Garden to Table

An ongoing project to enable our aakonga to grow, harvest, cook and eat their own produce!

Our Garden to Table journey began in 2023 and continues to develop and thrive, with two classes from years 3 to 6 participating each year. 

Our gardens are an ongoing year-round project, and from the students through to the staff and volunteer helpers, we are all learning together!

We have introduced chickens and bees to our kura, along with a chicken coop built by the amazing Woolley family, and a greenhouse supplied by the green-fingered Parker family. Jono Woolley kindly returned to build raised garden beds which are tended to by some of our awesome parents. We are also fortunate to have our own orchard, planted some years ago and now producing fruit each season.

Our tamariki are continually learning new skills and gathering knowledge through the processes of:

• planting seeds or seedlings
• caring for them including weeding and fertilising
• harvesting the produce
• following recipes
• preparing the items for cooking (washing, peeling, chopping)
• cooking their kai
• explaining to their peers what they have been learning and how they went about their tasks for the day
• trying new foods and drinks, and enjoying these together as a group

We are very lucky to have a couple of regular volunteers to help us but we are always on the lookout for more, so if you'd like to help please email Roxy in the office office@rotoorangi.school.nz 

We are also extremely grateful for the support we have received from Greenscapes Landscaping Supplies who supplied us with our raised beds and have topped us up with compost since. We also won an amazing irrigation system from Water Tank Solutions Ltd who came in to install it and teach us how to use it!   

Thank you to the Lion Foundation for supporting us with a grant for the materials to build fencing to keep the chickens out of our raised garden beds!