Term 2 Week 5 Kitchen Garden

Week 5 saw all classes continuing with experiments as well as preparing garden beds for planting. The F/1 class eagerly watched their bean seeds grow and learned about the importance of leaves. The 1/2 class observed what plants needed to grow successfully and were interested to see how beans kept in a cupboard would twist and grow in an attempt to reach the light. They also harvested the seeds from the tomato bushes. The 3/4s learnt about germination as the next part of their study on the life cycle of plants. The 5/6 class added their pH data to a map of the school garden and started to investigate the ideal conditions for a variety of winter vegetables. We started planting the lettuce seeds they had collected from the garden. We have enough seeds to make fortnightly plantings.

Week 4 we had received a generous donation of apples and so all classes made Apple roses, the 5/6 class slicing the apples for the younger students.

APPLE ROSES

Ingredients:

2 large apples

cup apricot jam

1 square sheet puff pastry

ground cinnamon and sugar (optional)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 180°C.

Wash apples and cut in half

very thinly slice into half moons.

Place a plate and sprinkle over a little water and microwave for 1-2 minutes to soften the apples a little.

Leave to cool (speed this up by placing them in the fridge or freezer.

Melt jam with a teaspoon of water in the microwave for 30-60 seconds. Leave to cool slightly.

Cut puff pastry in half into two rectangles, then roll out each piece with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface until it is about half as thick (it’s important the pastry is nice and thin, so it cooks right through).

Cut each piece into three long strips so you will now have six strips of pastry in total.

Each strip should be about 4-5cm in width and 35-40cm in length.

Brush one pastry strip with cooled jam, then arrange cooled apple slices along the strip, slightly overlapping each other. Sprinkle with a little cinnamon if desired.

Carefully and loosely roll up the pastry and apple into a rosette.

Place in a muffin tin and repeat with remaining pastry, jam and apples.

Bake for 40-45 minutes until pastry is golden and cooked through.

Serve warm with custard, cream or ice cream (or all three)