There is a new club in town for children with green thumbs.
The Collie kids gardening club has been formed and has established its base at the ‘Our Community Garden’ area, where they have a designated planted bed.
The planter bed was donated by Our Community Garden member Geoff Wilks, and some seedlings were donated to the group to get them started.
Local woman Kirsten Leahy, who is a permaculture designer, started the group after children in the neighbourhood would come to her property to help with her own gardening and animal care tasks.
“We want to encourage a diverse range of people from the community to get involved.”
“We want to try and educate kids about where there food comes from, and teach them about different types of fruit and vegetables.”
“It would be great to get more of the community involved in the gardening process and all ages are welcome,” she said.
Ms Leahy said they hope to teach the children about native species and indigenous plants and food, and would like to set up a Nature Play area nearby.
“Kids love gardening, and if they grow it, they will most probably eat it.”
“We also hope to have a cook up at harvest time with the food we have grown, which will help to teach the kids about cooking fresh produce,” Ms Leahy said.
The club meets on school holidays and will meet once a fortnight on a Saturday during school term.
