Planting day with the whole school

200 seedlings and a range of seeds went into 10 garden beds today:

Newsletter Term 1 Week 10

Working bee:
A big thank you to all of the keen and hardworking parents and children who came to the working bee on the 22nd March. The gardens are now ready for replanting and growing. We also have the sink for the outdoor classroom installed with plumbing to come.

Cooking:
5/6S had two very impromptu cooking sessions last week inspired by the observed growth of our 56cm zucchini. Zucchini chips on the barbie and zucchini soup all cooked in the outdoor classroom.

Planting:
Replanting of the garden will take place this Friday and will involve all classes from Kindi to Yr 6. If you are available to help from 11:30 on Friday 4th please contact Rhonda French.

Bunnings BBQ
Our next Bunnings BBQ is on the 17th May. This is a great way for the Eco garden to raise finds for planting and building in the gardens. It's also a great way to spend an hour! If you are available and would be interested in helping out on this date please contact
Colleen Dancer.

Next Meeting:
The next meeting will be the first day back of term 29th April at 7pm in Miss Scanlon's room. Please come along and join the fun!

Newsletter Term 1 Week 8

Bunnings BBQ
 A huge thank you to all those who helped out at the Bunnings BBQ. Although the foot traffic was down this time we still made $685 profit for the day. Great effort.

Cooking
Our first cooking for the year was with 4S, who had a fantastic time cooking some chocolate zucchini muffins. Have you seen the giant zucchini in the garden?

Lambs
After returning Lamington to the farm of her birth at the end of last year, we witnessed a beautiful reunion between her and her mother. It was lovely to watch. The farmer has said that he is happy to give us some more lambs when they are born soon… watch this space in the next few months. Meanwhile it is great so see some grass recovering ready for our next lambs.

Working Bee for the Eco Food Garden
Come along with the whole family THIS Saturday, 22 March from 1 – 4pm. Afternoon tea provided. We will be getting the garden beds ready for planting, pruning, and weeding. Bring along your gloves, hats, pruning shears, rake, spades, and buckets for a great afternoon around the garden, with other great families.

Feel like getting involved, come along to our next Eco Food Garden meeting on Tuesday 25 March at 7pm, in Miss Scanlon's room. For further enquiries contact Rhonda.

For our new families, Mr Green the Gecko is the mascot for the school garden, hence the gecko shaped garden. He gives little gardening tips throughout the year.

Zucchini Choc Muffins with 4S

Our first cooking class for 2014. The zucchinis year 4 planted last year were getting really big and needed harvesting. They made great muffins enjoyed by everybody.

Where is the zucchini?

 

zucchini-licious!

Mini Zucchini Choc Muffins Recipe

½ cup flour ½ cup wholemeal flour 2 teaspoons baking powder ¾ cup sugar ¼ cup cocoa powder ¼ teaspoon salt	Mix all the dry ingredients together
120g butter melted 1 egg 3 tablespoons greek yoghurt	Mix all the wet ingredients together
	Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix only until just combined – don’t overmix.
23g mini choc chips 1 cup grated zucchini	Mix in the chocolate and the zucchini
	Fill mini muffin forms ¾ full. Bake at 190°C for 15 to 17 minutes
Icing sugar	Dust the muffins with icing sugar.

Newsletter Term 1 Week 6

Another busy year of gardening has begun. Eco garden committee had our first meeting on the 18th February which was our AGM. A decision was passed to move our meeting to the 4th Tuesday of the month this year due to meeting clashes. The next meeting will be Tuesday 25th March in Miss Scanlon's classroom.

Bunnings BBQ
 Each year we have two Bunnings BBQ ‘s as a fundraiser for the gardens and animals. Our first Bunnings date is Sunday 9th of March. If you have a spare hour or two and would like to cook a sausage please contact Colleeen. Otherwise drop by Thornleigh Bunnings on Sunday. Getting Involved It's never too late to be a part of the Eco Garden team. If you are interested in helping with planting, cooking, or helping around the school gardens please contact Rhonda.

Newsletter: Term 1 Week 2

Welcome Back for 2014!

Thanks
A great big thankyou to families that baby sat our chooks during the holidays or came and watered the gardens during the hot summer days! The “chooky” girls are back and loving all of the child attention again. The gardens are struggling in our summer heat but will soon be replanted ready for more cooking!

Rosters
Are you interested in minding the school chooks for a weekend? It simply requires collecting the keys and weekend food on Friday afternoon and dropping by to feed, change their water and say hello on Saturday and Sunday of the weekend. You would be rostered on for approximately one weekend per term. If this sounds like a job for you please contact Ms Scanlan and include your contact details including email address, children names and any specific availability requests.

Meeting
Eco Garden Meetings are held each month on the third Tuesday of the month at 7pm in Miss Scanlon’s classroom, during term times. Our next meeting is on the 18th February. New members are always welcome. The first meeting of the year will look at replanting the gardens and plans for the year.

Being involved
The Eco Garden is a large part of the school at Hornsby Heights PS and involves many facets and people. There is gardening, animal minding, cooking, cake stalls and BBQs, building of infrastructure and lesson support. If you feel this is something you may be interested in or would like to find out more please come along to a meeting or email Rhonda French. Many hands make light work.

Newsletter: Term 4, Week 4

Outdoor classroom: During November our outdoor classroom will be assembled. We have also been very fortunate to purchase a kitchen for the classroom.

Mr Green Says: Have you ever considered a worm farm? Worm compost provide nutrients for your plants and will help the soil hold moisture.