A Message from Stephanie
|
Everyone in the Foundation team has been extremely busy – visiting schools all over the country, giving training sessions and answering enquiries from schools wanting to apply for one of the third-round grants now on offer.
And I have been doing a fair bit of travelling myself. Our Western Australian Demonstration School, Palmyra PS, held its launch a few weeks ago and I had an excellent tour with some knowledgeable students who introduced me to their bush garden as well as to the extensive vegetable garden. I attended part of the Slow Food Australia Congress in Canberra. I was thrilled to know that so many of the gathered delegates were actively working with a Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden School in their area. After all, both organisations exist to spread the idea of good, fresh food and as I am forever saying, we must start with the children! I was given a folder of delightful letters written by the students at Barooga PS in New South Wales. The students were all very enthusiastic and told me the names of their chickens, ducks and rabbits and of all the vegetables that were growing well in their garden. For a complete contrast, I next went to the launch of the Program at Alawa PS, the Demonstration School for the Northern Territory. What a contrast Darwin provided to chilly Melbourne (or even colder Canberra). A clear blue sky with the temperature in the high twenties, the garden at the school was exotic and luxuriant to a visitor from the southern states. I admired hanging bunches of bananas and dangling pawpaw and jackfruit, patches of sweet potato and flashes of scarlet from the prolific bird’s eye chilli bushes. The basil was luxuriant, just as ours here is blackening as the frosty mornings hit. I was introduced to the rabbits – Chocolate Chip, Liquorice and Pepper. In the kitchen the students were preparing a feast for the invited guests. On the menu was honey-seared crocodile with a red pawpaw & avocado salad, a green pawpaw salad, a banana flower salad with grated cucumber, rice paper rolls and a roast pumpkin & basil salad with sunflower seeds. It was all so incredibly delicious and a perfect example of what we always hope to see – home-grown seasonal food accurately reflecting its environment. Congratulations to all at Alawa PS! Winter is a challenge in my garden, and I know that many schools will also find the harvest a bit lean over the next few months. It is difficult to keep up the salad supply. Red radicchio seems to thrive in the cold as do the frilly-edged salad varieties. Together with a few small spinach leaves and some rocket pickings I am still able to make a green salad each evening. Today I planted some swede and turnip seedlings propagated by our Senior Project Officer Jacqui Lanarus. My leaf spinach is a delight – soft and silky – and takes less than a minute to cook in a covered pan with just the water clinging to the leaves. And I can pick a handful of the sweetest snow peas every second day from just six climbing plants. I need to plant another lot to keep them coming along. The first broccoli will be ready to pick in about two weeks. The broad beans are growing strongly and my celery plants, whilst small, are sweet and tender. I am making a pot of vegetable soup every week. The beetroot soup recipes on p.166 of The Cook’s Companion can be served either hot or cold. And another favourite of mine is the chick pea, mint & lemon soup on p.280. If you have a store of light chicken stock, a very fast soup can be made by sautéing an onion in a bit of oil until well-softened. Add some chopped garlic and a litre of the stock and stir in a cup of grated carrot and a cup of grated celery. Simmer till the vegetables are really soft, taste for salt and pepper, and serve with plenty of chopped parsley. Stephanie  Stephanie at the Alawa PS launch with Leonie Norrington To find out more about Stephanie Alexander visit www.stephaniealexander.com.au |
