Project: Special Education Vegetable garden

Sponsor: Coles

Summary

Talara Primary College on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast applied for a Coles Junior Landcare School Garden Grant in 2009 to help fund a special education vegetable garden. They used the funding to purchase garden beds, a worm farm, gardening equipment, seedlings and seeds, and had local businesses donate labour and soil.

Students have learnt to care for the environment, soil, water and plants. The garden provides fun, interactive and hands-on experience which teaches them about the benefits and responsibilities of cultivating a garden.

The garden also gives students the opportunity to learn about lifecycles of plants and the importance of biodiversity. They have discovered how living things grow and change, and how the environment impacts on this.

The project aims to teach students about the benefits of growing your own food, such as freshness and reducing the environmental impact of transporting food large distances. They especially enjoy using the produce they have grown themselves in ‘life skills’ cooking sessions.

Recycling green waste has also been a key component of the overall project. The new worm farm provides important nutrients to keep the soil healthy and mulch helps keep the soil moist and reduce water consumption.