Month in Review: February 2021

We have had so much fun this month connecting with mob, learning about all things Bush Tucker and recording a range of new virtual learning experiences for educators.

We began Feb at Petersham TAFE play session recording a tutorial on the many ways one can embed Aboriginal perspectives in their curriculum. Our team had a ball getting creative and setting up a variety of cultural experiences in dramatic play, constuction, art, music and much more.

This month I also had the opportunity to meet Greg Smith from Yama2you bush Tucker nursery in Springfield on the Central Coast. Greg and I bonded over our love of native plants and had so much fun exploring each others gardens that we decided to film a Bush Tucker cooking master class.

We filmed a full day of cooking and experimenting with the many ways we could incorporate native ingredients into centre menu plans. We cooked crocodile dumplings, coat of arms pie and emu spring rolls just to name a few.

Inspired by my collaboration with Greg I decided to continue investigating Bush Tucker in my region. This lead me to the doors of Oz Tukka. This is a non Indigenous company that works with many Aboriginal growers to bring native produce to the market. To say I had fun exploring their range would be an understatement and I’m excited to announce that Koori Curriculum will soon be a stockist of some of their deadly products.

Owner Linda also agreed to generously share her knowledge of native plants with Koori Curriculum Club members in an upcoming master class.

I was also really fortunate in Feb to visit Ballina for a short time and connect with the lovely educators in person at Sandhills early learning centre. This centres indoor and outdoor environment was stunning with so many examples of how to respectfully embed culture. It was great to work with such an open and dedicated team.

I also spent a good part of February foraging for Bunya nuts which was incredibly hard work. It definitely was not my year to find these prized beauties but my endeavour did take me to some amazing parks. I was however fortunate to have a friend gift me one and I did eventually find another which allowed me to make a delicious soup and pesto sauce.

I really value the importance of supporting Indigenous owned businesses and this month I found an absolute gem. I decided to make a short toad trip north and visit Wattaka Cafe in Singleton. I loved seeing bush Tucker celebrated throughout their menu and enjoyed a delicious slice of lemon Myrtle cheese cake and a cup of native peach/ quandong tea.

I ended my busy month at the new cultural park at Gosford waterfront. I was happy to find lots of endemic plants to our area being celebrated throughout the park. It was also great to see how Aboriginal traditional tools such as fish traps influenced the architectural design of the parks play equipment. There is still much to learn about this place and plan on exploring it further over the coming weeks

Share your cultural journey during the month of feb in our fb groups.

• Koori Curriculum Educator Community
• Koori Curriculum Community for Families