Little Sprouts turns one!

Date posted: 29 April 2016

Greetings green thumbs! We hope you’ve had a wonderful past month filled with much outdoor times and delectable garden grub. Our curator Pip has been flat out planting the Garden in preparation for our winter crops. In the ground now you’ll find garlic, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprout, peas, snow peas, spinach, silverbeet [takes a breath] and more… not to mention a couple of new garden beds planted with Chinese veggies like bok choy and Chinese broccoli! Take a look around the Garden during your next visit and see if you can spot the changes (including the new handwater pumps and raised Garden beds soon to be planted).

Happy birthday to me

The start of May marks the Little Sprouts Kitchen Garden Visiting Program’s first birthday! More than 3,600 children have visited Little Sprouts this past year, experiencing hands-on gardening and learning where their food comes from before it hits supermarket shelves. We’ve been loving the positive feedback and emails from schools/pre-schools telling us what they’ve been producing from their harvested plants – from beetroot dip to kale chips to red cabbage coleslaw. And of course we love the looks on your faces when it’s time to handle worms! The Visiting Program is booked out for most of the year and with many schools that visited in 2015 returning this year, we’re grateful for everyone who we’ve met over the journey so far.

Bountiful harvests

We’ve also harvested some bumper crops from the garden lately. Herbs have been turned into pesto, Moon and Stars Watermelons were used for mint and watermelon smoothies and pumpkins were transformed into fritters during Adelaide Botanic Garden’s recent School Holiday Program. Excess harvest is donated to Foodbank or added to the Botanic Gardens Restaurant menu. Chef Paul Baker, for example, turned our recent harvest of over 30 kilograms of Jerusalem Artichokes into ice cream, parfait and even a tiramisu!

We love our volunteers

In May we celebrate National Volunteer Week. A big thankyou to all the volunteers who have supported us over the last year. We really appreciate your efforts! Our Visiting Program wouldn’t be what it is without your enthusiasm and encouragement. If you know of anyone who has experience working with small children, please encourage them to volunteer with us.

Until next time, Little Sprouts!