Hoërskool Elsburg started a garden and just sent a student home with food

Photo Credit: Hoërskool Elsburg Veggie Garden

Hoërskool Elsburg started a food garden in June 2020 to supplement the students’ access to food; now after months of prep, the first student got a harvest pack.

Germiston, South Africa (23 September 2020) – Everyone is joining the movement of sustainable food growing in South Africa including a school in Elsburg. Schools have a great resource – space. Many schools could launch gardens which could be used to feed students and an educational tool too.

Hoërskool Elsburg launched their garden on the 1st of June 2020. They started by clearing out an overgrown space behind some school buildings. The area was going to waste and perfect for a garden.

Many schools have spaces like this. Hopefully, the efforts of the teachers at Hoërskool Elsburg will inspire other teachers to join the movement. It hasn’t been without its struggles from scorpion stings to stolen tools but in the end, it is all worth it.

Community members and parents have donated seeds for the garden as well as volunteering time and labour towards the efforts. We took the time to scroll back to the start of the school’s project and are so happy to see how they went from a field of overgrown grass to a bountiful garden.

The garden forms part of a bigger feeding scheme. The school also launched a bag of hope project which has been supplementing meals for students at that have needed it. They asked that students approached a teacher they trusted to let them know, that way it remains completely private.

As the garden started taking shape, even more people stepped forward and before long, the school had an arsenal of tools to make gardening as easy as possible. They also got a donation of used tyres which make a perfect pot for plants, especially potatoes.

The garden has been planted up with things like cabbage, peas, potatoes, radishes, spinach, onions, rocket and so much more.

Take a look at their before and after below. Does your local school have a food garden for students? Let us know in the comment section. If you would like to follow Hoërskool Elsburg’s progress through spring, take a look at their Facebook page here.