12th September

At a full school assembly, some of the senior members of the Green Team presented an update on the progress they had been making in the Edible Gardens and some of the activities they had been involved 

in.

18th September

This week there was several projects on the go!

During the early stages of the Tui School Garden Challenge, Lauren researched and designed a system of collecting the rainwater to use on the gardens.  

• We sourced a barrel and have spoken with the caretaker and plumber to see how we can connect it into the downpipe.  It is going to be located next to the edible gardens so it is convenient.  The caretaker has attached a tap near the base of the barrel to release the water from. 
• Mr Huggie the Scarecrow has been finished and given a home.
• The seed potatoes that have been sprouting have now been planted in the potato patch (where Mr Huggie now resides)

The Rainwater Collector

Preparing the barrel for painting.  We want it to be bright and colourful

My Huggie has been given his own classroom!

Furrows are made and the seed potatoes planted

25th September

The beans we planted in our newspaper seedling containers are now ready to be planted out in the garden.  We found a spare piece of fencing to use as a bean frame.









During the holidays......... 

Look at how much the plants have grown.  It's going to be time to start harvesting soon!

16 October

This is the first week back after the holidays and the enthusiasm to get back in the gardens is obvious. 

We gave the gardens a good dose of seaweed tea, weeded, started painting the rainwater collection barrel. and did some emergency remedial work on Mr Huggie (he had gone a bit floppy).

Fixing Mr Huggie

Tending to the gardens after the holidays

The rainwater collection barrel is now decorated and ready to be installed into the downpipe.  Note the tap on the bottom.  This is so we can easily tap into our grey water supply!

22 October
The TUI Garden Challenge is nearing to a close.  It has been such a fantastic competition to be involved in.
It has definitely given the children, teachers and whanau involved, the focus and dedication to
re-develop our edible gardens, and to continue to promote, maintain and improve on all the wonderful practices that are in already in place at school.

Emptying the classroom compost into the worm farm. 

As we look back over the period of this competition, we are proud of what we have achieved.  Not only do we have beautiful flourishing gardens ready for harvesting, we have also learnt so much about sustainability and using what we have.  With the exception of a few items for the rain water collecting barrel, and a few key TUI products, everything we have used has been donated or recycled.

Our potato patch

This is a video of one of the Green Team Members showing off our gardens. (It was lunch time, so unfortunately it was a bit noisy!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVIoCDqyfl8
Next week we have our school fair.  We have decided to have a `Garden Gang Stall' selling worm wee, seaweed tea, and seedlings potted up in our newspaper pots.  Proceeds will go towards purchasing more resources for our Gardening Team.

Next week we have our school fair.  We have decided to have a `Garden Gang Stall' selling worm wee, seaweed tea, and seedlings potted up in our newspaper pots.  Proceeds will go towards purchasing more resources for our Gardening Team.

Thank you TUI & Mitre10 for all the inspiration, the wonderful starter pack, and the regular updates & newsletters.

The Khandallah Garden Gang!