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Kids' Edible Gardens - MDC's Winning Garden Programme

Monday 7 November 2011, 2:29PM

By Marlborough District Council

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MARLBOROUGH

Annie McDonald's wonderful work as education officer for Marlborough District Council has been recognised by her selection as Marlborough’s finalist in the national search for “Gardener of the Year”.

Annie is the inspiration and energy behind the Council's Kids' Edible Garden Programme, which helps school children grow, harvest and prepare vegetables.

The Edible Garden programme began as a trial in 2005 with five schools so schools could have somewhere to recycle their organic lunch waste from the worm farm or EM Bokashi systems. Annie says the inspiration came from the Christchurch Organic Garden Trust which has been running a range of projects including edible gardens since 1999.

“It is a great way to teach students how to grow organic seasonal food and to encourage them to eat fresh from the garden,” says Annie.

Six years on, this partnership programme between the Council and the Nelson Marlborough District Health Board has 20 schools with raised gardens, a curriculum-based programme, professional development for teachers and a funded facilitator to support learning in the garden. The Marlborough District Council continues to provide some of the funding for that gardening support and teacher training.

Many of the initial gardens have been extended and 15 schools have received further funding to put in Open Orchards.

The next phase is going to focus on “Grow and Cook”, linking in with The Farmers Market mobile kitchen and skilled cooks, enabling students to pick seasonal vegetable and fruits from their gardens and orchards and learn how to cook them using simple healthy recipes.

With the Kids’ Edible Garden programme adopted by 60% of Marlborough schools, and with support coming from the Community Gardens and a local school seed bank now established, Annie is confident the programme will spread further afield.

“I would love to see this programme go nationwide,” says Annie. “It has so much potential to help children set up life-long healthy eating as well as teaching important messages about the environment and budgeting.”

The winner of the 2011 Gardener of the Year, in association with Kiwicare Garden Products, will be decided by public vote. You can vote for Annie through the New Zealand Gardener magazine website www.nzgardener.co.nz

Voting closes 30 November.