Eat up your Greens

‘Eat Up Your Greens’
Sow it, grow it and taste it …
Once upon a time there was a lesson in taste education in the city of Adelaide. Primary school children visited Carrick Hill and worked alongside gardeners sowing and growing vegetables.

Come harvest time there were new flavours discovered and lots of fun was had in the making and cooking of produce.

Now the children know about fresh seasonal produce, understand the importance of healthy eating and, they have absolutely no trouble eating up their greens.

Visit Mr. McGregor’s garden at Carrick Hill to view the work in progress and admire the scarecrows…….you might just spy Peter rabbit.

Aims
This programme will enable students to be involved with a group project from beginning to end thus developing their collaborative skills. In the process they will broaden their awareness of fresh seasonal produce, where it comes from and how to prepare it for eating.

Themes such as gardening/ horticulture, hygiene, safety, nutrition, cooking and sharing are integral to the experience.

This fun activity will also expand student’s knowledge and appreciation of healthy eating and enable the children to discover new flavours. Taste education at its best.
Project partners:
Carrick Hill Trust Adelaide Hills Slow Food Convivium
Supported by: Children’s Food Education Foundation.
Tasting Australia 2007 (associated event)


Eat up your greens commenced this term when Adelaide Hills Slow Food members went along to Crafers Primary and got the class 2,4/5 classes planting a range of seeds including radish ,various lettuce, peas, board beans, spinach & rainbow chard. The children also have some advanced seedlings to look after.
In Week 4 of the term the children visited Carrick Hill to plant out the seedlings & learn a little about Carrick Hill & Mr. McGregor’s garden.

They then returned this week to harvest some vegetables & participate in a vegetable taste education programme. They got to taste:

• Sensational salad after seeing the progress in the garden & collecting some salad greens & herbs they tasted a range of greens.
• Eat a rainbow. They prepared a cream cheese dip by adding herbs. Then tasted it with a mix of fresh vegetables.


• Mr McGregors's Favourite Soup. After tasting the soup they had to guess the ingredients .

During the term they can visit the garden with their families.

Next week Heathfield Primary will start planting their seeds.

EAT UP YOUR GREENS is a joint programme to promote the experience from garden to plate. This programe uses public gardens & staff (Carrick Hill) & volunteers from Carrick Hill & Adelaide Hills Slow Food. At this stage we have funded these ourselves & its up to the schools to get the children to Carrick Hill. It is planned this program will continue with one school per term participating. Heathfield Primary School will commence in 3rd term. Eat up your greens is available to any primary school in Adelaide or the Hills