely cute all lit up and made a beautiful addition to the Matariki decorations!
Next term, we’ll start planning for spring — planting new crops, thinking about composting, and making sure our garden stays full of colour and life. There’s lots to look forward to, and we can’t wait to get our hands back in the soil!
