Winter
WINTER
Book 4 of 8
Growing through the seasons, we learn about plant families!
Now in the middle of the year the children have made a strong connection to their learning and the learning outcomes. Understanding that food grows in different seasons, it is time to highlight all the seasons of the year and that some plants like the cold weather and others warm weather, while some grow fast and others grow slow (like in the story of the Hare and the Tortoise)!
Gaye the Garden Girl introduces plant families and the life cycle of two plants in the Allium family, onion and garlic, illustrating how long they take to grow! We also take the opportunity to identify our family names.
Celebrate at the end of the year with something everyone loves…garlic bread!
WINTER/SPRING
Book 5 of 8
Learning about the life cycle of the potato plant and looking for the life living in our soil
It is time to check on the compost and the wonderful work of the worms and make sure we have healthy soil for planting potatoes.
We learn how to look after potato plants as they grow to ensure we have healthy potatoes to eat. Gaye the Garden Girl illustrates the life cycle of the potato plant while introducing the months of the year. She went on a treasure hunt digging in the dirt and found worms and slaters helping to make the soil healthy. We have to wait until the end of the year to go on our own treasure hunt for the potatoes we grow.
So many ways to eat the potatoes and celebrate at the end of year! Roast potatoes with rosemary, gnocchi, zucchini and potato slice, chips and more!
WINTER
Book 6 of 8
Learning how to build soil and the importance of living things in soil!
It is now time to introduce the importance of composting, worms and the many living things in soil. We need to look after our soil and these many living things, after all, they help to keep our soil healthy so we can grow healthy plants to feed ourselves.
Gary the Garden Guy knows about soil and shows us how to get it “just right” (just like porridge in Goldilocks and the Three Bears). He helps us learn about how to build soil in our garden by adding layers of organic matter, e.g. compost and manure. It is a little like how nature builds layers on the forest floor. Building soil layer by layer is also similar to making a lasagna!
Practice by making a lasagna with produce from the garden!
The gallery below showcases some images from our Food Garden Program
