10 Questions With Stephanie Alexander – Kitchen Garden Week At Rouse Hill
When we bought our home nearly 5 years ago there were some gorgeous navel orange, mandarin and calamansi trees in our backyard. Over the next few years, we planted an Australian lime tree, some meyer lemon trees, a mango tree, a papaya tree, an Indian guava tree, a fig tree, a mulberry bush, passionfruit and boysenberry vines. We now have two vegetable beds where our kids take great pleasure in growing broccoli, carrots, strawberries, tomatoes, eggplant, snow peas and lettuce. We have two herb beds with enough rosemary, thyme, coriander and chilies to season an army and unusual seasonal herbs like fruit salad sage, brahmi the memory herb, laksa leaves and chocolate mint. As a parent, there is no greater joy than seeing your three year old potter around, pull out a carrot from the dirt, brush the dirt off and eat it. Or when your seven year old makes sure his after school snack is healthy by plucking off a bowl full of snow peas and munching on them. Our garden is our family haven, where we all spend a lot of time together digging, sowing, mulching, watering and harvesting.
So when I was invited by DEC PR to attend the inaugural Kitchen Garden Week unveiled by food writer and restaurateur Stephanie Alexander in collaboration with the GPT Group at their Rouse Hill Community Centre, I was thrilled. The Kitchen Garden Week also saw the unveiling of the fabulous Rouse Hill Community Centre Kitchen Garden. The event was made crunchier by students of Hebersham Public School who were at the community garden harvesting, cooking and sharing a delightful spring meal with Stephanie herself.
The event followed Stephanie’s four part philosophy – Growing, Harvesting, Cooking & Sharing! After some inspiring words by Stephanie and GPT’s Vanessa Orth, we watched the dame of the Kitchen Garden Foundation get her hands dirty in the beautiful vegetable beds in different stages of growth. She chatted with the kids, advised them on the produce at hand, shared her vast knowledge of ingredients and helped put together fresh food platters. The gorgeous spring platters were shared by all at a beautiful table amidst plenty of chatter and laughter.
Later, the children of Hebersham Public let out squeals of joy when they were given some brown paper wrapped presents to unravel. They had just scored some pasta machines and it was refreshing to see the glee on their sweet faces on receiving a kitchen gadget. I also had a chance to chat with fellow blogger Jen while sipping on some amazing fresh juice and a salad so colourful, it would put the rainbow to shame.
Stephanie Alexander is the pioneer of the "grow your own" movement in Australia. In 2001 Stephanie joined forces with an inner city school community in Melbourne and stood at the helm of the Kitchen Garden Foundation at Collingwood College. 10 years later that little movement has become a revolution with almost 250 schools and 20,000 children involved in the program each year by 2012. The program revolves around schools building their own kitchen gardens and growing fresh produce which is then integrated in their curriculum quite literally when they learn to harvest and prepare it from qualified teachers.
It is no secret that little children have a very strong sense of independence and love emulating adults. Besides being a good role model for our little kids, one of the best things we can do for them is get them truly involved. A child who has helped cook a meal is more likely to try it rather than wrinkle up their little noses and walk away. Stephanie’s Kitchen Garden Foundation hits the spot with that very basic principle. Get the kids to grow their own produce and watch them magically get involved in the fresh and healthy eating process.
Stephanie believes that early intervention to be a key in the fight against obesity and the promotion of good and healthy eating habits. I think it is brilliant! With seven beautiful kitchen gardens at GPT centres, there are more planned in the future. Both the foundation and GPT strive to bring more awareness to the public and rally the community together to get more hands on and develop a sense of pride in the food they bring home and put on the table.
When the event wrapped up, I had the pleasure of chatting with Stephanie Alexander briefly and she was game enough to answer a few fun questions for me and my readers. So without further ado, I present
10 Questions With Stephanie Alexander
Me – What is the most challenging produce you have ever grown?
SA – Cauliflower
Me – 5 things one will always find in your shopping trolley?
SA – washing powder, toilet paper, dishwashing soap, yogurt, milk.
Me – Most unusual source of inspiration for your cooking?
SA – A dreadful meal.
Me – Something that sneaks into your shopping trolley every now and then?
SA – Chocolate (70%)
Me – If you were a fruit or vegetable, what would you be?
SA – A Spring Pea
Me – What was your motivation behind starting the Kitchen Garden Foundation?
SA – No one seemed to be doing anything and it was high time someone did. The kids needed that guidance.
Me – Broccoli is the new potato. What is the new broccoli?
SA – Any slimy vegetable.
Me – Your absolute most favourite vegetable to eat?
SA – Newly dug potatoes and leaf spinach.
Me – Growing up, was there a vegetable that made you wrinkle your nose and come up with excuses to not eat it?
SA – Brussels Sprouts.
Me – One little Kitchen Or Garden wisdom for parents and kids?
SA – Get Started!
Very wise words indeed! I cannot thank Stephanie Alexander & the team at Dec PR for this wonderful opportunity. It has inspired me even more to imbibe that sense of fresh and healthy and pass on the dirt into tiny little hands, quite literally. Because it is they, who will inherit this earth!
School Kitchen Garden Funding
There are numerous funding opportunities for your school at the state and national levels.The Australian Government committed $12.8 million to fund the rollout of the Kitchen Garden Program and build kitchen and garden infrastructure in up to 190 primary schools across Australia. Infrastructure grants of up to $66,000 (GST inclusive) per school were allocated in grant rounds over a four-year period from 2008 to 2012. Applications for the fourth round of funding closed in June 2011. For more information on how you could apply for your school, hop onto the Kitchen Garden Foundation Website. If you would like to get involved in other ways, take your kids to visit the Kitchen Gardens, enrol in the Subscription Program or check out their Workshop And Training section. This is food education at the grass root level. And it is designed to inspire!
In Parting
Don’t forget to check out my son’s school blog. They are doing some great work with flourishing vegetable beds for all classes, compost bins, chook house with 5 hens and loads of fresh eggs, two beautiful sheep coming early next year and a gaggle of enthusiastic and excited children who grow, harvest and dutifully manage their composting assignments.
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By Blogsdna
What a fantastic event and a great opportunity for kids to get involved. How fabulous to have all those fruits and berries growing in your own garden. GG
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Your photos are gorgeous as usual! Thank you, for mentioning the HHPS eco garden
Your photos are inspiring Sneh – and the lighting is fabulous! What a great day you would have had with Stephanie Alexander and the kids! xx
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What lovely photos from such a special event! How lucky you are to have a fruit and vegetable garden. I dream of moving back to Australia one day to a big, open house with a large garden. But for now, I make do with my two small balconies. I recently bought the Kitchen Garden Companion and am trying to find ways to adapt it to growing fruit and veges in containers. So far, I’ve only managed to establish a little herb garden and I absolutely love it
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