There is nothing better than harvesting your own food that you have grown! This year we worked with grades 2,3 and 4 for a term at Bonbeach Primary School, Melbourne, during winter and the beginning of spring. For 1 hour a week we met with students and learnt how to grow food and everything in … Continue reading LEARNING IN THE GARDEN
When you believe in food education and environmental issues you force yourself to keep on going, to make a difference to help be part of the change. We need to un-busy our kids lives so that they have time to get into nature, enjoy it, explore it, be part of it, in order to respect it!
We waited, waited and waited until the day came when we were told to write the garden program for grade 5/6 students under the science curriculum. Almost 4yrs of volunteering in the garden and we are now super excited to be joining the senior students in the garden 3 times a week. What a thrill for us! At first they thought 'yeh yeh garden this and that' after 5 mins of the first class, they now run out the door to get their workbooks and get stuck into it!
Leadership in schools requires a lot of courage and when it is taking on the responsibility of caring for animals, the leadership must be done correctly. Our new chicken monitor shows great skills in caring for the chickens and gently guides other students to care for them with her. She shows the younger students how to feed them, collect eggs, hold them and most importantly how to enjoy the quiet time.
South east of Melbourne sits a little school in Bonbeach. The school holds a magical place where students, their families and the community can connect with nature. In 2013 the front of the school grounds were piled with rubble. A small patch of grass and 8 empty vegetable beds were all that sat on the flat grounds. It has taken 3 years for 2 very eager volunteering mums and a small army of students to transform the space into a permaculture based learning garden, filled with organic fruit orchard, native plantings, chicken coop, worm farm, mini food forest, frog bog, nature play areas and 25 vegetable beds – 6 of which are now community plots.
Dirtgirl has that kind of something special that makes you want to be a kid again. Our kids love her and all her garden friends so much so that we were inspired to create a special session about our composting just for her. Visit Dirtgirls website and join in all the fun with composting and recycling. … Continue reading Dirtgirl World – Compost Rocks!
Keeping chickens at school has proven to be very rewarding and a lot easier than we first thought. We are very happy to say that 2 yrs on our 6 girls are still laying, providing lots of entertainment and education for everyone involved at the school. We were quite nervous at the thought of having … Continue reading Keeping Chickens at school
Autumn days bring time for lots of nature play, seed planting, harvesting, cooking and eating in our school garden.
MUD Makes you happy! Playing with dirt has many physical, psychological and emotional benefits for children. It builds creativity, can reduce anxiety and stress, builds a connection with nature, creates memories, but most of all, it's FUN!
Rhubarb leaves are toxic to us but snails love them! It is Autumn the perfect weather for snails to lay their eggs in the cool damp weather. In our garden nestled amongst our Rhubarb crop we found an amazing colony of snails happily breeding away and munching on the leaves. We needed a natural pest deterrant that wasn't harmful or … Continue reading Natural Pest Control – snails
