Garden is good

By Kelly Yates
Around 10 students from the centre’s Get into Life classes, aged between 13 and 16, took part in the Keen to be Green program where they spent every Thursday for two terms creating the garden which features edible Australian native plants.
The Bush Tucker Garden was launched on Thursday 12 November, with the students and staff from the centre celebrating the event with a barbecue lunch.
According to youth manager Sarah Cairncross, the “hands-on” Keen to be Green program teaches the young people horticulture skills and also looks at environment and water saving aspects.
“The students, who have all been identified as at risk and disengaged from education due to a range of circumstances, designed the garden and worked with a welder to put together the water feature,” Ms Cairncross said.
“They also had to rip out tree stumps and learn about the native trees and plants they selected for the garden.”
The students worked at the Homestead Road property under the guidance of Vanessa Singleton-Knaap.
Ms Cairncross said the finished garden looked fantastic.
“The students got the opportunity to experience success as a result of hard work,” she said.