Students of Room 7 at Avon School have begun a new project this month - clearing out the school vege garden.
Room 7 teacher Andrea Harding says the garden was once a popular aspect of the school but "it got a little forgotten about and overgrown so we decided it was time to bring it back to life".
Over the last month students and parents have been volunteering their time to dig and pull weeds. "We have had a lot of volunteer help, as well as donations of seeds and plants," says Andrea.
On Friday afternoon Andrea acknowledged five students who have gone out of their way to contribute to the garden. "We had a big dig-over day on Tuesday and these students were out in the wet and cold weather showing huge dedication to the project." Zamira Rodda (7) loves working in the garden. "We are going to fill it with all kinds of veges and fruit trees and maybe even big sun flowers." Andrea says that the garden is going to open up a huge number of opportunities for the students, "they will learn all about how to plant and take care of the seedlings, as well as learn the life cycles of the plants".
She hopes the students will also learn about the value of budgeting. "We will record how much each stage of the garden costs so that the students can learn the value of growing your own veges." Principal Denise Hendren is pleased to see the garden coming to life again. "Hopefully when we start producing fruit and veges students will be able to take them home to their families."