August 2024
A Postcard From The North West
Earlier this winter we checked in with two of our north west Tasmanian primary schools to see how their newly finished gardens have bloomed!
East Devonport Primary School was buzzing with activity, with the kinders buddying up with year sixes to plant the herb — and pollinator — garden. East Devonport’s brand new perennial garden features a beautiful outdoor classroom with sandstone seating and timber arbor which will be trained with grapevines for summer shade; stepping stones winding their way through a food forest with native edibles, herbs, fruits and flowers; a sandstone yarning circle; polytunnel for year-round food production; an excellent self stirring (worm-powered) compost setup; and loads of enthusiastic students who have already been enjoying pizza with veggies and ‘green sprinkles’ from the garden!
East Devonport Primary School
Romaine Park Primary School’s garden was established well over ten years ago, and 24 Carrot Gardens has given it a well-deserved transformation and upgrade. We added another of our famous woodfire pizza ovens, and built a spectacular macrocarpa arbor nearby, featuring a circular timber table and seating — perfect for pizza afternoons with families! There’s a sandstone yarning circle surrounded by native Tasmanian plantings, a steel arbor at the entrance to grow a tunnel of flowering vines, refreshed annual beds and MORE growing space (with even more to come).
We dropped in for a lesson and it was clear that the students just LOVE being in the garden, were genuinely interested and loved helping doing the digging. They are excited to see the changes to their garden and proud of their work and contributions towards its transformation.
The students were planting out the Tasmanian native section, and popping in winter seedlings to get the garden going, digging big holes in the beautiful red soil. They were very chatty about their favourite things to eat from the garden, strawberries being a highlight!
Romaine Park Primary School
A huge congratulations to garden specialists Bonnie McGee (East Devonport Primary) and Emmy Crook (Romaine Park Primary) and all the staff at the schools, our excellent contractors Benson’s Landscaping and our Northern Program Manager Kris McCarthy who all have supported the garden development.
At this stage we have one more primary school garden to develop in the north west at Montello Primary School in Burnie, and Ravenswood Heights Primary School in Launceston is starting soon!
You can always support our work by making a small ongoing donation via our donation form. All funds keep us cooking and gardening in the schools that need it most!
Photography by: Melanie Kate