GROW EAT LEARN
Why have an Edible School Gardens Program?
The Edible School Garden Program is so much more than just
growing some vegies. The edible school garden is a
garden where the soil is full of life and the plants are bursting
with nutrients and minerals. We teach the children how
to create healthy soils and grow healthy food. The
students eat the food from this garden and it is 100% good for
them - real food
When you have vibrant, living, healthy soil, you have food
bursting with health and that is the food that we need our
children to eat - food that is going to sustain their young
growing bodies and minds. It is also an opportunity for
children to experience a variety of new foods and flavours.
This program empowers children for life with the knowledge
of how to grow organic food and enjoy it.
How does this successful program operate?
First students learn about permaculture and design. Then
each student produces their own garden design which they present
to the class. The class then decides on the final
design.
Donations of materials and landscaping supplies are sourced and a
date set for the set up day.
Set up day is an important school community day involving
parents, grandparents, friends, students and teachers. It
is a very busy day for all as in this one day we implement the
whole garden design. This usually includes a banana circle,
two or more arches, a worm bath, a worm tower, several no dig
gardens of various shapes and sizes, a herb spiral, compost area,
etc.
Then we can relax for a bit as we need to wait 2 weeks for the no
dig garden beds to settle.
Planting is another exciting day - usually 300 seedlings are
planted in the first day.
For the next 10 months whilst tending the garden the students
will learn much more about permaculture and organic gardening,
from seed saving, growing mulch to cooking up the food they have
grown. Harvest (and feast) day is another milestone.
The children are proud of their achievement and quite literally
enjoy the fruits of all their hard work.
At the end of the edible school gardens program, students and
teachers should be empowered with the knowledge of how to
continue their garden using permaculture practices. The
program includes an information manual describing the processes
used.
Important:
From my experience over the past decade at 20 schools and speaking with schools I've worked with, I believe that the ideal situation is to run the Edible School Gardens program for a 12 month period, either one day a week or one day a fortnight. In 12 months you can work with all seasons, record all the information about planting, caring for plants, harvesting, seed saving, propagating, composting, worm farms and green manure crops, keep a journal and create reference folders so the information is all there for the teachers, parents, grandparents and students to empower them with knowledge and confidence so that they too will become part of the program and use the garden as a living classroom.