08 Apr Student Farmers – Garden Enrichment Program
Have you heard about the delicious fresh produce grown by Ms Edwards and her student farmers. It’s part of our Garden Enrichment Program (GEP). So far this term they’ve harvested the following: cucumber, lettuce, beetroot, onion, watermelon, strawberries, capsicum, corn, leek, tomato, potato and celery. We ended the term 1 with a big juicy slice of watermelon each.
All of our Year 1-6 students move through the GEP as it’s a component of the whole school science program. During biology lessons students get to work in the Outdoor Classroom developing skills in growing fresh produce and applying sustainable gardening practices. We are starting to close the loop on organic waste at our school & improve the quality and health of our soils through the worm-farms.
Students are developing a range of essential life skills:
- growing fresh produce (nutrition),
- garden maintenance (weeding, watering & soil health), and
- learning how to work in teams and solve problems as they naturally arise in the garden.
This program aims to promote healthy behaviours across the school through exposure to fresh produce and healthy eating. Produce is either eaten immediately or transported to the canteen to be turned into something delicious by Mrs Arta.
We are in the second year of this program and we are already producing an array of fresh produce thanks to our student farmers! Have a look at them in action – click here.