ALLENDALE East Area School has the “thyme to turnip the beet” in its agriculture learning area after securing funding through the Woolworths Junior Landcare Grants program.
The facility recently received $1000 which will be used to upgrade the school’s vegetable garden and promote sustainable food production for students.
Agriculture and science teacher Danielle Tulak said the grant would significantly help the school develop its existing agriculture curriculum.
“When I applied I did not really think we would actually get it,” she said.
“I immediately thought the funding could be used to add more plots to the school’s veggie patch.
“I felt like it would be more beneficial if each student could work on their own garden bed.”
An additional eight raised garden beds will be added to the school’s existing beds and used by both primary and secondary grades.
“At the moment, there are not enough garden beds,” Ms Tulak said.
“A class of 24 students will now be able to walk in and each student can produce their own produce and take it home to cook with their family.”
Ms Tulak said the funding would be used for a new walk-in greenhouse to raise seedlings, quality BioGro soil and potentially some raspberries and blueberries.
“Over the years, our agricultural program has become quite strong,” she said.
“We are always looking for funding for new projects and these additions will accompany our area from another perspective.”
Ms Tulak said hands-on agricultural learning was beneficial for the students and helped strengthen connections with the local area.
“It is a paddock to plate process where students are learning where their food actually comes from,” she said.
“I think it is definitely important for the kids to learn about these sorts of things because we are a prominent farming area we live in.”
“We also do on-farm visits and connect with the people in their natural surroundings and immediate community.
“In the past, we have taken students out to the saleyards to have a look and most kids had never actually been to where sheep and cattle are sold before.”
Ms Tulak said students now have a broader understanding of where their food comes from.
Looking at the future, Ms Tulak said it was important to educate the students on the future of farming.
“By 2050 people are saying we will need to feed 40 million people in Australia,” she said.
“There are 24.6 million people here now so we will need to evolve the way we are farming.”
