Garden grows beyond schoolyard at Kyneton Secondary College

By Angela Valente

21:42:PM 25/11/2013

All hands on deck: Julie McLaren in the garden with year 9 students (from left) Sam, Brodie, Finley, Chantelle and Jordan. Photo: Paul Rovere

A disused horticulture area at Kyneton Secondary College has been transformed into a community edible garden with help from Kyneton Transition Hub volunteers.

Hub convener Julie McLaren said the area already had a shade house, hot house tools and shed.

“We thought how could you not start a community garden when you have all this here already.”

The Kyneton college did not run a horticulture subject at the school this year, which gave Ms McLaren and a team of volunteers time to establish the garden.

There are plantings in wicking beds and seedlings in the hot house, and they have brought in chooks, bantams and a “truckload of soil”.

She said the garden was for community use, but students at the school were also taking advantage of the area.

Year 9 students have been helping in the garden as part of community service projects, while year 7 students collect eggs that are used in home economics classes.

“Engaging 15-year-olds can be tough, but they have worked really hard moving dirt and clearing sleepers,” Ms McLaren said.

“We haven’t had a community garden in Kyneton for some years.

“We hear that most people in Kyneton have big backyards so why would we need it? But there are people in rental places, people who don’t like gardening in their own spaces for whatever reason, and this is a place for people to learn and share.

“A lot of people like being in the company of others and it’s a social place, too.”

» People interested in volunteering should call Julie McLaren, 5422 3023