Permaculture Hawkesbury’s Upcoming 2 Kids Gardening Schools

Permaculture Hawkesbury opens its Term 3 on “Permaculture Kids Gardening School” for children aged 5 to 11 years old to be held at Wilberforce in July. The organization also offers an upcoming similar program for teens from ages 12 to 17, starting on the 17^th of July.

Two classes are now open for the kids, one on Mondays and another on Fridays. Each term spans over 9 weeks, according to Permaculture Hawkesbury.

Monday classes are as follows:

• 17^th July
• 24^th July
• 7^th August
• 14^th August
• 21^st August
• 28^th August
• 4^th September
• 11^th September
• 18^th September

Classes on Mondays will start at 1:00 PM and will end at 3:00 PM AEST. To purchase tickets for the Monday classes, reserve online via Eventbrite here: Permaculture Hawkesbury Kids Gardening School (Monday Home-schooling Program).

On the other hand, Friday classes will land on:

• 21^st July
• 4^th August
• 11^th August
• 18^th August
• 25^th August
• 1^st September
• 8^th September
• 15^th September
• 22^nd September

Friday classes start early at 10:00 AM and until noon AEST. To purchase tickets for the Friday classes, reserve online via Eventbrite here: Permaculture Hawkesbury Kids Gardening School (Friday Home-schooling Program).

As advised by the organization, interested attendees need to bring enclosed shoes, a water bottle, morning tea, a hat, an A4 workbook, coloured pencils, and a lead pencil or a pen.

As per the Permaculture Hawkesbury’s Facebook and Eventbrite announcements, both programs will cover topics from the same curriculum. Here is the entire program:

Week 1

• Planning a summer garden. We will learn what grows best in summer, how to decide what to grow and with who, when planning your summer crop. We will map out our summer garden.
• Feed and water chickens, collect eggs
• Carry out weekly garden chores to maintain the garden
• Free play

Week 2

• Sowing seeds. We will learn about the importance of open-pollinated and heirloom seeds and plants. We will start our summer seedlings to put in the greenhouse in preparation for our summer garden.
• Feed and water chickens, collect eggs
• Carry out weekly garden chores to maintain the garden
• Free play

Week 3

• Preserving winter crops. Our winter garden is coming to an end and it’s time to make way for summer crops. We will learn about preserving our winter crops to last the year and make some pickles to take home.
• Feed and water chickens, collect eggs
• Carry out weekly garden chores to maintain the garden
• Free play

Week 4

• Nourished, healthy soil. Plants need food just like we do, we will learn how to put nutrients back into the soil using compost and organic fertilizer in preparation for planting out our summer crops
• Feed and water chickens, collect eggs
• Carry out weekly garden chores to maintain the garden
• Free play

Week 5

• Eating seasonally & food miles. We will learn about how far food travels to get to the grocery store, [and] how eating seasonally and shopping in our own backyard is good for the planet and our bodies. We will go “shopping” in the garden and make a snack to eat!
• Feed and water chickens, collect eggs
• Carry out weekly garden chores to maintain the garden
• Free play

Week 6

• Tomatoes & Sunflowers. It’s time to start our summer crops of tomatoes and sunflowers! We will learn about the different varieties of tomatoes and the benefits of growing sunflowers in your garden. We will sow seedlings for the garden and [take them] home and grow yourself.
• Feed and water chickens, collect eggs
• Carry out weekly garden chores to maintain the garden
• Free play

Week 7

• Planting out seedlings. [It’s] time to get [the] seedlings we sowed in week 2 out of the greenhouse and into our garden beds. We will learn how to care for our seedling babies, protect them from predators and grow them into big, strong and healthy plants.
• Feed and water chickens, collect eggs
• Carry out weekly garden chores to maintain the garden
• Free play

Week 8

• Pollination. We will learn about self-pollinating and natural pollination. We will learn how to attract pollinators to the garden. We will sow a butterfly garden and make a butterfly feeder.
• Feed and water chickens, collect eggs
• Carry out weekly garden chores to maintain the garden
• Free play

Week 9

• Harvesting and cooking from the garden. For our last lesson of the term, we get to feast on all our hard work, by harvesting food from our garden to cook and eat. We will harvest eggs and veggies from the garden and cook them up together to eat around the campfire (weather permitting). We may even get to toast a few marshmallows!
• Feed and water chickens, collect eggs
• Carry out weekly garden chores to maintain the garden
• Free play

Permaculture Hawkesbury’s program venue is at Australiana Pioneer Village located at 10 Rose St. Wilberforce, NSW 2756 Australia.

Image credit to Permaculture Hawkesbury Valley Inc.