Summer harvest

Gardening club 2018

The gardening club has made a great start to 2018. We were able to start by harvesting some of the vegetables that had been planted the year before

We were lucky enough to find strawberries, cabbage, silver beet and tomatoes. 

Potatoes and Poppies

By the end of Term 1 we had weeded all the vegetable and flower beds. New seeds and seedlings were planted. The Holey Fathers gave up their time to clear the paths and do planting in the up top gardens. Andrea brought in seed potatoes and leeks for us to plant. We are all looking forward to leek and potato soup when they are harvested. 

We have had an ANZAC garden for the last few years but the  exciting addition of three poppy sculptures makes it a very special place at Good Shepherd School. Thanks to Lisa Paniora for organising the the purchase of the poppies and cementing them into the garden. We scattered lots of poppy seeds around the garden so hopefully in spring it will look even more impressive!

Gardening Club 2016

Kia ora and welcome to Gardening Club 2016.
After a wonderful summer holiday and a hot February we started back at Gardening club in March. Lots of old faces returned and a few new gardeners joined us. With the support of our parent leaders Andrea Hannay, Tanya Sheridan and Lisa Paniora, we began the year by weeding the flower and vegetable beds and planting carrots, leeks and rocket. We also prepared the soil to plant potatoes.

Last week we made the interesting discovery of a very large slug. After doing some research we found that it is called Limax maximus (biggest slug) commonly known as  the leopard slug because of the markings on it's body. The one we found was 10cm long but they can be 10-20 cm so we will be keeping an eye out for it to see if it grows bigger!

End of year celebration

Wednesday 3rd December

After another busy year of gardening we gathered together to celebrate and thank all of our helpers.  What better way to enjoy the new season strawberries than with some delicious homemade strawberry icecream!

The garden club members all took home gifts to thank them for their hard work in the school gardens this year.  A big thank you goes to Grove Mitre 10 for providing us with gardening magazines for all the children.

We are looking forward to seeing all the children back for another year of gardening in 2015.  I wonder how big our sunflowers will be when we get back to school?

October Market Day

Held Thursday 30th October

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who supported our garden club market day.  We had lots of supporters donating, selling and purchasing and we appreciate you all.

We made a profit of $143.50 which is a fantastic boost to our funds.  We will be using the money to purchase new gardening gloves for the children and also to go towards our proposed garden shed.

Lisa's spinach and feta muffins were very popular sellers at the market day and she has kindly shared the recipe with us.  Thanks Lisa.

Spinach and Feta Muffins

1. Wash and then cook/wilt ( zap in the microwave or cook briefly on the stove top) a large bunch of spinach, allow to cool before placing in the food processor to chop finely

2.To the chopped spinach add feta aprox 100 g ( I save 100g to add in larger chunks to the mixture before going in the tins)

3. Then add 1 egg, 3/4 cup of milk, 1/4 cup of olive oil give a quick wizz to combine

You can add sundried tomatoes, olives etc

4. In a large bowl add 2 cups of self raising flour, 1 tsp salt then add the wet to the dry and mix. I then add my larger chunks of feta 

5. Spoon the mixture into muffin trays that have been buttered or sprayed

6. Bake 220 deg C for 10-15 mins till golden on top and spring back when pressed

7. Makes approx 12

Wednesday 24 September 2014

Blog post by Justine

Today the garden club children were busy creating these amazing seed packets for the sunflower seeds that we will sell at our next market day.  Keep an eye out for them - they are filled with sunflower seeds harvested from last summers sunflowers.

Recipes from 3 September cooking session

SILVERBEET AND COCONUT SOUP

(From Stephanie Alexander’s ‘Kitchen Garden Cooking With Kids’)

Silverbeet (about 10 large leaves)

½ onion

1 clove garlic

1 medium potato

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon coriander

1x 2cm cinnamon stick

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon salt

4 cups water

½ cup coconut milk

-          Toast coriander seeds in dry pan until fragrant.  Place in mortar and add cumin and cinnamon.  Using the pestle grind the spices to a coarse powder.

-          Peel and finely chop onion and garlic.  Heat oil over medium heat in a large saucepan then add garlic, onion and spices.  Stir and cook until onion is softened.

-          Peel potato and chop into 1cm dice.  Add potato to softened onions.  Cover and cook for 2 minutes.

-          Separate silverbeet leaves from stems.  Place stems in compost bucket. Rinse silver beet leaves and spin dry in salad spinner. Shred silver beet leaves.

-          Add shredded silverbeet, salt and water to potato and onion mixture.  Cover and simmer until potatoes are tender.

-          Remove pot from the heat and using the stick blender carefully puree the mixture until you have a smooth, bright-green soup.

    -          Reheat soup to simmering point and then add the coconut milk. Do not boil or the coconut milk will curdle.  Season with more salt if needed and serve.

 

POTATO CAKES (makes approx. 16)

(From Stephanie Alexander’s ‘Kitchen Garden Cooking With Kids’)

8 medium potatoes

100g butter

½ onion

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons cornflour

Olive oil

-          Preheat oven to 120 C.

-          Peel and grate the onion.

-          Peel and grate the potatoes. (Grating is done most easily using the grater attachment on the food processor).

-          Tip the grated vegetables into the centre of a clean tea towel then squeeze the tea towel over the sink to remove the excess liquid.

-          Melt the butter then tip into a large bowl.  Add the drained grated vegetables.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add cornflour then mix all together.

-          Heat frypan over a medium heat and add a thin film of olive oil.  Make potato cakes by spooning a few tablespoons of mixture into the pan.  Each cake should be approx. 8cm in diameter.  Cook for 3 minutes then turn over and cook a further 3 minutes.  When the potato cakes are crisp and golden put into oven to keep warm.  Continue cooking in batches until all mixture is used.

 

 

CRUSHED POTATOES

Potatoes – scrubbed

Salt

Olive oil

1 tbsp fresh rosemary – finely chopped

               -        Turn on oven to 220 C.

-          Scrub the potatoes and place in a saucepan.  Cover potatoes with cold water and add a pinch of salt.

-          Bring potatoes to the boil and boil for 10 minutes.  Drain and leave to dry off and cool for 5 minutes.

-          Pour a tablespoon of olive oil into the bottom of a lined roasting tray.  Tip boiled potatoes into the roasting tray and crush roughly with a fork.  Drizzle over another tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and the chopped rosemary. Toss all together.

-          Bake potatoes for 20 minutes (or longer) until golden and crispy.

 

 

SPINACH AND FETA DIP

                                                       (From taste.com.au)

2 bunches English spinach, leaves picked, washed with water clinging to the leaves

200g (1 cup) fresh ricotta

200g creamy feta, crumbled

 2 spring onions finely chopped

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 garlic clove, crushed

Pinch of salt

-          Place the spinach in a medium saucepan. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and place over low heat. Cook, shaking the pan occasionally, for 1-2 minutes or until spinach is just wilted. Remove from heat. Transfer to a colander and set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly. Use your hands to squeeze out as much excess liquid as possible. Place the spinach in the bowl of a food processor.

-          Add the ricotta, feta, spring onions, lemon juice and garlic and process until almost smooth and well combined. Taste and season with salt. Transfer to a serving bowl.

 

 

 BEETROOT AND CARROT SALAD

350g/12oz carrots, peeled and trimmed

350g/12oz raw beetroot, peeled and trimmed

1 apple, cored

1 small bunch flat parsley, roughly chopped

-          Peel and trim the carrots and beetroot and core the apple, then coarsely grate all on a grater (wear rubber gloves if you don’t want pink hands!). Alternatively, use a food processor fitted with a grating plate. Place the grated vegetables and apple in a bowl.

-          Add the olive oil, vinegar and parsley, then toss well. Leave to marinate for at least 15mins before serving.