Urban Harvest 

VCAL - Urban Harvest Students Team Up with Lalor & Districts Men’s Shed and the Greenbrook Community Garden Crew

VCAL Urban Harvest students continue to participate in community volunteering, working in partnership with the Lalor & Districts Men’s Shed and the Greenbrook Community Garden. It’s been a busy fortnight for the Year 11 and 12 Urban Harvest students; they’ve been assembling the new mulch and compost bays and planting Autumn vegetables in the winter veggie beds! Doug and Julie from the Men’s Shed shared their carpentry expertise and the students were eager to hit the power tools. With Doug and Julie’s guidance, the Urban Harvest students were able to install the new mulch and compost bays to industry standard. While a group of students worked alongside the Men’s Shed, a second group teamed with Sunshine and Ms Neri, started planting out the vegetable seedlings, pruning fruit trees and picking green beans. Students followed the companion gardening guide (growing different plants together to encourage healthy plant growth, pollination, beneficial insects and maximise garden) that they devised last fortnight, to ensure the vegetables are growing happily all winter long. The food crops grown by the VCAL students will be donated to community groups who support those in need and excess produce will be donated to the Whittlesea Food Collective. The Urban Harvest students are very grateful for having the opportunity to participate in this wonderful program. 

A very special thanks to Sunshine Cross and Rachal Cooper for welcoming ESC VCAL students to the Greenbrook Community Garden and for organising hands-on and interactive experiences. The Urban Harvest students are getting a taste of the benefits and joy of community volunteering and they are able to demonstrate employability skills such as team work, time management, communication and organisational skills. Next week Urban Harvest students will assist with getting the community garden ready for the Greenbrook Community Fiesta!

Ms Neri, Urban Harvest VCAL Teacher.