Salad days ahead at Williams Reserve

Residents of Wanganui East will be making fruit salad from Williams Reserve by this time next year.

Wanganui East School planted 100 trees in the reserve on Sunday after receiving funds for the trees from the Wanganui District Health Board.

The fruit will be available to the whole community and also tie in with the national fruit in school's scheme, in which students at decile one and two schools receive a piece of fruit every morning.

Up to 40 teachers, community members and children turned up to plant 50 apple trees, 25 pear trees and a mixture of 25 peach and nectarine trees at the back of the reserve.

The trees were chosen especially for their low maintenance properties from Springvale Garden Nursery, and East Town Timber and Fencing supplied wooden stakes for the trees free of charge.

School principal Robin Paul said the whole community was invited to come and help look after the fruit trees.

"It's great, it'll benefit everybody. It's a first for us, and for Wanganui as far as I know."
The school will do the majority of looking after the fruit trees, and their care will become part of the school environmental curriculum, he said.

Community member and school parent Eilidh Pithkethley was one of the eager workers helping out with the "awesome" project.

"It's letting the children see how plants are planted and grown, and teaching them to help care for the trees its part of their doing that's going to help make these trees grown and get fresh fruit. When Autumn comes they'll be able to watch them grow, and blossom and get fresh fruit," she said.