Spring's well on the way!

Last week, a few of the Green Team children 

(and members of Room 12) were excited 

to harvest from the vegetable gardens - 

and to discover that the daffodils are out 

in the new decorative garden!

Feeding old leaves to the worms

Worms LOVE their vegetables! 

Our school has some amazing artists

Two of our senior students, Delphi Houlding and Lucy Ellis, 

have been busy designing and painting a mural for our school. 

They wanted to emphasise the natural features 
of the Greenhithe area,

to convey success and enjoyment of learning, and to show our school values. 

(Do you know what the letters P-R-I-D-E stand for? 
Every class has a poster showing our school values.)

The girls set up an 'art studio' in Mrs Knowles' and Mrs Greer's office and worked at their creation over several weeks.

Many thanks to Barrie, Mrs Knowles and Mrs Houlding 

for your help with advice and materials.

Great job, girls! 

Thank you for contributing to our school.

Adding some colour and texture to the tree before the letters go on.

A very cheeky-looking pukeko

The finished product

Harvesting from our school vegetable garden

Our school vegetable garden is planted 

with regular picking in mind. 

We try to use some plants that you can visit often, 

picking off a few leaves each time, 

e.g. cabbage, silverbeet, chives, thyme, parsley, and rosemary. 

We also have plants that you pull out completely to harvest, 

e.g. beetroot and carrots.

Cabbage

Parsley

Calendula - self-sown - repels insects.

Rosemary

Thyme

Erina, Cassia and Leah with a mini cauliflower, parsley, and some leaves for Erina and Cassia's rabbbits.

New murals at our school - a gift from 2014's Year 6 artists

Barrie has installed the new murals.

Next time you walk between 

the swimming pool and the hall entrance, 

look out for them!

They were created in 2014

by some very talented artists from Year 6.

We hope they come back to visit our school 

and see their work on display!

Can you find the ruru (morepork), the kereru (wood pigeon) and the piwakawaka (fantails)?

The letters are not all as they seem...look closely at the letter 'L'!

The two murals together.

Have you seen the garden area by the new Year 1 playground?

In autumn, a keen bunch of gardeners helped plant a new garden behind the brand new Year 1 playground. 

Here are some of the workers:

They also added freesia and daffodil bulbs, and flower seeds.

Many thanks to: 
James Iverson and Mr Marshall 

for moving 5 cubic metres of topsoil 

and landscaping with rocks
Philip, our helpful Room 12 parent
for digging holes in hard, summer-dried soil.

Hard work, but a great result! 
In a few months, as the plants fill out, the area will look beautiful.

Enviro events in our region

The South Kaipara Food Revolution’s monthly harvest market is happening again this Sunday in the grounds of Te Whare Oranga ō Parakai. Live music and lots and lots of delicious, locally grown and produced kai… www.facebook.com/SouthKaiparaFoodRevolution

The Kaipatiki Project have several short practical edible gardening classes coming up in the next couple of months. There’s Fruit Tree Pruning on Sunday the 28^th of June from 10.30am-12.30pm ($25 per person) This will be an on-site workshop at a private home orchard in Takapuna. Tutor Dee Pigneguy will walk participants through basic pruning skills and techniques for bountiful fruit trees including apple, pear, plum, peach and nectarine. On Sunday 13^th, 20^th & 27^th  of September from 10.30am-12.30pm ($45 per person) there’s Top Ten Spring Crops. A series of three workshops held at Kaipatiki Project's teaching gardens in Birkdale. Dee Pigneguy shows how to prepare your patch for growing organic veggies at home this spring and get a great summer yield including tomatoes, peas, beets and baby potatoes. More info on both available here…http://kaipatiki.org.nz/courses/gardening-bites/

Quite a few of you provided input to Emma Pilkington during the development of the new Animal Management Bylaw. The new Bylaw comes into effect on the 1^st of September. You can find it online here... http://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/EN/licencesregulations/Bylaws/Pages/animalmanagementbylaw.aspx  If you have any questions or queries regarding the new bylaw you can address them to Emma directly at: Emma.Pilkington@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz  

Ooooby or Out of Our Own Backyards is an enterprise on a mission to transform our food system. They’ve very recently started delivering locally sourced food boxes to the good people of Matakana and Warkworth. Ooooby pay their producers 50% of the total retail value of their produce. If you’d like to get involved either as a producer or a customer check out the website here… https://www.ooooby.org/auckland/

The Auckland Tree Crops Association are having a Tree Sale at Auckland Botanic Gardens in Manurewa on Saturday the 11^th of July. Gardeners, lifestyle and small block holders, farmers and nurseries are all welcome. You can buy and sell, look, talk trees and ask questions. More info here… http://www.treecrops.org.nz/branch/auckland/first-annual-tree-and-plant-sale/

Julia Milne spoke beautifully and passionately about the Common Unity Project at our Kai Auckland Hui at Kawai Purapura last year. A report from yesterday’s NZ Herald gives an update on this fantastic community asset. "Through coming together as a community to meet the basic needs of our children and our families, we become powerful and discover the meaning of true wealth"… http://www.nzherald.co.nz/fonterra/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503785&objectid=11454339

Virgil Evetts will be delivering a smart planting workshop at the Devonport Community Garden on Saturday the 6^th of June. Speaking from personal experience Virgil is a hugely knowledgeable and engaging speaker. Well worth the trip if you’re interested…

A great opportunity for someone passionate about community and local food. The Grey Lynn Farmers’ Market are looking for a new Market Manager…http://dogoodjobs.co.nz/jobs/farmers-market-manager/

& speaking of the Grey Lynn Farmer’s Market Rob and the crew from Heirloom Organix will be delivering a Winter Gardening talk at the market on Sunday the 7^th of June from10.30-11.30am. This is the first of a series of talks through June and July…  https://www.facebook.com/GreyLynnFarmersMarket/photos/a.181155511925004.39049.179353298771892/968954663145081/?type=1&theater

There’ll be a Kai Auckland presence at the Browns Bay Our Amazing Place tomorrow. Minette Tonoli from Nature All Kids http://www.nature-all.co.nz/ will be there too delivering a fun workshop for any young green thumbs who may pass our way. Come and say hello if you’re around.

Finally the public consultation on Auckland Transport’s new northern networkconcept opens on Tuesday the 2^nd of June… https://at.govt.nz/projects-roadworks/new-public-transport-network/new-network-for-north-shore/ There are a series of events across the North Shore where you can feed back on what is being proposed.

Thank you, worms!

The proceeds from recent worm liquid sales have been counted (thanks to Room 12's Kikorangi maths group) and the total is $176. 

Well done, Greenhithe School worms! 

We have used some of the money to buy items to help our vegetable gardens grow:

- trowels for the children to use
- garden lime to increase soil pH and help plants take up nutrients from the soil
- flower bulbs 
- rainbow carrot seeds
- beetroot seeds
- Impatiens seedlings and a plant called Platycodon for a hanging basket outside Room 12
- pea straw mulch to stop the garden drying out
- new hose fittings (better quality this time - the last ones broke!)

Quinn, Fletcher and Jackson proudly display some of the garden goodies