Project: Cultivating Minds and gardens with Sustainable Practices

Sponsor: Coles

Summary

Gumnut Children’s Centre in Milton on the NSW South Coast applied for a Coles Junior Landcare School Garden Grant in 2009 to create a windbreak of native trees and garden beds. They used their funding to purchase raised garden beds, a worm farm, compost bin and 50 native trees and shrubs including Water Gums, Lamandra and Banksias.

The compost bins have taught the children how to recognise recyclable materials and why to separate them from other waste. The liquid fertiliser produced by the worms is used on the garden, and the school estimates that through composting they will reduce their waste by 480 litres per fortnight.

The children have enjoyed these activities so much that they have shared their new knowledge with their families, which has resulted in several families purchasing worm farms and compost bins for their homes.

The project has also engaged the wider community. A local landcare volunteer helped the school decide on the best location for the garden beds, provided information on propagating the seeds and sourced seeds and cutting from the local area.

Families from the centre contributed worms for the worm farms and plants for the vegetable garden, and a local school’s maintenance department helped install the gardens.