A new vegetable garden planted by the GardenShop at Rosebank Primary School will go a long way to supplement the feeding scheme which supports children in need at the school.
Grade 1 teacher at Rosebank Primary Vyvienne Blackie said that the Garden Shop visited the school last year to launch their Jabu and the Beanstalk competition which encouraged learners to grow beanstalks and tomatoes. The school won a R500 voucher and a new vegetable garden as a result of their efforts to grow the longest beanstalk.
Marketing manager at GardenShop Joanne Lamb said the purpose of the competition was to promote vegetable gardens and help children learn to plant, grow and harvest vegetables from a seed.
Blackie said, “It was so exciting to hear that our school had won. We had produced a lot of beans and tomatoes to feed the kids who are supported by our feeding scheme.”
The garden includes grapes, broccoli, spinach, leeks, herbs, fruit trees and a variety of other vegetables which will be used to supplement the feeding scheme which currently supplies 22 children with two meals each day.
Lamb said, “We decided that Rosebank Primary deserved to win as they had a feeding programme at the school and we want to help feed the masses. They won on the most excited and enthusiastic school we attended.”
Principal Leigh Shaw-Taylor explained that the feeding scheme has been running for 15 years at the school after teachers noticed that many children were arriving at school at 6am without any food.
The scheme, which is funded by sponsors, provides two healthy meals each day for children who have been identified as being in need.
“We are so thankful to the GardenShop and all their sponsors for their work in putting together this beautiful garden. With their assistance, we will be able to do more than we imagined for these children,” said Shaw-Taylor.
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