There are many ways to start a garden. In this session, we will learn 3 very easy and effective ways of getting a garden going in your school. We will split into 3 groups and each group will learn in detail about a method of growing – from seed, from cutting and from root stock. To finish off, each student will make a wicking pot, which they will plant with their preferred method to take home and watch as it grows.

The way to any student’s brain, is through their stomach… What better way to learn about local food, than to pick, prepare and eat it! While we’re preparing a delectable meal, we will be discussing the problems with our current food system - food miles, transportation, packaging, globalization, economy, health, etc. We will finish up with the effects that changing food habits can have on the climate emergency.

We’ll go for a walk around a beautiful, productive garden. Along our way, we’ll observe, smell, touch and maybe even nibble. We will look at the whole growing process from seed, to seedling, to plant, to fruit, to plate and then finally to waste. Along the way we will be discussing seasonality of produce, biomes/climates, companion planting, organic growing principles, and the benefits of eating local.

We’ll be looking into the biggest waste issue currently facing Australia and it’s not the recycling one… This one is easily overcome. Organic waste. We will look at the facts and figures of all the problems associated with sending organic waste to landfill. We will flip the problem into a basic solution that everyone can do at home and work. This process should be the starting and the ending point of all sustainable food production.

Come for a wander and be amazed at how many nourishing, abundant and overlooked plants surround us. Creative cuisines meet the opportunistic omnivore. What better way to do it than a game of spotto… Whilst wandering, we will taste a selection of weeds and discuss what delicious delights would best utilise their character.

A great place to start – a whole school waste audit. Working out what the problems are in your school and coming up with some solutions to fix it. This is the start of positive environmental change within your school and a great way for your school to save money.