Fruit Trees for Rhode St School
By Possum & Carmen Allen
Rhode St School is a very special school in Hamilton. It is an Enviroschool committed to learning the concepts and principles of creating a sustainable environment by doing. With many parents working full time, school gives children the opportunity to grow and prepare a wide range of healthy food, and learn about business. The school has become the growing, learning, and recycling centre for the whole community. After being inspired by Possum Allen's account of what was going on at the school, the committee were invited to visit the school in June.
Principal Shane Ngatai and Alistair Kerr, the manager of the Enviroschool programme, showed us the old swimming pool which had been covered with plastic and converted into a plastic house growing potatoes, hydroponic tomatoes, and watercress in recycled water. Tomatoes ripening in the middle of winter were an awesome sight. We saw the outside areas for growing plants and worms. Even more impressive was the commercial-style kitchen which can be used to process the food grown by the pupils into a range of yummy products from salads to preserves. Shane reckons if the kids are excited about what they are doing they will remember what they have learnt. Their next plan is to build a 200 seat cafe for the children to sit in!
As a result of the visit, the committee decided to donate a number of fruit trees to Rhode St School on behalf of our branch. Fruit included two macadamias, three hazels, three high-bush blueberries (kindly donated by HortResearch at Ruakura), a couple of Chilean guava (Myrtus ugni) and a persimmon.
When Maxine Fraser and Possum went to present the fruit trees to the school on the 19th August, they found themselves part of a visit by the Maori Party. After the powhiri, Maxine and Possum joined Hone Harawira, Derek Fox and other key members of the Party for lunch. The meal was extra special because most of the produce being served, which included watercress and Maori potatoes, had been grown at the school. One of the teachers, who is also in charge of the school kitchen, gave a speech about how the kitchen was set up and the process of teaching the children to prepare and cook the fruit and vegetables grown at the school. Hone Harawira also spoke briefly and Possum sung a waiata (song) to end the speech-making segment.
After lunch Maxine and Warren had a whiz around the school with Alistair, and left him with a wheel barrow full of fruit trees to plant!
• Are you available to help with an occasional Branch project?
• Would you welcome a field trip to your property?
• Do you know of an interesting property to visit?
• Want to know what the committee does? Come to a committee meeting? Please contact our Chairman, Jim Hammonds, to discuss your thoughts.
-from Waikato & Thames-Coromandel Branches newsletter, October 2008, Page 9
