Despite the rainy Term Two we’ve had, we were still able to get some sunny days and had a fun and full filled time, rain or shine.
One unforgettable highlight was the extraordinary Kumara harvest.
The story began with a single halved tuber sprouting in the classroom back in August 2022 and in November with carefully planted vines. As the garden was just established last year it was the kids’ first experience of growing their own kumara.
On a sunny autumn morning we learned how to harvest, cure and store kumara, we then took action by taking off the vines and digging down carefully with our hands to look for the garden gold. It was truly rewarding to see the kids’ joy finding them, especially once they’ve found out by counting proudly 207!
We laid the Kumara in a long line for the other kids to see, it was the highlight of morning tea just to look at all the different shapes and sizes… and there were some really big ones !
As we had plenty of rainy days, we've been cooking a lot with our own home grown garden produce. It is astonishing to see how the tamariki try different food they normally wouldn’t eat at home. When they cook it themselves they give it all go!
We made savoury waffles with garden herbs, kale chips, Mini Pizzas with garden greens and home made tomato sauce with tomatoes we’ve been freezing from last last summer harvest, and of course roasted Kumara, all our meals were delicious !
As the growing cycle has slowed down we we turned a dull concrete slab in the garden into a piece of garden art by painting it with bright colours, we looked into the art of composting, teaching our tamariki the value of collecting natural garden waste like egg shells, banana peels, seaweed and coffee grounds.
We learned about worm farming, exploring the difference between earthworms and tiger worms and nourished our winter veggies with the elixir of worm tea. To shield our winter plants from the chill, we gently nestled them in warm blankets of pea straw, ensuring they remained snug, moist and nourished throughout the season.
Last but not least we celebrated the end of Term Two with a well deserved hot chocolate for winning the biggest and best Kumara harvest !
A fun and action packed term has come to the end and it will be exciting to see the journey of our Kumara Heroes continue in term three when we march towards spring !
from Nina