Excursions and Incursions

100km Pizza

Year level: Year 4 - Year 12
Length: 2 hours or whole day

Did somebody say ‘Pizza’? We use the average take-away pizza, a food source close to many students’ hearts, to explore the concept of food miles, globalised food practises, and the positives and negatives of eating seasonally and locally.

Students are invited to make their own gourmet pizza and salad, using ingredients that are in season and sourced from either the garden at The Farmer’s Place or from local farms within a 100km radius.

Pizzas are cooked in our wood-fired pizza oven by our chefs.

The cost of this session includes ½ pizza per student and a seasonal salad.

Paddock to Plate

Year Level: Prep – Year 5
Length: Whole day, 50min sessions, select 3 or 4 of the following.
Dirt! We explore the importance of soil and worms, their role in the paddock-to-plate cycle and why they are essential for growing healthy food.
Animals on the Farm Our farm tour includes meeting and feeding animals, learning about what products can come from each animal and the processes undertaken to farm them. (Alpacas, sheep & lambs, goats & kids, cows & calves, chooks and turkeys).
Seed to Seedling This session investigates the life cycle of a seed. All students get the opportunity to plant a seed to take back to school to observe it grow over time. Seeds can later be planted in a vegetable garden at home or at school.
Vegetables Galore What’s growing in our garden? Students get to have a close look, smell, and taste of the different produce we are currently growing in our garden and compare it with what they might find currently in a supermarket.

Sustainability Scavenger Hunt

Year Level: Year 6 – Year 10
Length: 1 hour

What makes The Farmer’s Place a hub of sustainability? Students investigate the practices we have in place to reduce our waste to landfill, water and energy use, increase vegetation and habitat, and make decisions about how we grow and source food. The Farmer's Place aims to model best practice sustainability to demonstrate how it can be incorporated into, and be of benefit for businesses.

Animal Feeding

Year level: Prep – Year 10
Length: 1 hour

During this session, students will get to meet and help feed alpacas, sheep, goats, cows, chickens and turkeys. Students will learn about what products comes from each animal and the practices involved in farming them.

Paddock to Porridge

Year level: Year 3 – Year 10
Length: 1 hour

Students get to cook and eat while learning! This interactive session is all about the food cycle and journey of oats to porridge – it’s not as simple as it seems. Students roll their own oats, cook them up, and enjoy their own steaming bowl of delicious porridge topped with lots of yummy extras.

Sauerkraut!

Year level: Year 2 – Year 10
Length: 1 hour

Made the same way for over 4000 years! During this session students will use the simple ingredients of cabbage and salt to make their own jar of sauerkraut and learn about fermented foods. Jars, recipe and all ingredients included.

Freshwater Creek Bushwalk

Year level: Year 2 – Year 12
Length: 1 hour

Our bushwalk around the Freshwater Creek area provides an insight into land use over time, from current farming practices, through to early European settlement and Indigenous culture.

Waste Audit (90 mins All Day)

Free for active Barwon South West ResourceSmart Schools*
Year Level: Year 5 – Year 12
Length: 90min – Whole day
Location: Your school

How waste savvy is your school? As a group we delve into your rubbish….. not literally, but almost, to conduct a waste audit. The waste audit involves an investigation into the amount of waste your school disposes of in one day. We sort rubbish into different categories; organics, plastics, paper and other recyclables; weigh them; and calculate totals. The results of the investigation are used to discuss what is working well at school, what improvements could be made, and to develop a list of recommendations to inform changes at school.

A Load of Garbage

Year Level: Year 3 – Year 12
Length: 1 hour

Victorian households throw away an enormous amount of waste. We can do better! During this session we will have a closer look at what Victorian’s send to landfill and explore the alternatives. We’ll examine the familiar 4R’s; reduce, refuse, reuse, recycle and look at why composting is great for our gardens and great for landfill. And, if we’re ready to face some bigger challenges, we will also look into the dilemma of packaging and our love of new things.

Worms

Year Level: Prep – Year 5
Length: 1 hour

Worms are incredible! They play an essential role in soil health, are valuable in every vegetable garden, can be used to create organic waste solutions, and have five hearts. During this session students will learn more about worms, and how they can be used to develop an organic waste solution. This session involves each student making his or her own worm hotel to be used at school or at home.

Veggie Gardener

Year Level: Prep – Year 8
Length: 1 hour

From little things big things grow. From seed; to seedling; to plant; to fruit; to plate. Come and help us propagate seeds and plant seedlings in The Farmer’s Place garden.

Tree Planting/Wetland Development

Year Level: Year 2 – Year 12
Length: 1 hour – 3 hours

We are revegetating our dam to create a thriving wetland. Schools are invited to help us with our project. Participating schools help by planting native and endemic trees, grasses and reeds. This session will cover the importance of natural habitat and water quality for the farm and the surrounding area.

DIY Beeswax Wraps

Year Level: Year 4 – Year 9
Length: 1 hour

How can you reduce your waste and use of single use packaging? Make bees-wax wraps! With us! In this session, each participant will learn the affects that single use packaging is having on our environment. Everyone will then learn how to make your very own bees-wax wraps. Even better, everyone will get to take one home with them! No plastic, fantastic!

In a practical environment we achieve these learning outcomes:

Understanding how to use water efficiently. At The Farmer’s Place, through good practice we avoid wasting water and do our bit to improve local issues such as flooding, drought and watercourse pollution.
Reducing waste, reusing where possible, and ultimately sending zero waste to landfill.
Protecting and restoring biodiversity by creating new natural habitats through good land use.
Using sustainable and healthy products, which are sourced locally and are made from renewable or waste resources.
Demonstrating energy efficient buildings and promoting renewable energy and technologies.
Encouraging active, sociable, meaningful lives to promote good health and wellbeing.
Respecting and reviving local culture, wisdom and identity; encouraging the involvement of people in shaping their community and further, creating a new culture of sustainability.
Creating a bioregional economy that supports equity and diverse local employment.