Edge-To-Table: Kelvin Grove’s New Garden Beds from Mathiou Services

On a mission to pave a brighter, more sustainable future for their students, Edge Early Learning Kelvin Grove has partnered with Mathiou Services to build custom free-standing garden beds for their children to grow their own fruit, vegetables and herbs.

At Edge Early Learning, we encourage all children to bloom in every aspect of learning, and by giving them something to personally care for, the team at Kelvin Grove believes this initiative will help develop essential skills for the years to come.

Not only is gardening fun and fulfilling,  it also helps little ones develop new skills, such as patience, commitment, responsibility, creativity and nutrition,  as well as expanding their knowledge about the science of growth.

“Our children have shown an interest lately in where their food comes from, sparking the idea to install 2 metre-long, freestanding gardening beds that the children can monitor each day and grow their own fruit, veggies and herbs.” said Centre Director Paige.

“This initiative, in partnership with Mathiou Services, ties in with our educational philosophy at Edge Early Learning, led by an inquiry-based approach. It celebrates the interests of each child leading to more engaged learning in their early years, building and instilling a love of learning for many years after,” added Paige.

Mathiou Services is a Queensland-based company and a one-stop-shop for all building, repair, and maintenance needs, including professional gardening and landscaping services, from commercial gardening maintenance to an elaborate landscaping renovation, or in this case, custom garden beds.

But the partnership goes beyond just that. Mathiou Services also donated a range of seeds, from cherry tomatoes and strawberries to greens, like lettuce and beans, for the students to grow.

“We are really excited about our partnership with Edge Early Learning Kelvin Grove, as we feel it’s so important for children to learn to care for themselves and others from a young age,” said Mathiou Services’ Melanie Maunde. “By having a project like this, it teaches them vital skills to do so.”

In addition to the garden beds and seeds, Mathiou Services also conducted a gardening session for the children to teach them how to care for their seedlings and watch them grow each day.

And that’s not all! Once the seedlings have matured, the children at Kelvin Grove will have the opportunity to take their own-grown fruit and vegetables into their industrial kitchen at the centre and extend their learning from the Edge garden to the table.

“The children enjoy cooking experiences so this will be an excellent way to teach them first-hand about healthy food choices in an interactive environment,” said Paige.

And who knows, Kelvin Grove might be inspiring the next Curtis Stone or Matt Moran, but more importantly, simply sowing the seeds for a healthy life for years to come!

Keep up with the progress of the Kelvin Grove gardens on our socials: @edgeearlylearning

Find out more about our Kelvin Grove Centre; https://edge.romeo.digital/kelvin-grove/ 🍃