Logan Tutty visits St Mary's School to see what they've done with their donated garden supplies.
Participating in the competition came at an opportune time for St Mary's which was looking at ways to restart their vegetable growing journey.
The school has always had planter boxes around, but after various students and teachers involved in prior projects are now beyond St Mary's, the gardens had gone by the wayside.
When Springvale Garden Centre contacted the school in early March regarding the competition, release teacher Sarah Hanna thought it would be a good opportunity to get the system back up and running.
"It was a big job at the start," she said. "All the beds were here, but very run down. We had a few plants, but everything was overgrown and a bit out of control. Now that we are up and running, it is easy to maintain."
A team of around eight students from a variety of classes have taken responsibility for the gardens, bringing them back to life and making sure they are well looked after.
"It's amazing how quickly they mow through everything. If you had any more kids, they would just get in the way.
"We have a real mixed group of kids and it's these ones that have really benefited from doing some hands-on work."
St Mary's plan on setting up a food stall for the community to access, which will include the vegetables grown from the competition. Photo / Bevan Conley
Through the competition with Springvale Garden Centre, they've been able to add broccoli, carrot, cauliflower, radishes, spring onions and more to their garden beds.
"It's been a really good project. This area gets used a lot. There is the blackboard and the birds here, it is a real communal area where they can hang out," said Hanna.
"It has made the area look really awesome."
She added that by re-igniting their gardening programme, St Mary's hope to tap into what they've grown and offer it up to those who need it more.
"The culture of the school is about giving back to others and supporting our community. Long term, we will be setting up a stall where the community can access some vegetables among other things."
Hanna said going forward, the school hopes to be able to provide a consistent supply of fresh vegetables and fruit for the local community.
"The Service Team will take it on board and distribute to people and families who would benefit from it."
Taking part of the Springvale Garden Centre School Vegetable Garden Competition has helped restart the school's gardening program. Photo / Bevan Conley
Principal Jacquie Luxton said it has been such an amazing time for the students.
"Our Service Team are working towards having a food stall where people in the community can come and grab produce, we will also be bolstering that with other things.
"We have a unique group of kids that are very much hands on and practical, they just love it. They would spend all day here if they could. They've named half the bugs.
"Kids shine in different areas of the curriculum, these kids are very much into this practical side and have flourished. It is so cool for them to have success."
Hanna said going forward, the school hopes to be able to provide a consistent supply of fresh vegetables and fruit for the local community.
If St Mary's were to win any of the vouchers for the top three of the competition, the money would go towards more vegetables for the garden and
"It would definitely go back into this area for more food and supplies. The Service Team will take that and make their decisions and for their little enterprise."
