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Pop it Papamoa!
Approximately three years ago the children from ABC Papamoa went on an excursion to a farm where they collected some “popcorn” kernels and grew a crop back here at the centre. As the summers continue to come, so does our supply of popcorn. We start off with planting our kernels from the previous year in our back garden and take great pride in watering and monitoring the growth of our corn.
This week has been all go for our tamariki who have been working so hard in the garden. They collected the corn, pulled out the plants and dug the scraps of the plants back into the soil as compost. Our children love getting stuck in and are not afraid of messy mahi. We found out that praying mantis’s love living in our mini corn field and our children found it absolutely thrilling catching them and feeding them to our beloved frog “Ribbet”.
On Wednesday we began processing the popcorn, peeling all the kernels off our cobs and collecting them into containers to dry out. When Friday rolled round, we cooked our produce and reaped the rewards, popcorn for everyone!
This experience has been a massive on-going learning opportunity for all of us. We have been discovering different ways to be sustainable here at ABC Papamoa and are forever developing new ideas of how to be kaitiaki for the land. The children here at ABC Papamoa are proud of their work which supports a sense of whanaungatanga, empowerment and contribution for all.