School garden
Cycle 3
OS Wünnewil
At the Wünnewil Secondary School, we have been building a school garden for about 5 years. The idea is to create a learning environment where students can work outdoors and learn about nature through practical experience. The school garden is intended to be a combination of various habitats for animals and insects, as well as a cultivation area for food. The goal is not to achieve the highest possible yield, but rather to experiment and learn as much as possible from the process. The garden is in constant development, and so far we have created several micro-structures and a cultivation area. In the future, we would like to further expand the individual beds and also install a small greenhouse with a rain barrel to reduce our water consumption and be able to grow our own seedlings.
Benefits for the environment
Due to the various microstructures that we are incorporating into the school garden, many habitats for insects and other animals are being created. We now have a biotope, a pile of sand, a pile of deadwood, a pile of stones, and a small stone wall. Also planned is a large natural hedge with native shrubs to expand the habitat for birds and other animals. By working regularly in the school garden, the students learn important insights about nature and the environment, which they can then ideally implement at home as well.
Challenges
A school garden is quite a challenging project at first. It took some time to realize that it is a continuous process and that such a project has to develop. In the beginning, the difficulty was converting a field into a cultivable area. Stones and weeds were primarily a problem there. Added to that was organizing the material with a limited budget. At the moment, we are still mainly struggling with weeds and slugs.
We got a lot of material for free from various places. Willow branches and hazel branches from acquaintances for the fencing. We also received a lot of support with tools from acquaintances and the municipality. We got stones from a farm and sand/gravel from a nearby gravel pit. Most of the plants we tried to grow ourselves from seeds. We try to fend off slugs using natural predators and slug collars.
Material
Shovels, hoe, hose, a cover, garden gloves, boots, clothes that can get dirty, plants, willow branches, hazel branches, stones, sand, gravel, soil, compost, …
Costs
Shovels, hoe, hose, a cover, garden gloves, boots, clothes that can get dirty, plants, willow branches, hazel branches, stones, sand, gravel, soil, compost, …
That is what makes our project special
We have been working on this project for a few years and have already received a great deal of support from various sides, which has been overwhelming. Although I am still building up a lot of knowledge and need to develop it further, I am convinced of our project. The students are participating with full motivation and joy. We have already had several aha moments and inspired another school to set up a similar project. In addition, we are working on constantly expanding the project.