Bush tucker garden opens new learning space at Quorn
A new bush food garden has been opened at Quorn Area School and it is already providing a wide range of learning experiences for students.
The Warndu Mai Garden (Good Tucker Garden) is a collaborative project between Natural Resources Northern and Yorke (NRNY), Quorn Area School and the wider Quorn community.
Officially opened by Northern and Yorke Natural Resource Management (NRM) presiding member Eric Sommerville, the garden was kick-started with a $2000 2014 NRM Northern and Yorke Community Grant.
NRNY Upper North and Southern Flinders community team leader Kate Pearce says students are already benfitting from the new learning space.
“The Bush Food Garden complements cultural learning programs based at the school, where junior primary students are learning Adnyamathanha,” she says.
“The garden provides a tactile play space in the school yard and encourages students to learn about native plants and their traditional uses for food and medicine.
“The students have been involved in all the planting and also labelling of plants with their Aboriginal names, so it’s been a great cultural experience.”
Quorn Area School is also involved in the NRNY Young Environmental Leaders (YEL) program, and has received additional financial and support assistance for the garden as part of this program.
Ms Pearce says the local Quorn community has been very supportive of the new garden, with contributions of materials and labour from local businesses, school staff and students.
She says the garden has been designed to withstand the harsh, dry climate and has been constructed with a wicking base to help conserve water.
“This is a project that will continue to prosper, with the school using the garden as an outdoor classroom for a wide range of learning opportunities from maths to language and home economics,” Ms Pearce says.
Ms Pearce says the next stage of the project is a billabong that will be located next to the bush tucker garden.
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