By Marcus Uhe
As the rising cost of fresh vegetables sees shoppers feel the pinch, the school community at Cranbourne West Primary School have been managing to avoid some of the demands, thanks to the school’s veggie garden.
In collaboration with the Cranbourne Rotary Club, students and staff work together to plant, grow and harvest their own fresh vegetables, which are then used in meals for the school’s brekky and brunch club, or distributed to parents and families.
Their winter crop saw leeks, cabbages, cauliflowers, parsley, silverbeet, broccoli, celery, baby spinach and different varieties of lettuces are all grown and used in casseroles and soups for staff and students to enjoy.
The gardens were initially established years ago but their upkeep and maintenance was another victim of the pandemic.
Lloma Shaw from the Cranbourne Rotary Club said the project was an extension of their prior involvement with the school as volunteers for brekky and brunch club.
“We noticed that the garden was well and truly overgrown,” Ms Shaw said.
“We put a team of Rotarians together at beginning of year to weed it and put in new soil and make it ready for new crops.
“When the kids came back (from summer holidays), we were ready for them to help plant seedlings, including lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, onions. The kids were all involved in learning how to plant seedlings.
“We had a team of about six or seven people getting their hands dirty, it was lovely to see the kids involved too.
“It was wonderful to hear them learning that lettuce and celery doesn’t come from a supermarket.”
The program was led by the club’s youth leader, Tom Schreurs, who was responsible for educating the kids as a fellow greenthumb himself.
Seedlings were donated to the school by Berwick Speedy Seedlings, while Elders in Pakenham contributed bags of fertiliser, Mr Schreurs said.
Entomologist, Dr Paul Horne, was also called upon, to teach the students how to deal with garden pests.
Groups of students across all year levels from prep to grade six are chosen to assist at different stages of the year.
Community Liaison Coordinator at Cranbourne West, Debbie Dodd, said selected students view the program as a “real highlight” of the curriculum.
“If I go into a class and ask for helpers, everyone wants a turn,” Ms Dodd said.
“I can sense their excitement.”
While getting children to eat their vegetables can be a struggle for parents, Ms Dodd said the involvement in the production of their crops has seen the students become open to trying more of the produce.
“It helps accept vegetables. Prep classes would look at the veggies and talk about them, what they see, what they taste.
“We took whatever it was back to classroom and cooked it. They’ve been very open to eating them.
“They tried it and learned new things. They learnt that fennel tastes like liquorice!”
Having handed-over responsibility of managing the garden to the school, the spirit of the rotarians lives-on, thanks to Bob, the scarecrow, made by Andrew Pinxt OAM and proudly donning a blue Rotary Club t-shirt.
The Rotarians have been fantastic contributors to the school for a number of years, Ms Dodd said.
“They’ve donated money for brunch club to get a fridge and provided donations to the school to buy groceries for families,” she said.
