Greenhouse supports Garden to Table programme
Seven years ago we began the garden program at Pahoia School and we have now integrated the Garden to Table curriculum into every classroom at our school. This allows our 200 students to learn how to grow, harvest, prepare and share good healthy food, and take this knowledge home to share with their whānau.
Two years ago we met the team from Bay of Plenty Treecrop Association and began a connection with this fantastic group of lovely people. Today we give thanks to the Bay of Plenty Treecrop Association for their donation of a fantastic Wintergardenz greenhouse, along with additional funding, which will allow our students to learn how to grow from seed, and scientifically investigate the whole greenhouse environment.
Bay of Plenty Treecrops have also donated fruit trees to our school, and they are sharing their valuable knowledge and years of experience, which is priceless. With an annual membership of just $50 we think this is a great investment in ongoing learning, and we encourage locals to join up and be part of their ongoing field days and workshops.
We cannot operate our fantastic Garden to Table program without fundraising, and the many community connections which are currently in place, so we would also like to thank the Centre Trust in Ōmokoroa (the op shop who give proceeds back to the community), James and the team from Grove Avocado Oil in Te Puna, and also Debs and Peta from the Pahoia Markets, plus many other local businesses within our community like Growers Direct, Gammans, Kings Seeds, Carine Garden Centre, and Tui Garden Products, who have donated their sponsorship, time or products to our school. We are incredibly grateful to you all.
And a final thank to all our community volunteers and teachers for the time they put in helping our children learn to be independent in the kitchen and the garden. Our specialist teacher, Karen Radley, who has stepped up to take on the Garden to Table planning, and Sheena Saunders, our Principal, who has embraced this great ‘out of the box’ learning, and let us grow the program to this level.
We are planting the seed of learning at Pahoia School, and empowering our chefs, gardeners, scientists, horticulture specialists, local growers and business owners of the future.
We always welcome our community to support or become part of our program, email garden@pahoia.school.nz or karen@pahoia.school.nz for more information.