What's Happened This Week

Thank you to all the people that have offered support and encouragement to the school in what it is doing in this Life Skills program. The feedback from parents at the two, Parent/Teacher nights has been overwhelming.

This week has been a productive one. The kitchen floor plan has been finalised, so its now time to investigate what white goods are best suited to the school's needs.

When you see the finished product I think you'll agree, the children will have a wonderful space to work in.

The work shed has started to be cleared out in preparation for its overhaul into a comfortable chicken coop.

Many people have asked what shape and form the vegetable garden is going to take.

The plan at the moment is to have all garden beds raised. Some of these will be the curved corrugated iron type that are available from Bunnings etc. We plan in using these to plant the many different types of herbs that we'll be growing.

The second type will be constructed from straw bales. There are many advantages to using this type of garden bed.
The first  is that they are easily relocated if the need arises. Secondly once they start to break down after approx 12 months they can be replaced with new ones and the old ones are used as mulch to replenish the new gardens. Thirdly, the width and height of the bales is ideal for the children. They are at their height for bending over to reach their produce and it gives the children a place to sit while they are working.
Other advantages are it's a "no dig" garden. This allows planting to begin without a lot work being done on the soil.

Before the soil goes into the garden, mulch, garden scraps and kitchen scraps can be placed into the base to give a natural layer of organic compost.

The soil is then placed over the top of this and the garden is

 ready for planting. The depth of the beds give enough room

below the surface for crops such as carrotts, potatoes etc. to grow.

Very soon after planting, our garden will start to look like this.

Hopefully that has given you a better idea as to what will be taking shape in the near future.

If you have any more questions or would just like to follow the blog, please do not hesitate to join in.

Until next week,

Stay safe and enjoy life,

Ross T

Welcome to the First posting.

This will be the first of many postings that I will be making to keep the community informed on the progress of Burpengary State School's Green Garden Project, the chicken run, the kitchen  and the Life Skills Program.

Over the coming months you will see how the gardens are taking shape and as the kitchen comes on line, I will be updating you on what's happening there, as well as recipes of what the children have been cooking.

This first week has seen a lot of behind the scenes preparation. There  are plans to draw, development applications to make and quotes to be gathered for fencing, gates and other necessary items needed to be acquired before the first sod of dirt is turned.

Already we have had parents from the school offer their services and valuable infrastructure, that will ultimately make this project a resounding success. To those parents, a big thank you!

For those that are not familiar with the layout of the school, the photo at right shows where the garden will be situated. It is protected in the east by the P & C wall (great for winter heat retention and radiation) and surrounded by the Year 3 classrooms, the library and (what will be after construction of the new classroom block) the LOTE rooms. As you can see we won't have a shortage of water with that huge supply sitting at the far end of the garden. This whole area will be fenced to deter unwanted visitors.

Down near the Prep/Grade 1 play area is going the chicken run. We hope to have approximately 30 chickens. I'm sure that the Preps and lower grade children will fall in love with them.

There is a lot of work to be done before they arrive. We already have, what will be their coop, but it needs some major renovations to make it habitable. There is also fencing to go around it and a roof to go over the top of the entire run.

All this will take time and effort but in the long run, what an asset for the children.
Once this program is up and running at full speed, all children across all year levels will be involved.
To make this successful the children need to take "ownership" of this project. To make it even greater the Burpengary school community needs to also take on board ownership.
As the program builds up the school will be asking for volunteers to help in the construction side of the gardens. We will be asking for helpers both in the garden and in the kitchen.
A couple of hours of either your time or some resources will make a world of difference I can think of no better way to support your children's school  and claim your ownership on a small part of this exciting project.
Please give me your thoughts and any ideas you have .
Till next week when I give you another update;

Stay safe and enjoy life.

Ross Tattersall