COMMUNITY GARDEN

The Community Garden is a garden for the Aberfoyle Park High School community made up of the two raised garden beds outside the Home Economics building as well as the two raised garden beds in the area on the opposite side of the walkway. In 2020 a grant from the Onkaparinga Council, applied for by Youth Worker Aneleise Truman, was used to plant flowers and spring and summer vegetables in the garden bed. These plants died off over the summer holidays.

The Environment Group had the opportunity in 2021 to use the remaining Community Garden grant money to replant the garden beds. We had to plan, design and break down the creation of the Community Garden into stages.

We removed the old plants from the garden beds and thanks to Dave Sunners and Alex for topping up all of the garden beds with soil. We decided to buy winter vegetables including beetroot, carrots, leeks, broccoli, potatoes and honeysnap peas and winter flowers including marigolds, pansies and snapdragons and an orange tree with the remaining grant money. Balhannah Nursery also donated two dwarf apple trees, Pinkabelle (dwarf Pink Lady) and Leprechaun (dwarf green apples).

As a group we have learnt it is important to assign responsibilities to particular people to look after a garden, and some plants are seasonal so once they have grown you need to replant or find a new seasonal plant.

We have plans to paint the railing near the steps and to create a fairy garden in the top garden. When we harvest the vegetables, we would like to make and share potato and leek soup as well as roast vegetables.

Many thanks to the Onkaparinga Council and Balhannah Nursery. Special thanks also to Rachelle DeFazio and Debra Coad for helping us at lunchtimes. We would like to invite anyone in the school community who would like to use produce from the garden, share growing tips or seeds to contact us or teacher Rachelle DeFazio or Youth Worker Debra Coad.