Ravenswood Heights Primary School got its hands dirty in the name of science on Thursday to signal the beginning of agriCULTURED festival 2022.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A collaboration between 24 Carrot, Community Gardens Australia, and Rock Salt Arts, students participated in a day of workshops to learn about sustainability and the environment.
However it wasn't just about the garden, with cooking workshops, stage shows, songwriting all making an appearance throughout the busy schedule.
From building kangaroo traps and weaving kelp, to demystifying mushrooms the young naturalists were taken on a journey that 24 Carrot northern manager Joanne Dean said was about celebrating culture.
"In this area we have a 30 per cent First Nations population, and it's really wonderful to be able to celebrate parts of their culture today," Ms Dean said.
For Gardening Australia host Cost Georgiadis the day was also about instilling life-long skills in childhood.
"It's really an opportunity to illustrate the connections that students have not just to nature and their food, but to their environment and habitat, and help them understand that they can make a difference to the landscapes around them," Mr Georgiadis said.
"Telling science yarns, in an engaging way. That's really what it's about."
It's a sentiment Hobart-based Permaculturalist and Gardening Australia presenter Hannah Moloney agrees with.
"The more we can make these opportunities for our young people, it sets them up for life," Ms Moloney said.
"Here's healthy ways of connecting with your food, here's where it comes from, here's how you can eat it or grow, and connect with each other".
Whether it be finding a foraged piece of bamboo or an old piece of wood to make a home for native pollinators, Mr Georgiadis said teaching students to connect their environment to the country's ecology could inspire a lifetime of learning.
"If you've got the grasses, then you have the flowering plants, and then you understand that the flowering plants bring the insects and the insects are fed on further up the food chain," he said.
"When you learn this stuff, you can't unlearn it, and you can then just take it and adapt it with observations of the place you're in".
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark www.examiner.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter: @examineronline
- Follow us on Instagram: @examineronline
- Follow us on Google News: The Examiner