From blank page to bursting beds

PICTURED: Students at Lincoln Primary School examine the cabbages they grew in the school garden.

A school garden at Lincoln Primary School is cultivating kids and community, growing young gardeners and revealing Rotary’s power to serve.

At 6.30 am – summer or winter – David Boustead is already in Lincoln Primary School’s garden. By the time classes begin, ‘Gardening Dave’ has checked irrigation timers, mapped plantings and worked out what will be ready for children to harvest by hand.

David, a member of the Ōtautahi Passport Rotary Club, NZ, and an honorary member of the Rotary Club of Lincoln, answered a community call in early 2022. Principal Chris Nord and teacher Georgie Willetts were looking for a knowledgeable, semi-retired gardener to revive a tired, neglected space.

“My two granddaughters put my name forward,” David recalls. “I walked in, had about a five-minute chat with Chris… he stood up, shook my hand and said, ‘You’re hired.’ I said, ‘When?’ He said, ‘Now’.”

What he found was more than “a wee tidy up”: overgrown trees and grass, worn raised beds and a garden that needed a fresh start. With Chris’ encouragement, the project shifted from patch-up to full redesign, and Lincoln Rotary became the catalyst that turned vision into action.

A Rotary district grant covered materials, with school funds supplementing the budget. Working bees followed. One day, 20 cubic metres of bark chips arrived at the gate. With around 15 Rotarians on site and students keen to help, the school community shifted it all by hand – about 400 wheelbarrow loads.

“That day set the tone,” David says. “Small efforts repeated become something big.”

Twelve new raised beds were built, soil was sourced at a reduced rate, and even the hard mahi became fun: teams of children with buckets, a Rotarian assigned to each bed, plenty of cheering and plenty of dirt – often beside the bucket as well as in it. The prize wasn’t ‘winning’; it was ownership. Now, that ownership shows up in joyful harvests – potatoes and kumara unearthed with bare hands – and in first tastes at the garden’s edge.

A web of local support has strengthened the project: Freeman Irrigation sponsored and installed timed watering; New World provided vouchers for seeds, fertiliser and plants; All Woods Trees donated fruit trees; Bunnings backed the build with vouchers; Hammer Hardware provided plants, seeds and hardware; and the Men’s Shed made sturdy outdoor tables for learning and preparation.

Behind it all is consistent Rotary relationship-building and reliable hands on the ground. When extra volunteers are needed, David calls on Lincoln Rotarian Peter McNaughton, who has supported the garden for the past two years and helps rally others. Together, the pair contribute roughly 600 volunteer hours a year – and those hours show up in the beds: crisp lettuces, beans, peas, carrots, silver beet, herbs and whatever each season promises, alongside the fruit trees that will feed future students.

Once a month, children from four classes come into the garden to dig, plant, weed and water, learning how vegetables and fruit are grown and, best of all, eating what they’ve helped harvest. The garden also becomes a place of celebration at special times of year such as Mātāriki and Christmas, when children delight in gathering kai, tasting fresh produce, and discovering that healthy food can be delicious, immediate and proudly their own.

What began as a practical response to a school’s need has since become a standout example of Rotary in action. At last year’s Rotary Changeover, outgoing District Governor Dave McKissock presented David Boustead with the Rotary Changemaker Trophy, recognising Lincoln Rotary’s support of the Lincoln Primary School garden. The Changemaker Trophy is awarded to a club that has made a significant, measurable impact through a community project, and this garden, now woven into school life and local wellbeing, is a living proof point.