An award-winning program at Stuartholme in Brisbane is getting teenage girls interested in growing produce.
Story Ken Eastwood Photo Stuartholme
Weeding. It’s not what you’d expect a giggle of teenage girls to be voluntarily doing at 7.30 on a Friday morning. But there they are, before school at Stuartholme in Brisbane, digging weeds out of raised garden beds, or planting or occasionally harvesting fresh produce.
Called the Urban Farming Club, the 22 or so girls in year 7 to year 12 grow a range of produce, including turmeric, herbs, chives, blueberries, tomatoes and passionfruit, and have a beehive stocked with native sugarbag bees. Although they sample the goods themselves – favouring turmeric lattes and lemongrass, rosemary and thyme lemonade – the girls also sell extra produce to make money for the school’s social justice club or to buy more supplies for the gardens.
This story excerpt is from Issue #158
Outback Magazine: December/January 2025
