Kristine Deveny, Lisa Ginns and Annie Piggin all attended the school’s event.
Paddock to plate was the flavour of the day last week when Corowa Public School opened its gates to showcase their expansive gardens, the subject of much toil over the last 13 years.
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Students and staff were on hand on Thursday to offer guided and self-guided walks through the gardens and morning tea in the hall afterwards.
The gardens have been an ongoing project at the school since 2012 and with 12 separate garden areas, there was plenty to see in an extraordinary effort by students, staff and volunteers.
The Memorial Garden honours Australian veterans, the sensory garden offers an alternate setting for special needs students, and the outdoor reading area provides a learning alternative to the classroom.
There’s a rose garden by the hall and an environmental area to enhance, protect, restore and manage native habitats, but students Bailey Hicks, Jake Rhodes and Kai Arnold all agreed on their favourite.
“We like the Sunshine Garden best,” Bailey said.
“That’s where we grow strawberries, beans and snow peas.”
Kai Arnold, Jake Rhodes and Bailey Hicks in their favourite of the school’s 12 gardens, the Sunshine Garden.
The students at Corowa Public have an ongoing involvement with the gardens, incorporating a variety of tasks and responsibilities.
“The younger students can get their wheelbarrow license,” Jake said.
“And they can also get their watering license.”
“During lunch and recess we can go into the gardens and water the plants,” Kai said.
“We also do soil testing in science class.”
Each week the students tend to the gardens as part of their science classes, and in their own time, learn about and perform propagation, three stage composting, worm farming and harvesting, with all produce going to the kitchen as the school instils a paddock to plate mentality.
It’s a project that school principal, Helen Duncan, is immensely proud of.
“We joined the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden program in 2012,” Helen said.
“Last year we received a National Award for Sustainability, which was presented in Canberra, and we also received a citation in NSW Parliament.
“It just offers so much for the kids as they learn where everything comes from and how to grow their own food; they just love being involved.”
After a stroll through the diverse gardens guests were invited to the hall where morning tea had been prepared by the P&C Association and Corowa High School hospitality students.
The morning tea was offered complimentary by the school, with raffles, door prizes and a plant sale organised to help raise funds for Cancer Council Australia.
