Growing Accolades

The purpose of a garden is not a rush to que up for honours or clambour for prestige. There is lots of quiet digging of holes and shifting of soil and tending day after day. Lots of little hands making efforts, frail hands, young hands, old hands, lots of daily fronting up and getting hands dirty, people who have to focus hard to extend their reach to plant, experimenters who are creating new learnings, other people with focused time, people with dedicated time, others who have to find time, make time, squeeze gardening in, volunteers, quiet service, incidental contributions, gardeners who garden for themselves, gardeners who garden to give, gardeners who swear at the weeds, gardeners who do the slog and gardeners who are there to taste the fruits when they come in. But it is nice to be noticed. Blacktown City Council have acknowledged our long journey in this years Garden Competition. Here's to those who have contributed to our growing garden over the last six (6) years. They do their bit.

Full Green Ahead !

Tomorrow We Dine on the Green

The Scene is set. All is underway for a great day on HalindaGreen tomorrow ! Multicultural Open Day !

Getting Groovy in the Garden

From pencil sketch, to garden scape transformed, it's a Sensory Space !

Following Projects Through

A big project in a nice space is a motivating curriculum. A big project has lots of little jobs within it, students can find a place within the work. Each student can surprise and some stars are born. Ones who want to help. We have been in the garden on HalindaGreen doing TAS for two weeks. High School students helping build a sensory garden for the Early Ed. and Primary have shown us strengths. Sometimes lasting the distance is the strength. Dedication to projects is a skill, we have all been learning about what can be achieved with resources, attention to task and time. Thankyou all who have supported us. Everyone takes turns a little in the lead or takes turns being a little humbled by labour. Our kids can work, we are inspired and work with them.

How to make a meeting place ..

Find underutilised land, start a garden, add people, and then work and dedication to taste.

Under Construction

Watch this HalindaGreen Space !

The last three weeks have been a period of intense project based learning on the Green. Students have been channeling their energies and building on their knowledge to make things happen. Soon we will have a sensory play area on HalindaGreen that increases further the richness of the experience to be found in our school spaces.

Getting the Job Done !

Weekend Wonders on the Green

The weekend comes and there is a whole gardens worth of work to be done ready for the Spring ! Thankyou to all our school community who came out to help shovel, weed, water, mulch and build a community treasure with us. The effort expended grows our students and helps learning flourish. Thanks staff, thanks carers, thanks students, thanks to our community !

Midwinter Harvest

Obtaining a yield is what schools do. Sometimes from the most unpromising soil, often in the forgotten months which might seem dormant and unproductive, the preparation of quiet work, with appropriate spaces and timely trust the school garden delivers strong gifts.

Set Our Flowers Free !

Students have been planting and potting on Halinda Green since last term, working on a special project.

They have fed and watered the biggest crop of flowers yet this year !

The Pansies are our Mothers Day Gift Product ! Grown by students just in time for Mum's special day, and quite reasonably priced too !

Getting the Green Watered

Even in mid-autumn after the wettest summer in memory HalindaGreen needs a drink. Our Garden team are at the ready.

Ready for Garden Action !

Western Sydney Garden Outlook is not to bad at Dusk

Pianos Last Garden Tune

Today we put the old pianola from the library out to graze. It's reached it's end of life and we have decided not to pay for it to be removed from school grounds. It made the journey with us along the years and it will now become something else entirely. We have put it in the garden to become a sculpture. Ephemeral, fizzing and detuned by the elements it will eventually be salvaged for parts for smaller garden ornaments and novelties to nestle in amongst the plantings and pathway corners of the Green. Graeme, our horticulturalist gave her her last loving caresses before the coming storms and the cycle of life plays on.

Integrating Work into the Grid

So a new year starts and we are group-working the green. The once rebel garden now houses (or hothouses) many different strands in an official capacity. There is a lot going on out there (or out here, when I'm updating via device).

The project that started last year, ramping up production will continue apace this year. The students are seeding the hothouse for the harvest they will turn into products for the school community to buy as the year progresses. A forty-four week program has been written for three separate class programs that combine garden, cafe and technology to feed learning. Our students experiences are extended through real world tasks that have authentic outcomes. Their motor skills develop, their knowledge of the processes around food and its production increases, and routines of engagement in skills building develops a task at a time.

A nursery will be a boon to the autistic kids who thrive on the tasks that show results across planting grids. Our curriculum should sprout and renew each planting cycle. Natural iteration by iteration. Stay tuned for fine-tuning.