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Planting a new lemon tree!
Last week we picked our free tree that we were lucky enough to be given from BestStart's 1000 trees initiative to bring more nature into our centres. This initiative really aligns with our current programme planning focus on well-being and sustainability. We decided to choose a lemon tree for our centre to add to our other fruit trees, which the children and whanau really enjoy during their fruiting months. Karina, our centre manager, collected the tree from Bunnings and delivered it to the centre. The tamariki were really excited to be a part of the planting of our new tree. First, we chose a nice sunny spot in our garden for the lemon tree and the children helped pull out all the dead tomato plants from the summer. We then dug a big hole for the lemon tree. It was really heavy so Karina lifted the tree into the hole. We then put the soil back around the tree and talked about what we needed to do to take care of it. We have done a lot of gardening over the summer and the children were able to draw in their previous knowledge of how to care for plants. "We need to water it" the children said. So we got the watering cans and the children took turns at watering the lemon tree.
During this gardening experience, Karina role-modeled how to care for our natural environment and the tamariki were encouraged to be involved in growing food by helping plant our fruit tree. Karina also guided and supported the children with their questions on what they wanted to discover more about. For example, they wondered why Karina loosened the roots before putting the tree in the hole and this started a discussion around tree roots; what they are and how to keep them healthy. The children are excited to care for the lemon tree and watch it grow and produce lemons for us!