How does your garden grow?

Sunshine Coast Profile July 2009 Words Angela Bueti, Photography Michelle Hill

The days of eating tasteless, nutrient-deficient fruit and vegetables can be a thing of the past if we can find a patch of dirt and some persistence. Leonie Shanahan of Edible School Gardens tells Angela Bueti how she is teaching school communities how to get back to the days of old, when veggies tasted like veggies.

Like a grub on a lettuce leaf, I have a natural knack for desecrating plants in the blink of an eye. Behind the garden pest, I am the second worst enemy of all plant life. It's not that I don't love and appreciate our oxygen-producing, food-giving friends; it's just that I have an uncanny ability to kill them. I wish things were different.

With two kids who by-passed baby food and went straight from breast-milk to munching down olives, fennel and brussell sprouts (true) I was mighty keen to hear if Leonie Shanahan from Edible School Gardens could dig me out of my dilemma. What veggie gardening tips could this green thumb pass on to this plant exterminator extraordinaire? And it seems I'm not the only one interested in getting back to my roots.

Like mushrooms sprouting after drenching rain, community gardens, school gardens, and backyard gardens are popping up everywhere, with largescale gardening projects backed by such notable foodies as Stephanie Alexander and Jamie Oliver.

The lament of food experts everywhere is that with so much fast food and food with minimal nutritional value, combined with growing obesity rates, it's clear that we need to educate our children about growing and eating food that will sustain a healthy body and mind, now more than ever.

"It's fantastic to see a ground-swell of people going back to setting up their veggie gardens like our grandparents used to," says Leonie encouragingly.  "The mindset is changing from why would we want to grow our own vegetables to how can we grow our own vegetables?"

"I focus on school gardens because I was appalled by what children had in their lunchboxes. So I thought I should be proactive and teach kids about gardening to give them the experience of eating freshly-grown food."

Having set up 12 edible gardens over the past seven years in schools around the Sunshine Coast, and countless backyard veggie patches for her appreciative neighbours, there's not much Leonie doesn't know about poo, plants and permaculture (the only permaculture I was aware of was the bad hairdos from the 80's). So began green thumb lesson 101.

Leonie's garden projects are based on the three principles of permaculture; earth care, people care, and share care (which covers reduction in consumption and the sharing of seeds, plants and knowledge). "We use what's already here and available to us so we aren't wasting our resources," explains Leonie.

Working with teachers, students, parents, grandparents and the school community, Leonie develops edible gardens that are the pride and joy of all involved. From designing the garden beds to celebrating their harvest with a huge feast, everyone has a greater appreciation of the finer points of growing and eating healthy, tasty produce.

"It's just wonderful to see the kids getting excited about designing the garden, tending to the plants and eating things they never thought they would," says Leonie. She is particularly proud when students are so enthused by what they've learnt that they can't wait to teach mum and dad how to grow veggies at home.

"I focus on school gardens because I was appalled by what children had in their lunchboxes"

The "no-dig" gardens (which sound like my sort of garden) are built above the ground with about 20 layers of materials to provide a garden bed teeming with nutrients. This fabulous garden bed is the equivalent of a Backyard Blitz makeover, as it's built in one day by an enthusiastic school community with helpers from Permaculture Noosa, which Leonie belongs to. Two weeks later, the students plant an extraordinary edible garden that Jamie Durie would be proud of.

"At Palmwoods Primary School we had 78 volunteers on set-up day, which was just fantastic, if somewhat frantic," enthuses Leonie.

As well as the old favourites such as tomatoes, lettuce, corn, cucumbers, and Asian greens, the kids benefit from eating some of the best super foods around. Aloe Vera, brahmi (which is good for memory), toothache plant (which helps numb the pain), mushroom plant, Lebanese cress and chocolate mint are de rigour for our little green thumbs - and apparently they can't get enough of them.

"The chefs plan the menu with the students and they all cook together"

"I've had to stop kids from eating some things when we have a harvest day.  They get so excited they start munching on everything!"

With continuous planting and harvesting, there's no shortage of fabulous, fresh food, and on harvest day it's cause for celebration.

Slow Food Noosa has provided funding to four schools for edible garden projects, which involve some of the best local chefs from The Spirit House and Blue Angel Restaurant to help the students prepare a sumptuous feast.

"The chefs plan the menu with the students and they all cook together. We use arrowroot leaves as plates and cloth tablecloths so nothing gets thrown away. The kids are just so proud to be preparing food that they've grown themselves for their teachers, parents and grandparents."

I can only imagine their excitement, but I have renewed hope that if primary schoolers can grow gorgeous gardens, so too can I. Now my biggest challenge is to break the news to my husband that he needs to pull up the newly laid pavers to make way for the veggie patch.

For more information on Leonie's edible school gardens visitwww.edibleschoolgardens.com.au