GOONDIWINDI, QLD
Karra Suhr’s students are growing food in the first half of the year that they will use to cook up a storm in the second half of the year. Her approach to teaching agricultural science is practical and one she hopes will equip her students to better understand the environment and learn important life skills.
Karra is a teacher at St Mary’s School Goondiwindi, a small Queensland town on the NSW border. Her Year 9 and 10 students, with support from Highways and Byways, have created a small garden that can now be used and cared for by all the school’s 50 secondary students.
The students assembled two large, raised vegetable beds and then researched what plants they should grow to eat and what plants would enhance the environment. In recent weeks they have harvested herbs, capsicum, spinach, strawberries and are staking their tomatoes, which keep producing fruit.
Importantly, they have also planted flowers, such as lavender, marigolds and salvias, to help maintain the health of the nearby native and other bees.
“Next term I will be teaching Years 7 to 10 students cooking so we are looking now at what we want to plant and then eat. The students are hoping their spring/summer gardens will have plenty of basil and pumpkins,” Karra said.
“It’s about more than the gardening because the kids have researched what will grow best in this environment and what plants are needed to keep the bees healthy. As part of the agriculture science unit they are also producing a brochure about bees and their importance in our food production.”
Karra said a highlight of the vegetable garden is the teamwork that went into the early setup. Students had to assemble the 2.7 metre long vegie beds and work together to maintain the gardens. Most lunchtimes students inspect the garden and report back to Karra if there’s a problem, a pest or a budding vegetable.
Students are excited at the prospect of cooking what they grow. And any scraps, will of course, go to the school’s chooks and their manure used to fertilise the garden. It’s a circular affair at St Mary’s!
Image top: Students assemble vegetable beds at St Mary’s School Goondiwindi
Image bottom: Students work on the garden