Hands on Learning

Excursion to Cruden Farm

Last week our HOL students went on two excursions to Cruden Farm. 

We were invited by the Head Gardener, Mitch Burns to plant forty native trees and to help out gardening tasks around the 14.6 hectare property.

On the first excursion, Mitch ran a quick workshop demonstrating to our students how to plant a tree and how to look after it, by installing tree guards and mulching around the base. Lucas from the Thursday group was excited about the achievements of the day 

“We got to learn new skills like planting plants and that was good” whilst Will said “I really enjoyed the excursion and getting out and about and getting more experienced”. 

The following day, our students mulched a 120 meter-long hedge alongside Dame Elizabeth Murdoch's famous lemon scented gum driveway. Lachie and Max from the Friday group were especially proud of their work when it came to teamwork and leadership: “One student led the team filling wheelbarrows with mulch, whilst the other was coordinating the mulching of the hedge. We had to consider things like staying safe working in a small area (...around the trailer...) with tools".

Cruden Farm’s head gardener Mitch was thoroughly impressed by the students work ethic and what they achieved. He said the work that was done would have taken his team several days. Mitch is looking forward to paying us a visit at EMC to further strengthen the relationship between Cruden Farm and EMC. For our kids it was a “very fun experience” and we will gladly return to help Mitch with his beautiful garden at the next opportunity.