The community garden on Hendon Ave has proven an excellent use of the land while it was awaiting development. Now that it’s time to build new homes on the site, the garden has been disestablished and its ‘bones’ are being reused to serve the community again. With help from Piritahi, the macrocarpa garden beds were uplifted in April and donated to Ōwairaka District School as part of the school’s ‘Garden to Table’ project. 

The school was extremely grateful to receive the 14 garden beds from the Hendon Avenue Community Garden. The donation allows the staff and students to further develop their own garden area, adding more capacity to grow produce for Garden to Table.   

The Garden to Table programme builds skills for life through highly practical, hands-on classes – not only teaching tamariki how to grow, harvest, cook and share seasonal vegetables but also building awareness of responsibility for the environment, healthy eating and community connectedness. It is an opportunity for children to enthusiastically get their hands dirty and discover a love for fresh food while developing skills that will last a lifetime.

The Garden to Table Programme is also an opportunity to be culturally responsive to the diverse community of Ōwairaka. Cooking food from many different cultures enables children to feel like they belong, their expertise is valued and differences are celebrated. 

The programme is curriculum-integrated and provides authentic and real-world learning opportunities by taking learning outside the classroom. Learning includes maths, science, writing and reading, and encourages the children to take their gardening and cooking skills home. All Year 3-6 students have a term each year in the programme and it is definitely a highlight of their year.  

The Garden to Table programme receives no government funding. Costs include hiring specialist teachers to run the programme; setting up the gardens; buying equipment such as gloves and trowel, and buying seeds and plants. There is also an annual subscription fee paid to the Garden to Table Trust. Ōwairaka District School had put aside money in the budget for new garden beds, but the donation from Kāinga Ora has meant that those precious funds can be used for other aspects of the programme.