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Kirsha Kaechele, Ange Miezitis, Jordan Harries, Reuben Parker-Greer 2014

Students and 24CG Program Manager Reuben Parker-Greer at Windermere Primary School 2014

Students are Glenorchy Primary School in 2014

Step forward to 2013. Several years after moving to Lutruwita/Tasmania, Kirsha connected with Angela Miezitis, then Principal of Moonah Primary School (MPS). Building on Ange’s expertise and experience in establishing the kitchen garden program at MPS, they hatched an ambitious plan to partner philanthropic funding with a handful of schools in Glenorchy with a simple and powerful vision: every school should have a kitchen garden.

Kirsha mused that if we could get DW* to sponsor the first school (Windermere Primary, less than 2km from MONA), other donors would follow. Using David's initial contribution as the carrot on the stick worked, and we soon had the resources to fund four schools, within months of starting.

Fundamental to the successful start-up of the project, was the establishment of a steering group and partnerships to guide project planning and development. Members included: Robert Sveen (Colony47), Marcus Ragus and Mark Fountain (Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens), Renate Hughes (Glenorchy City Council), Kirsha Kaechele and Angela Miezitis. This group provided hundreds of hours of volunteer time to advise and guide us in the first few years, for which we are eternally grateful.

Initially auspiced by the Royal Botanical Gardens from 2014 to 2015, we transitioned to an auspice relationship with Colony47 in 2016 — an arrangement that continued for six years. 

Between 2014 and 2021, the program grew from five to 17 schools, and in 2021, Kaechele

founded the charity Material Institute Lutruwita, to steward the program’s continued expansion bringing the current membership to 20 primary and four high schools statewide.

A special event at Bridgewater Community Centre in 2014!

Students in the garden at Kingston Primary in 2015

Students at Risdon Vale Primary pose for their photo in 2015

Students and teachers at Herdsmans Cove Primary School 2016

Moving forward, we would love to see the original vision come to fruition: a 24 Carrot Garden in every Tasmanian school. As we celebrate a decade of designing, building and running kitchen garden programs in Lutruwita, it would be easy to launch into planning for the next decade. But we know the real power of school kitchen garden programs is the flow-on impacts to health and student engagement —and this is what we want to focus our attention on as we continue to support and steward the program at our existing schools. Well, at least for the next year! 

In 2025, we’ll celebrate our journey so far with our stellar team of foodies, gardeners, teachers and artists including our program managers, Reuben Parker-Greer, Tamas Oszvald, Kristina McCarthy, Simon Dunne, Andy Rushton and Joanne Dean. We would also like to acknowledge our dear friends and peers who have come and gone from the 24 Carrot community: Tristan Bunker, Renate Hughes, Dr Bridgette Watts, and of course Steve Devereaux, Director of Projects at MONA.

While there have been many individuals and organisations that have been instrumental in bringing us this far, there are too many to name individually… it does indeed take a village!

Keep an eye out for further announcements on our 10th year events and celebrations and we hope to see you there!

If you would like to support 24 Carrot Gardens into the future, become a Regular Donor today.

 *David Walsh, Husband of Kirsha Kaechele; Owner/Founder of MONA.

Words by Sarah Proud, Material Institute CEO

Glenorchy Primary School student cooking up a storm at MONA 2017

Fun faces from Clarenden Vale Primary School in 2018

Garden ready to go at Tribaunna District School in 2018

Student in the garden at Warrane Primary School 2018

Students in Springfield Gardens Primary School

The origin story of 24 Carrot Gardens is as much about why and when it started, as it is about where it’s going, and its generative social impact.

I have often reflected on how Kirsha and I grew up in different parts of the world, united by island geography: Guam, a US Island Territory in the western Pacific, and King Island, in the heart of the Roaring 40s in Bass Strait, Lutruwita/Tasmania. Our childhood experiences and relationship with food on those islands expanded across the two extremes of food culture. From the abundance of a veggie patch that was, at my home, bigger than the house I grew up in, to a reliance on mass produced, highly processed foods shipped hundreds of miles to back fill familial kitchen pantries.

These extremes are not only still evident today, but exist across a growing divide. The 24 Carrot Gardens program addresses this by designing, building and running kitchen garden programs in school communities across the state.

The seeds of 24 Carrot Gardens were sown decades ago, and its true beginnings can be traced back to New Orleans, USA. It was there that Kirsha’s immersion in the culture, arts and community catalysed her thinking on a deeper systems awareness of food. Spending over a decade there, she witnessed firsthand the transformative impact of youth engaging in the cultivation of food and the culinary arts. This experience would later inspire her as she relocated to a new island home on the other side of the world, and started working directly with schools.

The origin story of 24 Carrot Gardens is as much about why and when it started, as it is about where it’s going, and its generative social impact. I have often reflected on how Kirsha and I grew up in different parts of the world...

Big smiles from the kitchen garden students at East Tamar Primary School at their garden opening in April 2024

Students at Kingston High School busy at work planting in their newly finished garden 2023

Students at Kingston High School at their garden opening 2023

Reflecting on 10 years, our team couldn’t be prouder, and we are filled with radical hope for the 10 years to come.

We would like to say a huge thank you to our fearless founder Kirsha Kaechele, foundational partners, grant givers, philanthropists, in-kind service providers, volunteers, community members and advocates. Whether it’s donating dollars, design expertise, an extra pair of hands or a truckload of compost — we couldn’t do what we do without you!

Words by Minna Bright, 24 Carrot Gardens Project Lead

Learning to grow and cook fresh food is transformative. It connects us with ourselves, the natural world and our communities. At 24 Carrot Gardens, we want all young people to feel empowered to cultivate a positive food culture, and we’ve started in the communities that need it most.

Since breaking ground in 2014, we have reached over 4,100 young people through our kitchen garden program. Each student that encounters the program is engaged over multiple years of their school life. We now grow, cook and share seasonal food in 24 schools across Lutruwita / Tasmania, with over 260 hours of hands-on learning happening every week, led by 41 skilled and passionate educators — our Garden and Kitchen Specialists! 

We have celebrated at 7 Carnivals and hosted more than 100 interdisciplinary workshop days, weaving together seasonal food with art, music, science and beauty — because learning is more fun when it’s creative and inquiry-led. We have tended hundreds of compost heaps, sown thousands of seeds, harvested countless kilos of wondrously wonky produce and turned it into delicious meals to enjoy together.

We love to see students observing seasonal change, nurturing plants, building gross motor skills, discovering new interests, gaining confidence, trying new foods, sharing with friends, and coming back for seconds (and thirds!).

Learning to grow and cook fresh food is transformative. It connects us with ourselves, the natural world and our communities.

Ryan and Kris harvesting running beans in Moonah Primary School's Gardens

Ryan and Kris in Moonah Primary School's Gardens

Ryan continued to enjoy cooking throughout high school at New Town High and went on to become an apprentice chef. It was while Ryan worked in the culinary and restaurant industry that he witnessed first hand what he described as being, “A big hole in the industry for waste and seeing where the food came from.” Ryan shared with Kris that they didn’t use many local suppliers, “We’d call up a supplier and everything would come from the one supplier. Everything. It’s not like you call up this [one] farm because they’re good at growing carrots, or because they’re good at growing cauliflower. It’s, you put an order in and you get what you’re given. There were no imperfections. All of the cauliflowers were white. All of the carrots were straight. All the tomatoes were perfectly round. Whereas in reality, that’s not the case.” 

Observing how little local produce was being used contributed to Ryan’s decision to change career pathways and divert his attention away from cooking and into the home and school gardening space.

When 24 Carrot Gardens were hiring a Garden Specialist to deliver classes in the Montrose Bay High School (MBHS) 24 Carrot Garden, Ryan, who was the groundskeeper at MBHS at the time, submitted an application where he cited his student experience in Moonah Primary’s kitchen garden program as a formative influence on his life and career choices. In a beautiful cycle, Ryan was a perfect fit for the role and he was employed as a 24 Carrot Garden Specialist in 2023.

Ryan believes getting students into the garden at a young age is important because, “It’s all about teaching [them] the basics of where their food comes from, it doesn’t just show up in the supermarket … and even if they’re not harvesting, giving them small tasks like watering the garden, or giving them a pot with a seed in it and putting them in charge of it, gives them a sense of great responsibility.” 

While working at Montrose Bay High School, Ryan was able to pass on knowledge he’s acquired over the years with his own students, “I told them to have an open mind when coming into the garden … I really enjoyed showing them that when you pull a carrot, there can sometimes be imperfections … not all fruits and veggies are [the same] and they’re perfectly fine if they aren’t.”

Ryan and Kris visiting Montrose Bay Highschool

Kris and Ryan in Ryan's own garden in New Norfolk.

Ryan witnessed firsthand the positive influence of the 24 Carrot Garden program, “24 Carrot Gardens has impacted my life a lot … It's taught me that past primary school, going into high school, kids still want to learn. Obviously it’s a little bit fewer because high school kids all want to do different things, but there are kids out there that actually want to learn [about the garden] and find out more. And you’d be surprised at the ones that actually do enjoy gardening.” 

To conclude the afternoon, Ryan welcomed Kris into his home garden in the Derwent Valley. The garden, having been established less than 12 months ago, is a beautiful testament to his passion for growing food that started all those years ago in the Moonah Primary School garden. He described his stunning and productive garden as the place where all of his previous endeavours of working in gardens and kitchens has come to. After the garden tour, Kris asked Ryan why having a home garden was so important to him. 

“Having a garden is important to me because of the free food… It’s cliche but not being able to get certain things [at the supermarket] for certain prices or certain sizes. Instead of going to the supermarket and paying $7 for a head of lettuce, by knowing how to put seeds in the ground, I can buy a packet of 1000 seeds for $3 and you should see the outcome from that!” 

Looking towards the future, Ryan said he would like to buy a little farm, live off the land, grow veggies, go to markets and have a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Box. When asked what he hoped to see in the future for 24 Carrot Gardens he replied, “I would like to see the program in all schools. Kitchen, garden, sustainable living type programs incorporated into all of the classes. Every curriculum has something to do with the garden, or the garden can be weaved into it. So I think that would be a pretty good goal!” 

We couldn’t agree more! If you would like to contribute to our vision of creating more kitchen gardens in more schools around Tasmania (and beyond!) you can donate to our program on a one off or recurring basis. Every $ counts and we are proud to be putting every $ to good use and inspiring young minds like Ryan’s. 

You can also check out some videos of Ryan's story on our Instagram page.

24 Carrot Gardens - Young People are Empowered to Create a Positive and Connected Food Culture.

As part of our 10 year celebration we chatted with Ryan Marshall about his experience in the 24 Carrot Gardens program and how it has impacted his life, education and career. 

We took Ryan back to Moonah Primary School where he was a student at the inception of the 24 Carrot Gardens program. One of our Program Managers, Kris McCarthy, spoke with Ryan about how the program influenced his life and view of food systems. They then ventured to Montrose Bay High School to learn more about Ryan’s experience re-joining the program as a 24 Carrot Gardens Garden Specialist, before finishing up the afternoon with a tour of Ryan’s thriving home garden in the Derwent Valley.

What is now the 24 Carrot Garden site at Moonah Primary School was once a bare paddock, without a fruit tree or raised garden bed in sight. The school kitchen and garden was advocated for by the Principal of MPS at the time, Ange Miezitis. As a result of Ange’s vision and resolve, MPS received a grant in 2009 from Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation (SAKGF) for two years worth of funding. The garden was established and Moonah Primary became a demonstration school in Lutruwita/Tasmania, pioneering the way for the kitchen and garden education movement for the whole of the state. 

Ryan Marshall was in Grade 3 at MPS when the garden was built and spent four years participating in the kitchen garden program before moving for high school. Although he didn’t know it at the time, the program ignited his curiosity and love of gardening and cooking immensely.  

“The [school] garden sparked my interest in the food and garden world,” Ryan shared, “and the program influenced my outlook on healthy food immensely.” He fondly recalled working alongside the volunteers and specialists in the school garden, cooking in the kitchen and then coming together at the end of the lesson to eat together. Ryan elaborated further and shared another standout memory with us, one of a celebrity chef dinner, where he and other students helped to cook and serve a meal alongside a celebrity chef for local community members and politicians.  

Since the funding agreement between SAKGF and Moonah Primary ceased in 2011, the celebrity chef dinners were a regular occurrence as a fundraiser for the school’s kitchen garden program. 24 Carrot Gardens founder, Kirsha Kaechele, attended one of these events and connected with Ange Miezitis, which subsequently provided inspiration for beginning the 24 Carrot Gardens program. You can read the 24 Carrot Gardens origin story here.

As part of our 10 year celebration we chatted with Ryan Marshall about his experience in the 24 Carrot Gardens program and how it has impacted his life, education and career.

Cultivating a Positive Food Culture