THE Meredith Community Garden opened on Monday afternoon and is now accessible to local residents keen to try their hand, or green thumb, at growing.<\/p>\n
The planning, designing and development of the space is an ongoing collaboration between charity, Hands of Change and Meredith Primary School\u2019s grade 5 and 6 pupils as part of life skills program, Nurturing Young Minds for Their Future.<\/p>\n
Pulled together in less than a term, with the support of experts who mentored the children and community volunteers, principal Steven Trotter said the garden was meant to be a 12-month project on the block adjacent to the Meredith Sharing Shed.<\/p>\n
He said community engagement has been \u201cremarkable\u201d in accelerating work at the site, to help the children gain experiences they normally wouldn\u2019t get in a classroom.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe skills that are being developed, like the critical thinking and creativity, are 21st century skills,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHeavy lifting was done by adults, but all the hands-on development stuff, the kids have done themselves. Everything from the design, where the paths and fence posts are, they\u2019ve built the garden beds, planted everything and dug up the turf.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a principal, I\u2019m extremely proud of what they\u2019ve been able to achieve and the concepts they\u2019ve developed, and this will be something they\u2019ll look back on in years to come and keep an interest in it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Twelve-year-old student leader Harley said he\u2019s had fun building elements of the space alongside his mates.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of us like gardening, so we\u2019ve all enjoyed working as a team and coming over on a Monday and Thursday,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re looking forward to seeing people use it and we feel proud that we\u2019ve done something for the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hands of Change co-director Chris Ardrey said the garden is open for anyone to use, and will be a place for ongoing collaboration with the school next year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re looking forward to working with the new year fives, and those moving up to year six,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll be building out the garden a bit more with more wicking beds, we\u2019ll get a roof on the pergola for shade and put some irrigation in.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Meredith Community Pantry, which has been well-used during the pandemic, has moved to a discreet corner at the back of the Garden, previously down the side of the school.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE Meredith Community Garden opened on Monday afternoon and is now accessible to local residents keen to try their hand, or green thumb, at growing. The planning, designing and development of the space is an ongoing collaboration between charity, Hands of Change and Meredith Primary School\u2019s grade 5 and 6 pupils as part of life […]<\/p>\n