Kids Edible Gardens in Schools (KEGS) begins in Nelson

What is Kids Edible Gardens Nelson?

Kids Edible Gardens Nelson (KEGs for short) aims to support primary schools to teach students about edible gardening and how this relates to waste minimisation, healthy eating, physical activity and environmental awareness in general.

Why edible gardening? It is widely accepted that edible gardens are a great way to get kids interested in the natural world – how things interact, where our food comes from, where our waste goes… When kids are involved in growing their own food, they are more likely to take an interest in eating more healthily, plus they get the benefits of the physical activity. How does it work? NEC has employed two facilitators who work in four schools each. The facilitators prepare a programme of gardening activities at the beginning of each term and visit each school for 1.5 hours each week to deliver the programme. Lead Teachers work closely with the facilitators and are encouraged to “take the garden into the classroom” to support the kids’ learning. NEC also provides some tools, seeds and other equipment. Each school operates the programme slightly differently, to best suit their own school culture. KEGs aims to not only help maintain these gardens, but also to embed them into the school culture. Doing this enables all students to have the opportunity to be involved and helps build strong relationships within the school and with the wider community. NEC has purchased resources from the Organic Garden City Trust to help schools use the gardens as a ‘living link’ to the school curriculum.

Which schools are involved?
All 13 primary schools in Nelson city were encouraged to apply, although due to limited funding, only eight could be selected. The following schools are involved in 2010:

Clifton Terrace School
St Joseph’s School
Victory Primary School
Auckland Point School
Tahunanui School
Stoke School
Birchwood School
Nelson Christian Academy

If you are interested in helping your local school with the KEGs programme, we encourage you to contact them!

Who is supporting the programme?
Nelson Environment Centre could not run the KEGs programme in Nelson without the valuable financial support of:

Prometheus Foundation
Nelson Marlborough District Health Board’s Nutrition and Physical Activity Programme
Nelson City Council
NZCU South

Thank you sponsors!

And a big thank you to Marlborough District Council for their support during the establishment of the programme here!

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Where to from here?
Nelson Environment Centre hopes to work with our sponsors and other partners to strengthen and expand the KEGs programme in 2010. We would love to support the development of Open Orchards  in schools and encourage local communities to be involved in the school gardens.

Early Beginnings
The Organic Garden City Trust in Christchurch first developed the Kids Edible Gardens programme in 1995 and developed a set of resources for schools to use, based around the primary school curriculum. Marlborough District Council has also run the programme for several years.