The budding gardeners of Wanganui East School Lyzz Barry, 9 (left), Sophie Kenny and Daniel Goodwin, both 11, and Christopher Adam, 10. PHOTO/STUART MUNRO
The budding gardeners of Wanganui East School Lyzz Barry, 9 (left), Sophie Kenny and Daniel Goodwin, both 11, and Christopher Adam, 10. PHOTO/STUART MUNRO
On the far side of Wanganui East School there's a little piece of gardening paradise tended to by four kids and their grown-up mentor.
The school has had its own garden for about 10 years, and this year it features several varieties of vegetable, including broad beans, potatoes, carrots, andleeks.
Murray Whitlock, who established the garden has been helping out at the school ever since, spending one hour every Thursday with the kids to tend to their patch.
"They grow a lot of them from seeds, including the broccoli and cabbage we're about to plant.
"They take most of the produce home, but we will keep some of the spuds for the leavers' dinner in mid-December," he said.
Lyzz Barry said she loved getting to eat veges she'd grown and Sophie Kenny enjoyed getting out of class. Christopher Adam enjoys getting his hands dirty and Daniel Goodwin's favourite part is getting rid of the weeds.
This year the kids' crop is entered in the Tui School Garden Challenge, an annual competition to find the best school garden in New Zealand where students design, plan, grow and maintain a garden.
The competition ends October 25 and the judging period runs from October 29 to November 12. Winners will be announced on November 18 and the top-scoring school gets a garden shed, $500 of garden vouchers and a visit from TV chef Annabel Langbein.
