Hello from Mrs Masters and ways to use less water

Hello everyone,

 

We have been thinking a lot about all of you and what you are growing, harvesting,cooking, sharing and observing. We are looking forward to seeing you soon and hearing all your stories.

I have had lots of feijoas in my garden and I'm wondering what you are growing and harvesting.

The broad beans that were sown in the last week of school are ready to plant into the school gardens and I will be starting some more seeds this week.

Some seeds that you can sow in the garden at the moment are; carrot, radish, spinach, some types of lettuce and other salad greens, coriander, parsley, kale, silverbeet, peas, broccoli, cabbage, cavolo nero and turnips. These will all keep growing during the shorter cooler days of winter. There will also be seedlings at your local garden centres and some might even be germinating all by themselves in your garden. You can grow many of these in pots in sunny places around your home if you don't have a vegetable garden.

Some of you are learning  about the Water Cycle. We need this cycle for the water we drink and use every day. You may have heard that the dams in the Waitakere and Hunua Ranges are less than half full as Auckland has had a drought for the last few months. Click this link to see How full are the Auckland dams? The water in your taps comes from rain that fills these dams.We don't always think about this,we just turn on the tap and expect water to pour out. There is a water shortage and the people who work to make sure we have clean drinking water want everyone to save water by not wasting it.

Hooray for the rain we have had, but we will need a lot more before the dams are full and being careful about using water helps the environment and saves money too. 

How can we use less?

 

Turn off the tap when you are brushing your teeth.  

 Put a bowl in the kitchen sink when preparing vegetables and rinsing dishes. ( just like we were doing in the kitchen classroom) then put this water around your plants. 

Look up water saving tips from Watercare and other experts. 

Another tip is to have a bucket in the shower to catch the water while you are getting the temperature just right. This water is clean and great for recycling. 

Once the ground is really wet from rain or your recycling then  mulch your soil to keep the soil warm and covered during the winter. 

Leave a container out that can be your own rainwater gauge. Sometimes it looks as if there has been a lot of rain but it is just enough to wet the concrete or footpath but not enough to sink down and give plant roots a big drink. 

Here is the container I left out last night now full of beautiful fresh rainwater.

I know there are lots of happy plants and gardeners in Meadowbank today.

Ka kite - See you soon.

Greens and Cheese Fritters - cooking challenge

Here is a great recipe for Greens and Cheese Fritters that you might like to try at home.
It is a very versatile recipe as you can use any sort of "greens" that you have in your fridge, garden or even freezer - silverbeet, spinach, kale, sorrel, peas, mint, parsley, basil, oregano, chives...

Here is a Cheese and Greens Fritters cooking demo  that Becks Kelleher our GTT Programme Coordinator put together with her children to show how to make these.

Cooking Challenge

You might like to produce your own cooking demo and post it on your class Seesaw.

Nadia Lim has produced a cooking show that you could get some tips from called Nadia's Comfort Kitchen . In fact her easy tomato sauce recipe in this episode would go very well with the Greens and Cheese Fritters!

Jamie Oliver is another chef who is a fabulous cooking presenter. His latest cooking show is great. Check it out Keep Cooking and Carry On

Our amazing GTT Ambassador Al Brown is also an inspiring cooking presenter that you could get some ideas from Al Browns Roadside Fritters