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Harvesting and preparing our potatoes and broccoli
Many of the tamariki have been enjoying picking and eating our beans from our garden that we have grown together here at Beststart Opihi. Some of the tamariki have also enjoyed some strawberries lately too. On the 25th of November after many days of checking the flowers on our potato plants and watching our first broccoli grow bigger and bigger each day, we decided it was time to harvest them. A group of tamariki helped pick the broccoli from the garden and helped find the potatoes in the soil as we dug them up. There was great excitement as they spotted another one and another one and another on hiding in the soil. “What should we do with our potatoes?” I asked the tamariki, “can we make potato chips with them like last time?” asked one of the tamariki “Yes potato chips, they were yum” another tamaiti announced. The tamariki who were involved in our growing, harvesting, preparing and cooking of our potatoes last year then explained to the other tamariki what “potato chips” were. “Lets cut them up and cook them in the oven” I suggested as some of the tamariki ran inside. We reminded each other how it’s important to wash our hands before preparing food and off they went into the bathroom while I prepared the items needed. The tamariki took it in turns in a small group to use table knives and chopping boards to cut up the potatoes and broccoli. This took a lot of perseverance, concentration and fine and gross motor skills to use our strength to cut through the potatoes. The tamariki also used their problem solving skills to experiment and explore different ways to cut the potatoes and broccoli as they discussed what worked for them and gave each other suggestions and ideas. It was amazing to see how persistent the tamariki were as they spent long periods of time focused on cutting through the potatoes and broccoli as they worked with and alongside each other. The tamariki were very excited as the potatoes went off into the oven as the broccoli boiled in the pot cooking for our afternoon tea.