A Kitchen Garden Fete With Stephanie Alexander

First of all I must apologise for the poor quality photo's as they were taken on my phone, as guess who forgot to take her camera.


Today we went to a school fete at Collingwood College. It is a lovely fete where there is minimal hired children's entertainment and a lot of creative activities, using organic materials. It is also the school where the famous Australian cook Stephanie Alexander started up her idea of creating a kitchen garden for the students.

Each week the students spend time in both the kitchen and garden, learning how to grow the plants, then how to cook nutritious meals. She felt that through children's viewing on television they were being exposed to 30,000 persuasive ads by manufacturer's promoting processed, high fat, high salt and high sugar content each year. The children are from all walks of life, most living in high rise apartments who have no access to a garden, or who's family are unsure of how to make affordable healthy meals.

I was so delighted when I discovered that Stephanie was there today and was doing book signings. Oh no! I wanted to meet her but I already have her books, which of course were at home, then I found that she had a poster about garden planting, Aha! So up I went starry eyed, she signed my poster then I asked if I could have my picture with her. Yes I know I was like a groupy with a celeb chef, but I don't care, so there.

How the kids had fun

We lost the girls in the cardboard box maze for about half an hour, they had so much fun scurrying around on their knees through the boxes, popping their heads up now and again through some holes in the top, not bad for a $2.00 donation for both.


Then they went fishing in a bucket of stripped paper water using magnets as hooks, to pull out the cutest little hand stitched felt fish, again at a bargain $1.00 each.

Fishing for Viking treasure, wrapped in brown bags with string.

The girls decorated decomposable pots before they planted a lettuce seedling in it to take home, again only $1.00 each.


I also enjoyed a good rummage through the trash and treasure, book and clothes stalls, which I will post about my finds tomorrow.

Next weekend is the fete at my girls school, so we get to enjoy another day of fun, treasures, cakes, plants, music (some famous performers have shown up to perform in previous years), food and games. Andy will be working on the woodworking stall, where the kids get to hammer away to make wooden toys and I am doing some baking for the cake stall.