Kearnan College students growing veggie gardens and maintaining soil health with Woolworths Landcare grant

A Manjimup school has been named a recipient of a supermarket grant, which it has used to set up a gardening project for its primary school students. Kearnan College had been named as a successful recipient in the sixth round of the Woolworths Junior Landcare grant program for their green-thumb project. Students from the Year 4 and 5 classes joined school gardener Tracey Lynn Wren in being handed over a grant certificate on Thursday by Manjimup Woolworths store manager Tobias Bastiaanse. Pupils have been learning about microbes, composting and using the abundant leaves found throughout the school for their project using a Johnsons-Su compost bioreactor. The kindergarten class grew a green manure crop for the veggie gardens using cow and horse manure, while worm farms will be used in the coming months for students to make actively-aerated compost tea and extracts to apply to the gardens around the school. The Woolworths Junior Landcare Grant program funds projects promoting sustainable food production, improvements to waste management practices, native habitats enhancement and the incorporation of First Nations’ perspectives. A Kearnan College representative said the school was grateful to Landcare and Woolworths for their generosity. Through the project, students will learn to improve the health of the soil, and how to care and manage the veggie gardens in a sustainable manner. Kearnan College was one of over 5,900 primary schools and early learning centres around the country who received a Woolworths Junior Landcare Grant, with the Manjimup Education Support Centre also receiving a grant for their Landcare garden.