Wilton Playcentre vegetable garden

Laura from Wadestown

Wilton Placentre provides Early Childhood Education for children from birth to school age. It is run by volunteers (parents/caregivers).

At Wilton Playcentre, we have a strong culture of teaching tamariki about sustainability and how to look after the environment.

One of the ways we teach this awareness is by growing vegetables on site. We have two small planters with a few herbs and some vegetables growing as part of our learning programme.

We would like to apply for AMI grants to build a vegetable garden in an underutilized area of our property. This would allow us to broaden the learning opportunities for our tamariki and make our community grow stronger bonds.

If our application is successful, we will use the money to purchase a garden bed, mulch and compost; and a rotating compost station. Some of the money will be used for landscaping, as the area does need to be cleared to build the raised bed. A photo of the area to be used for the vegetable garden is attached to this application.

This project will support learning for tamariki about environmental awareness as well as transferring skills regarding how to grow vegetables and fruits. It will provide learning opportunities for collaboration, communication and planning skills; they will learn about what vegetables grow at different times of the year, how to look after plants and the impact the environment has on birds and insects; the importance of bees and pests on different crops.

Working together to build the garden and keep vegetables growing (which we harvest and share at kai time) will help us build relationships among adults and children, keeping our community strong.