Students grow green thumbs

Students grow green thumbs

Queen Margaret College students have been pulling on their gloves to keep their school green.

The Junior Gardening Club is an initiative started this year after school gardener Sara Bishop noticed girls were interested in the garden.

Every Friday lunchtime the girls grab their watering cans and gardening gloves to meet with Sara to learn how to grow different plants.

“The children were very inquisitive about what I was doing so I thought it would be a good idea to educate them with a gardening club,” Sara explains.

The enthusiastic group has 25 students from Year 2 – 6 with a range of experience levels in the garden.

Year 12 Stella Zhang and Prajna Baskar are also involved to collaborate with the younger girls for their International Baccalaureate studies.

The pair got involved to help the club start a proposal for a greenhouse as part of their “Creativity, Activity, Service” segment of their IB Diploma.

“It’s good to help the younger kids to become passionate about the environment,” Stella says.

“I interviewed one of the Gardening Club kids as part of our project and I asked her what she thought about it. She said it encouraged her to go outside and garden at home.”

Some of the lessons so far have included learning how to grow plants from seed, companion planting, worm farming, transplanting and planting cuttings.

This term the group gained a compost farm and would soon start growing plants for the spring and summer vegetable garden.

“We are growing vegetables including lettuce, radishes and kale,” Sara says.

“It is a great way to show them how they can grow their own food at home.”

Sara says it is a joy to share her passion and encourage the children to look after the planet.

“They are very engaged – they are always asking questions such as why plants grow and where are the best places to grow plants.

“It is a good hobby that teaches children about responsibility and care for the environment.”

ENDS

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