Kitchen Garden Program

Trunkey Public School is extremely fortunate to be a part of the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program. The philosophy of the Garden Program, as described on the Kitchen Garden Program website:

The fundamental philosophy that underpins the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program is that by setting good examples and engaging children's curiosity, as well as their energy and their taste buds, we can provide positive and memorable food experiences that will form the basis of positive lifelong eating habits.

Visit the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program site to learn more about our philosophy.

The Garden Program

The Harvest Table

The Harvest Table

The Harvest Table is at the centre of the Kitchen Garden Program.

All the fresh produce harvested from the school garden is placed on the Harvest Table ready for use in the delicious dishes the students create once a fortnight in the Kitchen Program.

Students working in the garden

Students work together to keep the garden growing.

Tending the garden is a central part of the Kitchen Garden Program. From this, students learn about:

teamwork
soil conditions/mulching
the light and water the different plants require
seasonal planting
companion panting
natural pesticides
worm farming
weeding
harvesting.

Harvesting the vegetables

Harvesting our school grown vegetables is one of the most exciting parts of the Kitchen Garden Program.

Our Harvest Table is where we display the fresh produce grown by the students in our school's Kitchen Garden.

Some of the vegetables we have grown in the past include:

snow peas
squash
tomatoes
capsicum
pumpkin
parsley
lemons
eggplant
leafy greens
beetroot.

background

light

Trunkey Public School students standing in the garden with a large basket of tomatoes and a large basket of zucchinis

A basket FULL of delicious cherry tomatoes!

Trunkey Public School students with a basket of fresh apples standing beside our fruit trees

Ruby-red Fuji apples, freshly picked from one of our potted fruit trees in the school's miniature orchard.

3 Trunkey Public School students standing in the garden with a basket of fresh beetroot.

Fresh beetroot, harvested for inclusion in a beetroot and fetta dip

Bok choy growing contentedly in the school's Kitchen Garden

The harvest table. Table with baskets of fresh vegetables placed on top

A display of our fabulous school-grown organic produce on the Harvest Table.

Our 6 garden beds with herb gardens. A tree growing in the centre and grapes growing over an archway

Our school vegetable garden consists of six raised garden beds that utilise companion planting and crop rotation throughout the year, ensuring a high yield each season.

Two well-fed and spoilt hens spend most of their days scratching and rummaging through the compost heaps in the Hen Run and are put away at home time in their purposely-built 'Hen Haven' to spend each night safe and secure. Their high egg production are much appreciated by the students on Cooking Days.

A lizard sunbathing on the edge of our garden.

Resident water dragons, skinks and geckos frequent our vegetable gardens enjoying the sunshine and the special attention given to them by our students.

background

off white

The Kitchen Program

Our kitchen specialist: Susanne Haussener

Mrs Haussener, our Kitchen Specialist, sources the very best recipes to utilise the fresh produce we have growing in our school garden each fortnight. Each recipe is selected according to the level of difficulty and specific cooking techniques involved, suitable to the infants and primary cooking groups accessing this program once a fortnight.

Miss Bermingham and Mrs Brown assist Mrs Haussener with the supervision of the small groups, instructing the students and helping them interpret and follow the recipes.

This wonderful program is highly successful at our school.

Students cooking in the kitchen

Not only do the students learn how to cook delicious dishes from lovely fresh produce, they are also learning many fundamental literacy and numeracy and vital life skills.

Some of the skills we focus on in the Kitchen Garden program are: