Cultivation, curiosity and the kitchen

Kara Timion

Communications Advisor

If we want our children to enjoy a life of good food, we should plant the seeds at a young age. When we spark their interest in growing and preparing their own food, we set them up for a healthier, more sustainable future – one in which they are self-sufficient, selfreliant and self-empowered.

These are the reasons why Australia’s most influential food guru, restaurateur and best-selling food writer Stephanie Alexander, created the Kitchen Garden program and introduced it into schools. Since Carey’s Junior School Kew adopted the program in 2010, Kitchen Garden classes have become a favourite part of the curriculum for our Year 3 students at Kew.

Kitchen Garden Program Co-ordinator, Emily Seneviratne, remembers vividly when a student tried a tomato for the first time. ‘She said, “I think I’ll just try it”, and put it in her mouth and it exploded. She got a big fright because it was so juicy! She announced, “I think I actually like it”, and then devoured another one. It was such a beautiful moment.’

Stephanie’s philosophy is that students form positive food habits when they actively engage in each step, from garden to table: planting and tending to a garden, harvesting the produce and preparing delicious meals in the kitchen to share with their peers. Not only do they learn to appreciate sustainable living practices in an urban environment, they also become more adventurous about trying different foods (like tomatoes!).

But as much as it may seem to be the focus, this program is far from being only about the food. Kitchen Garden classes encompass a broad range of topics and complement many different aspects of the students’ learning.

For example, students draw upon their maths skills when they measure out ingredients in the kitchen. Science is the focus when they observe garden life cycles and run tests on the soil. While tending to the Indigenous part of the garden, they discuss the history and practices of First Nations people. Across these and many other topics, students are challenged to think critically, to problem-solve and to collaborate with their classmates.

‘Not only do they learn to appreciate sustainable living practices in an urban environment, they also become more adventurous about trying different foods.’

Last year, Carey’s Kitchen Garden program celebrated an exciting milestone in our Junior School Kew – its 10-year anniversary! Over those years, our program has developed significantly: we built a brand-new kitchen, providing our students with access to state-of-the-art cooking facilities; we’ve enhanced the methods we use to compost; and we recently landscaped the garden to install wicking beds made from recycled chip packets. Because of these beds, the plants now receive the exact amount of water they need without wasting any. This has resulted in the garden producing an abundance of healthy and nutritious plants on a scale we’ve never seen before!

But to really understand how far our program has come, we need to go back to where it all started.

‘We made a garden salad that we had to share, and we ended up with about three leaves each,’ recalls 2019 Year 12 student Emmy. She was part of the first group to participate in the Kitchen Garden program, when she was in Year 3.

Her peer Abigail adds, ‘We planted a lot, but we didn’t cook much because we had to wait for it to grow. It’s just amazing that the garden is still going.’

At the end of 2019, Emmy and Abigail, along with other original Kitchen Garden participants, were invited back to the Junior School and treated to a delicious three-course meal cooked by our Year 3 students – pictured below. The Year 12s feasted on lasagne, salad and waffles or cake for dessert and were blown away by the skills and talent of the younger students. It was a wonderful and rewarding experience for both year levels.

So what exactly does the future of our program hold? Head of Junior School Kew, Libby Russell, says we should expect a new dining room to encourage connectedness among students. And as far as the garden goes, getting a mulcher is next on her list. ‘A lot of thought and preparation goes into this program to make the experience richer for the children,’ she explains. ‘It’s all part of a bigger vision.’

Keeping sight of that bigger vision is what makes programs like Kitchen Garden at Carey so fruitful – equipping our students with creativity, courage, and confidence that they can carry with them throughout their lives.