As a class, we looked at the broad bean life cycle and ordered some pictures to reflect on what our seeds started as and how over the months they have grown to now give us seeds for planting in next years crop! Mrs. Van Es and Mrs. Kerr had some wonderful facts about broad beans and how they are one of the oldest plants in the world! We were amazed!
We divided ourselves into two groups - one team to pick the beans from the plants and another to split the beans to get the beans from the pods.
The children were so engaged in picking the produce that they had grown themselves! Cooper showed us how to split the beans as he had done it on his Nona's farm before.
We found some very big beans...almost as big as Jye's head!
We found a few slimy friends in our garden too!
The children loved opening the beans and counting how many beans they had inside. We found one with seven beans inside!
After we picked all the beans from our plants, we went back inside and had a taste of the broad beans...some people even had some for their sip and crunch!
To follow on from our bean activity - we integrated this into our literacy session by creating a packet of 'magic' beans just like the beans from Jack and the Beanstalk. The children loved designing their packet, they began engaging in conversation about where their magic beans would lead to! It was a great link to our study of fairy tales!
We found out some wonderful facts about how to care for our broad beans below:
What time of year do I sow my broad beans?
March to June
Where should I sow my broad beans?
In a sunny location, sheltered from strong winds
How deep should I sow my broad beans?
5cm deep
How far apart should I sow my broad beans?
15 -20cm apart
When can I eat my broad beans?
Young pods 5 to 7.5cm long can be harvested and eaten whole, or leave until the pods are full size and shell pods for the seeds.
A BIG thank you to Alisa Allison for co-ordinating the fabulous OLC Food Garden and to Mrs. Kerr and Mrs. Van Es for all your wonderful help today!
All the children had a great day of learning from our wonderful food garden!
Miss Prowse
