School garden outgrows expectations

Elizabeth Joseph KEETMANSHOOP- The Keetmanshoop Secondary School Garden Project started three years ago, and has since exceeded all expectations. Initially, the aim of the project was to develop an onsite vegetable garden where teachers could teach basic agriculture to their students. This includes the basics of growing food and using the garden as an outdoor laboratory. Teacher and overseer of the garden Janine Diergaardt explains that the school aimed to use the produce from the garden to aid their soup kitchen. “By providing the soup kitchen with the necessary vegetables, the children directly benefit from their labour, and through this initiative our OVCs also benefit in the process,” she said. According to Diergaardt, Covid-19 has been the biggest reason why the school felt the need to invest so much in the garden. “With the current Covid-19 pandemic and the impact it has on society, we have even more reason to invest in this project.“I would like to thank the institutional workers of our school and various members of the community who took time, even during the lockdown, to invest in this project in the form of preparing the soil, sowing the seeds and watering the garden,” she said. Diergaardt has since been approached by various stakeholders who offered their assistance in this regard. ProduceThe garden currently grows vegetables like squash, butternut, tomatoes, sweetcorn, green peppers, cucumbers, cauliflower, cabbage and spinach. “We look forward to a school garden that is committed to a future in which all our learners can become knowledgeable and understand the basics of growing food and where we can contribute to a thriving community,” Diergaardt says.

School garden outgrows expectations

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Republikein 2025-06-19

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School garden outgrows expectations

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Republikein 2025-06-19

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