The Little House (Montessori)
Ms Kaylie welcomed everyone and introduced herself as the tour guide for Pacific Agro Farm. She described the place as a fruit and vegetable farm dating back to 1977. Their produce not only includes vegetables like cherry tomatoes and Japanese cucumber but herbs such as basil and mint leaves.
We started the tour by walking to the nursery. This is where the seedlings are grown. The cherry tomato seedlings, which were only 2-3 weeks old, were the first ones to be shown. The seedlings were passed around for a closer look.
Sweet basil seedlings; also 2-3 weeks old.
Ms Kaylie explained that the seedlings cannot be exposed to too much sunlight. The nursery is sheltered in order to reduce the amount of sunlight thus preventing the seedlings from wilting.
Next, we were taken to look at one of the four reservoirs which contained water mixed with nutrients. It is measured 4m by 4m wide and 2m by 2m deep. As the produce is grown hydroponically, the water from the reservoir gets transported to the plants via pipes.
They were then taken to observe and smell the mint leaves. Some of them were able to tell right away, the name of the particular herb. The children enjoyed using their senses to explore the leaves.
We were taken to have a look at the red leaf hibiscus. It was explained that they are edible and Ms Kaylie described the taste similar to grape skin. They also learnt that this leaf is highly popular among the Taiwanese as they enjoy adding it to their salads and tea.
We were lead down the slope to the next stop which was where most of the vegetables are grown. The children gathered in front of the cherry tomato plants and learnt that the lifespan of a tomato is six months. Ms Kaylie explained that they are not grown on soil but cocopeat which are fibres extracted from the husk of a coconut. Some of its benefits include sustainability. In addition, with the nature of cocopeat, it allows air to pass through easily which is beneficial for plant growth.
The children were given the chance to have a closer look at the cocopeat and cherry tomato.
Then, they walked through the greenhouse to look at the Japanese cucumbers.
Ms Kaylie then led them to have a look at how the white bitter gourds were grown.
The children walked past the sweet potato leaves and returned to the starting point which marked the end of the tour.
After they thanked Ms Kaylie for leading the tour, the children made their way to the indoor area to start their planting workshop. They were then greeted by Ms Jamie who explained that there are over 10,000 varieties of tomatoes grown in the world. However, due to our country’s tropical climate, they are only able to grow three types.
Afterwards, the children learnt that they were going to transplant a sweet basil seedling into their pot.
Before they began planting, Ms Jamie introduced the children to the different components of their special potting mix. It includes soil, compost and cocopeat.
Ms Jamie took a scoop of soil and allowed the children to have a closer look. She explained that the white balls in the soil are called perlite. Perlite helps plants to store nutrients and drain excess water at the same time.
reating their special potting mix by adding a scoop of the different mediums into their pots.
Creating their special potting mix by adding a scoop of the different mediums into their pots.
