Integrating indigenous gardens into your edible schoolyard.

• Students explore bush tucker by designing an edible indigenous garden for their school.
  
• What students already know about bush tucker and indigenous plants.
  
• Do indigenous plants exist in your school grounds already
• Investigate plants used by indigenous people, not just as a source of food but to provide shelter and medicine.
  
• List of possible plants to include in the garden
• Which plants are indigenous to the local area
  
• How easy are the plants to obtain
  
• Size of the plants - how large will they grow

Building your garden.

• Safety in the garden
• Types of materials to use for construction in your organic garden
• Grow your own materials (bamboo etc)
• Pathways, heights, size, accessibility
• Building a raised veggie bed
• Creating a bamboo trellis and tepee

Includes project management of garden construction during Veggie Blitz days

Designing for maximum yield and curriculum integration.

One hour of clever design can save ten hours of hard work.

Our professional permaculture designers will design of your school garden to maximise the space available, the number of students, your estimated budget, incorporate an outdoor classroom and integrate curriculum activities for long term use.

We can complete the design with or without student participation. We have found that by including students in the design process a deeper understanding of the elements of the garden will be gained and a sense of ownership in the gardens will be established.

• Elements of a design
• Sectors and Zones
• Positioning the garden
• How to design a garden
• Site analysis
• Sector analysis & sun patterns
• Designing out problems
• Stages and steps
• Why good planning saves time and improves productivity
• The needs of the client/school
• Materials required
• Walk around a garden area for observation

Keeping everyone safe in the garden.

• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
• Use of equipment
• Safety using garden products
• Others working around you
• Storage solutions
• Wildlife awareness
• Lifting and carrying equipment
• Reading labels
• First Aid

Creating habitat to attract diversity into your garden.

• Identifying the different types of habitats
• What do we attract to the garden and why they are important
• How do we bring them to the garden and keep them there
• Recognising the importance of existing habitats and nurturing them

Intro text.

Theory:

• lorum
• Ipsum

Practical:

• Lorum
• Ipsum

Seasonal planning for a subtropical edible garden.

• Mapping sun and shade patterns throughout the year
• Understanding orientation
• Growing in the subtropics (specific issues)
• Planning your garden for a year of food (this steps into garden design)
• Seasonal jobs - busy times, quiet times
• When to plant, when to harvest
• Annuals & perennials - growing food throughout the year
• Understanding the subtropical climate and how it affects backyard food production
• Using a compass, finding orientation
• Using sun map for our region

Creating a garden that's a feast for the senses.

• Selecting safe plants for your sensory garden
• The healing role of gardens
• Herbs to use (teas, health etc)
• Designing your sensory garden
• Arts and crafts in the garden (gourds, luffas etc)
• 5 senses - Colour (sight/seeing); Texture (touch/feeling); Smell (scents); Sound (hearing) & Taste (flavour)
• Designing Sensory Gardens and Rainbow Gardens
• Varieties of plants and their uses
• Have a taste, smell, feel, admire and listen for any sounds

Growing on verandahs, court yards and small spaces.

• Container gardening
• Soils for pots
• Using vertical spaces
• Growing in the shade
• Recycled materials for fun garden ideas