Coledale Public School will be opening up its garden for the second Illawarra Edible Garden Trail in November. Download the magazine layout here or read on below…
The children at Coledale Public School are busy in their garden this spring – running around with watering cans, carrying armfuls of mulch for veggie beds and rounding up the chickens. In November, the community will be invited inside to see the fruits of their labour as part of the second Illawarra Edible Garden Trail.
“Students have been enjoying participating in kitchen garden classes, with their freshly harvested produce they have grown for about 12 years,” says kitchen garden program coordinator Joanne Chilton, a School Learning Support Officer (SLSO)at Coledale.
This school by the sea – also known for its whale-watching platform and hosting the monthly Coledale Markets – is about as idyllic an environment as anyone could wish to grow up in. Even the chickens have been lovingly named: Misty, Darth Vader, Princess Layer and Houdini.
Joanne’s own family has close connections with the school going back generations.
“It was my primary school,” she says. “My children were the fourth generation to go through the school, now I am a SLSO teacher at the school and coordinate the kitchen garden program.”
Coledale’s award-winning permaculture garden is now older than most of the children working in it. Building the garden has been a team effort by students, teachers and parent volunteers, who have transformed a small veggie patch into a wonderful outdoor classroom.
This spring Joanne’s students will be planting lettuce, eggplant, tomatoes, cucumber, silverbeet, spring onions, beetroot, zucchini, potatoes, herbs and Warrigal greens, the native leafy green herb used as an alternative to spinach.
After harvesting their veggies for September’s cooking classes, Coledale students will be making zucchini fritters, pizzas, salads and beetroot dips.
These classes provide practical lessons in where food comes from and the work involved in producing it, and promote the rewards of a healthy lifestyle and sustainability. Children grow, cook and eat food from their garden (making them more adventurous eaters, Joanne says), then they turn leftovers into compost and worm food. Even recycled plastic has its place in their yard, with decorations made as part of the Connecting Threads program hanging in the trees.
“We are an environmentally friendly school who are continually striving to add and improve our sustainable practices at our school, so we can help reduce our carbon footprint,” Joanne says.
Thanks to Joanne for welcoming us into the garden and taking the time to tell us more.
Why did you become involved in the garden?
I am passionate about the outdoors, gardening and caring for the environment. I wanted to share this passion with the students. I am always striving to extend our gardens and sustainable practices as we work towards reducing our carbon footprint.
The program was started because families and teachers in Coledale were very passionate about caring for the environment and educating the students about this. Parents and teachers worked together to build this garden and introduce students to a variety of practical organic, sustainable practices that they will be able to use all their lives. We have also found through our programs the students are sharing their knowledge with their own families, empowering them to become the teachers in helping to reduce their own carbon footprint.
How has the program grown?
It started as a small garden, then in 2012 the school received a grant and we built this garden. In 2014 we joined the Stephanie Alexander program. This helped us to extend students’ learning to care for an organic garden and introduce a variety of sustainability practices and cooking while linking to the school curriculum.
What are some of the garden’s greatest achievements?
The school has won several environmental awards including the overall winner and best ongoing environmental initiatives at the yearly Wollongong Rise and Shine School Environmental Awards.
Through our year 5 leadership program we introduced chickens to our garden program.
In 2023, we introduced Connecting Threads to our program – students learn about textile waste and ways to reduce this.
We recently joined OzHarvest FEAST (Food Education and Sustainability Training), extending students’ understanding of how they can help with reducing food waste.
We participate in the Edible Garden Trail – sharing our knowledge and hopefully inspiring other gardeners and schools to set up gardens.
What do the kids love about it?
They love getting outside and connecting with the outdoors and environment. They love growing their own fruit and vegetables, caring for the chickens and their favourite part is cooking and eating the fresh organic produce they grow.
Do they eat their veg now?
It has had a positive influence on students’ eating habits, their health and well-being. They are trying new foods, flavours and textures. Parents regularly comment how they wouldn’t eat them at home but do at school. Which is great. We share recipes with families, so children can cook at home too.
Have you had any problems and how have you solved them?
We’ve issues with rabbits – we had to introduce some raised garden beds and netting over all the vegetable beds. This helped.
Like all gardens we have issues with snails, slugs and slaters – we use egg shells and protective barriers (recycled bottles) around new seedlings.
What can visitors following the Edible Garden Trail expect in November?
They can enjoy exploring our organic garden where we practise various sustainable and organic practices, such as composting, organic pest control, no-dig beds, worm farms, chickens, native bee gardens, bee hotels, bush tucker gardens, frog ponds.
A diverse showcase from Helensburgh to Windang, the 2nd Illawarra Edible Garden Trail will be held on Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th November, 10am-3pm. Early bird tickets are now on sale via Humanitix.