Sowing the seeds

In an inspired effort to nurture their students in body and mind, a rural primary school has taken the idea of ‘back to nature’ in a surprising direction. Francesca Newby reports on the school garden that has united a community.

“We are surrounded by orchards, and we can walk five minutes to pick plums, cherries, peaches and peas, but when we looked at the children’s lunch boxes, they were filled with packaged foods,” says teacher Colleen Cunningham, explaining what led the staff at Glenrowan Primary School to create a kitchen garden.

Set in the heart of rural Victoria, you would expect the pupils at this pretty little school to be natural-born experts in the art of growing food. But for a region steeped in Australian rural history, a surprisingly high number of students were as disconnected from life on the land as the average suburban kid. “Our students are rural kids, but that doesn’t mean they’re from traditional farming backgrounds,” explains principal Daniel O’Flaherty. “We quickly realised it was a mistake to assume that growing up here meant our pupils automatically had the knowledge which local kids historically did.”

It’s been a little over a year since the garden was developed, and you’d never know that some of these children were once averse to the idea of eating vegetables. When we arrive, the Year One kids are waiting impatiently. Not because our presence offers any excitement, but because we are late and the tomato quiches they made for our arrival are fresh out of the oven and ready to eat. Keen to get stuck in, they engage their best manners long enough to let us take the photographs we need, then it’s time to eat with gusto. “Growing and cooking their own vegetables removes the sense of ‘other’ for these kids,” explains Colleen with pride. Her point is neatly illustrated by one little boy’s request that they revisit an earlier recipe.

“I love that eggplant au gratin!” he exclaims. “These are all things we learned along the way,” chimes in Susan Fisher, another teacher deeply involved in the running of the garden.

Sit in the staffroom at Glenrowan Primary, and it quickly becomes obvious that every person connected with the school – from students and teachers to support staff – is equally passionate and involved with the kitchen garden. Remarkably, the idea for the garden sprang from the school’s commitment to the Waste Wise Schools program, which encourages the minimisation of waste through recycling and composting.

The chickens came first, or rather their eggs did. “The mother of one of our pupils, Isabella Williams, is the local vet,” explains Daniel. “Four years ago she provided the school with an incubator and several eggs to help the children learn about life cycles.” With room to spare, the school decided to keep the chickens that hatched and set about building a coop. Soon after, the staff were inspired to seek other projects.

It was during a trip to Collingwood College in Melbourne that Colleen came across cook and writer Stephanie Alexander’s Kitchen Garden Program (see ‘Stephanie’s garden’, opposite) and was compelled to replicate the scheme at Glenrowan.

“I just thought it was perfect for us,” says Colleen. “It answered some of the concerns we all had about the children’s diet, it was an extension of the scheme we’d developed with the chickens, and we had the space to set it up.”

“We started with a pizza garden,” says Susan. “The kids came up with the idea and we worked with them, their families and local residents to build it.” The success of the initial vegetable plot inspired the school to plan and build a much more ambitious garden, again with the help of the wider community. Some people donated their expertise, others labour or materials. The nearby quarry, Mawsons, donated rocks and gravel, which Bernie Cowan, the school’s cleaner and handyman, used to build the garden walls.

What is truly remarkable about the kitchen garden is the way it has brought local citizens into the school fold. “Every year one of the students, and of course their family, cares for the chickens on weekends and during the holidays,” explains Susan. “But the town’s involvement goes much further.”

One such example is local businesswoman Dawn Aird, owner of White Cottage Herbs nursery, and her husband Neil, a horticulture teacher at the local TAFE, both of whom donated much of the material and labour for the garden’s irrigation system, as well as giving the children a wide range of herbs. “Best of all,” enthuses Colleen, “we are blessed to have some keen local gardeners, mostly retired, who come and give their time all through the year.”

Beyond all of this, the purpose of the garden is to reconnect the children with the reality of producing food; to take their focus beyond the lure of bright packaging and thoughtless consumption; to give them a practical relationship  – dirty fingernails and all – with the meals that grace their tables. Anyone who has ever tried to engage a distracted child couldn’t fail to envy the complete attention the garden draws from its young carers. And any parent who has ever tried, and failed, to interest their children in eating vegetables would be inspired by the adventurous recipes prepared and devoured by even the youngest students.

An important element is the cooking program – for many children the highlight of their gardening experience. Take, for example, the fragrant quiches that greeted us on arrival at the school, made from tomatoes, herbs and onions grown by the children, and eggs collected that morning. “Through the garden the kids are learning to understand the relationship between food, nutrition and a healthy lifestyle,”says Daniel. In the process of harvesting, exploring and preparing the ingredients these children are absorbing lessons and being prepared for facets of adult life far beyond the scope of everyday education.

“We’ve watched them all develop a love for and an interest in caring for their surroundings,” Daniel adds. “Through the garden we’re able to really engage the kids,” says Susan, “especially the boys – give them a wheelbarrow, gravel and rakes and they’re all yours!”

The physical benefits of horticultural work are particularly important. The staff have observed a marked increase in activity during break times, which has a knock-on effect in the classroom. “The garden gets them moving, yet keeps them calm, which enables them to focus more consistently during class time,” says Daniel. The high level of enthusiasm for the garden exists in every corner of the school – from teachers to administration staff and, of course, the children. “We’re all really interested in the daily life of the garden,” explains Colleen. “The kids keep such a close eye on it. You’ll be on playground duty and one of the children will come running up shouting ‘we saw an eggplant!’”

The children’s horticultural adventure has also led to other activities, such as the development of an Art in the Environment program. Drawing on Waste Wise principles while encouraging creativity, recycled and natural materials such as windfall (branches that have fallen from a tree) are used to make works of art that are placed throughout the school.

All aspects of the garden are closely linked to a wide array  of subjects and developmental areas. The evolution of egg into chicken and seed into plant are used to illustrate the study of life cycles. Composting and the school’s worm farm are linked to the Reduce, Re-use and Recycle program. Water wise issues, general health and the need to take responsibility, both individually and as a community, are all highlighted.

They say that you reap what you sow. At Glenrowan Primary School, thanks to the dedication of the teachers and community, a generation of children are reaping the benefits of fresh food and a renewed connection to the land around them. They are gaining an insight into the reality of growth and renewal, effort and reward. Best of all, they are learning how to make healthy food from scratch – a skill that will benefit them for the rest of their lives.

Stephanie’s garden
Renowned cook Stephanie Alexander developed the concept of the school kitchen garden to help children make the link between the food they see in the supermarket and the fresh produce used to make it by involving them in the growth, harvest and preparation of food. Stephanie Alexander’s Kitchen Garden Program came to life in 2001 at Melbourne’s Collingwood College and is still going strong. For more information, visit
www.kitchengardenfoundation.org.au.

 

 

Words: Francesca Newby. Photography: Andrew Lehmann. Hair & make-up: Julie Corbet.