For Bathgate Park School teacher and garden supervisor Peter Buchanan, the garden and its on-site biodome are a golden opportunity for helping children learn the skills and value of gardening.
"Our focus this year is to use about half of the raised beds in the garden for teaching the children, to raise seeds and maintain them," Mr Buchanan said.
As the soil needed renewing, a truck-load was delivered before Christmas and the pupils set to work on weeding and spreading soil to prepare the beds for planting.
"We left it all to settle over the summer break, so now we are ready to get into some gardening," he said.
Six classrooms of children would be involved, with plants to be divided between the beds and rotated to ensure soil health. Varieties to be planted would include brassicas, potatoes, chives and onions.
Children also took part in a programme where they harvested produce from the garden beds and learned to prepare it in the school kitchens.
Mr Buchanan said the Bathgate Park School Community Garden had been a fixture in the school grounds since it was established in 2013, with raised garden beds and a biodome.
One of the city’s first community gardens, it was created in a patch of unused ground at the school in a community project led by the Rotary Club of Dunedin South.
The first tree planted in the garden space was a heritage apple tree provided by Jason Ross of Habitate.
The orchard has since grown to include a range of fruit trees and berries
Mr Buchanan said community members continued to access the beds and the biodome for growing a variety of plants and crops, mainly on an individual basis.
"To that end, we are looking for someone to take on the role of co-ordinator of the community section of the garden — that would be incredibly helpful.
A barbecue at the garden this week was very well attended, with parents helping with weeding and putting their hands up to be involved.
"It was a very positive outcome," Mr Buchanan said.
For more information, contact the school.
