Planet Ark's National Tree Day is about getting outside and planting! Our school Environmental Team took part in the National Tree Planting Day and planted 45 Westringa native bushes and 45 Kangaroo Native Grasses. These plants were chosen to complement the plantings at the front of the school that were planted at last years National Tree Day. We were very lucky to have the support from local business O'Brien Real Estate, Mike Joy & Nicola Nakon who made the day possible by providing the plants. Certificates have been sent from Planet Ark & Dirt Girl of Dirt Girlworld, and we look forward very much to presenting the Environmental Team and O'Brien Real Estate with them.
This week the little green thumbs got a lesson in permaculture - land care, earth people & people care and a discussion was had about what works in our garden and what doesn't . We talked about movies and books that show how our planet is affected by waste and what happens if we do not care for our natural environment. 'Bee Movie' & 'Uno's Garden by Graham Base' Students are excited to watch and read these suggestions if you can make this happen for them.
It was decided that the potato bed needed to be moved to make the most of the suns energy and with not too much effort the once donated garden bed was moved to a sunnier spot. It was filled with shredded office paper and broken down cardboard boxes to help reduce our wasted but to also provide a good natural base for what will become the new potato bed. The Asian Hut has a frog habitat garden around the base of it but with all the little feet that stomp on the plants the habitat was not growing as fast and as protected as well as we had hoped. Recycling old tyres into a native garden wall will replace the current design by providing the hut with lots of little nooks and safe places for the frogs that live but also provide a safer place for those little feet. Some tyres we found in the garden and more will be collected from a car tyre factory to complete the wall. The outcome being not only for the frogs but to also to reduce landfill, recycle dirt from built up areas, create a beautiful structure and provide the students with hours of fun digging dirt and planting native plants. They have set up a native plant nursery where they will care for the plants until ready - native grasses were donated from a school neighbour. WE NEED YOUR HELP! Our little school kids at Bonbeach Primary School would LOVE and benefit immensely from a new Kitchen Classroom - The Good Guys are offering 700 good deeds during August! PLEASE nominate our school for a new Kitchen makeover so we can take the garden produce inside, cook, learn & grow.
We promise we will make you pizza, bake you cakes & share our Garden to Kitchen table with you every week XO SHARE SHARE SHARE........ yes it's a social media sharing frenzy, the more nominations we have the bigger the chance we have of making this happen, so please make sure you ask people to enter Bonbeach Primary School for a kitchen upgrade / renovation. https://www.facebook.com/thegoodguysAU?v=app_1155630311130313&app_data=entry_id%3D98010812%26referer_override%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.facebook.com Junior classes enjoyed making 'GROW YOUR OWN WINTER SOUP' on Tuesday. They harvested cauliflower, broccoli & leeks that they had planted in term 2. Chopping, mixing and colouring their soup bowls was take very seriously by them all and the final Soup was enjoyed by all, coming back for third helpings.
Middle class made scrambled eggs with cheese and spring onions, they had so much fun collecting their eggs from the coop and picking their produce. A few new tastes were experienced which was great to see. Hopefully you can read the soup recipe in the photos otherwise you can find it in their Green Diaries. This year we want to WIN it for FRUIT & VEGETABLES! Help our school achieve this $1000 grant by following the steps bellow to put fresh fruit & veggies in our kids hands every week! Last year we were successful in winning it for our chicken coop! thanks to the wider community for voting & sharing! We would love to do to again! Please VOTE & SHARE our entry so we can make this happen!
VOTING OPENS MONDAY 3RD AUGUST- to vote go to: http://www.leaderlocalgrants.com.au -You will need to register before you can vote -Select Current Ideas -Go to Mordialloc Chelsea Leader -Select “Bringing fresh fruit back to the classroom” -Vote with ALL of your 10 votes! SHARE the link with family and friends and get them voting! The more votes we have the better chance we have of winning again! To find our more about our Wellness Wednesday Program visit the page. Kids love Apple Slinkie's because rumour has it apples taste better when they've been put through the Apple Peeler Corer Slicer! Following on from Wellness Wednesday’s and the popularity of the slinky machines in every classroom, Green Thumbs have secured additional heavy duty slinky machines at a great price of $26, as opposed to the RRP $34.95 plus free delivery & 12 month limited warranty against manufacturer's defects and spare parts available. Keep an eye for order forms coming home this week!
If your family would like to purchase a slinky machine, forms will be coming home with school students this week or you can ask for one at the office. Orders can not be accepted after 21st August as the wholesale discount is available to us only once. Friday Amy and Jade attended a daily Workshop with The Victorian School Gardens at St. Louis de Montford in Aspendale hosted by Julie, the schools sustainability officer and Basil Natoli, one of the co-founders of the Stephanie Alexander kitchen Garden program. The school has an incredible sustainable set up that grows daily with cooking, growing, aquaponic systems, grey water systems and the list goes on. Lots of information was shared during the day and a positive fun vibe had everyone who attended not wanting to leave.
Some ideas that our school garden will incorporate very easily with kids help are lower compost bins & recycled tyres to build native planted retaining walls. Junior classes got a lesson in germination and planted seeds of beetroot and a variety of lettuces to put in the hot house. Beetroot seeds are quite large compared to lettuce seeds and the kids loved the variety and the need to be careful. They will now water and care for their seeds until they become big enough to plant.
Middle and seniors collected soil from various garden beds, with the samples being sent off to Maquarie University for testing. They also did their own soil in a jar experiment to see the different layers of what make up our garden soil and had a really good look at what was in it - poo was the most often found and 1 worm which delighted them all. |
A visual diary of the garden at Bonbeach Primary School built by Growing Green Thumbs & many many little hands
MAKE SURE YOU VISIT BPSGREENTHUMBS ON INSTAGRAM FOR DAILY PICTURES
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November 2017
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