Ag program teaching about first farmers

Murray Bridge High School ag teacher, Ally Braun, talked about her unique program at a national ag teachers conference at Victor Harbor recently, where her students not only learned to grow First Nations bush food, but also market and sell it.

Five years ago, the school received a grant to set up a bush tucker garden, which runs alongside their conventional veggie patch, livestock and other farming pursuits.

"First Nations education is important and I think it integrates so well into ag," she said.

"Aboriginal farmers are the best farmers Australia's ever had, as they were sustainable for many thousands of years, and our kids should be educated about that history."

The garden started out with saltbush, "as it was so easy to grow", and now features nearly a dozen plants, bushes and trees, including warrigal greens, muntries, midyims, sweet apple berry, finger lime, lignum berries, lilly pilly and pig face.

Their native herbs, such as thyme, pepperleaf, sage and lemon myrtle, have also become a handy side hustle.

"We were harvesting a large amount of produce and not doing anything with it, so we started researching the herb drying process," Ms Braun said.

"We were already dehydrating fruit and vegetables, so we decided to dry some herbs and they were delicious!"

Students from years 8 to 12 got involved in researching the pricing and packaging of the herbs, potential herb mixes, and even designed the label on their packaging.

"There's a real niche market for bush tucker herbs - they're especially popular in restaurants," Ms Braun said.

"Wattle seed can sell for up to $100 a kilogram."

The students sell their Roper Road Farm bush tucker herb packets at the Murray Bridge Makers Market in November, and every year they sell out, with the proceeds reinvested in the ag department.

Ms Braun said the students cook nearly every week with native foods, increasing their engagement and participation in learning about where their food comes from.

"Before, when we would give the kids a pumpkin for example, they would waste the food, it was getting squashed in the schoolyard," she said.

"But if we cook it in the classroom and put some of our herbs on it, they'll devour it. We cook bush tucker food most weeks - it's part of the ag curriculum, to cook the food we grow.

"Kids love nothing more than picking produce and taking it back to school, and they're really open to trying different stuff."

Ms Braun had future plans of growing millet - an alternative to modern wheat.

"We already make millet pancakes and scones, but I would love to grow our own native wheat," she said.

"That's the thing with bush tucker, I want kids to appreciate that our country once provided a pantry."

Fellow conference speaker Kelly Johnson, Mypolonga, agreed that students got very excited about producing their own food and schools had an opportunity to educate about food production and minimise waste through dehydrating produce.

Ms Johnson is the founder of Woodlane Orchard, and new brand SPhiker, which creates dehydrated food products and meals, often using fruit and veg that are considered 'second-rate'.

"There is so much produce going to waste out there," she said.

"Pick a month and call it 'dehydration month'. Get students to bring in their backyard produce and experiment for the month, see what can and can't be dehydrated.

"If you can eat it normally, you can make it dry most of the time and it lasts for a long time.

"Think of school camps - kids can be creating food when they're out there, and actually get the whole circle from the seed through to ingesting it.

"It's a good way to best utilise that little garden you grow."

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