1. TRINITY CATHOLIC COLLEGE GOULBURN

2. WELCOME TO TRINITY
Students start Agriculture in Year 7 and in Year 8 students are given their own vegetable garden.
Year 8 grow vegetables from seed, germinating them in the hothouse and after hardening them off we plant them in our vegie patches. The best part is at the end they get to eat there own vegies and take them home.
The skills learned in Year 8 are then developed in Stage 5 and 6 Agriculture, where we conduct plant trails and further develop our knowledge, understanding and skill set in the area of plant production.
We grow a wide variety of fruits, vegetables and herbs along with flowers and native trees.
We have several raised beds and flat ones. The farm is on a slope and the retaining walls and ground cover assist in preventing erosion.
The produce grown at Trinity is used in the canteen, and TAS/VET kitchens and eaten by us of course, we love the berries and cherries the most.

3. AGRICULTURE IS GROWING AT TRINITY
Agriculture at Trinity continues to grow.
We have students studying Agriculture from Years 7 to 12 and VET Primary Industries from Years 10 to 12.
Agricultural success at the college has boomed in recent years both academically, in industry and in the show ring.
This has led to increasing students in the Agricultural courses.

4. WHAT DO WE GROW
Well, we grow eggplants, tomatoes, squash, zucchini, corn, strawberries, blackberries, cherries, rock melons, watermelons, capsicum, beetroots, lettuce, radishes, peppers, carrots, spinach, passion fruit, beans, potatoes, pumpkins of many varieties, leeks, cherry tomatoes, lemons, limes, turnips, spring onions, broccoli, lots of varieties of herbs just to name a few.
We also have Poll Hereford Cattle, Layer Hens, Cross bred ewes and lambs and Corriedale sheep.
We rotate vegetable plots and paddocks to reduce pests and diseases.

5. OUR VERTICAL GARDEN
We decided to build our vertical garden into a tower for a number of reasons.
It can be moved e.g. Started in the hothouse and then moved out side and returned to be protected from frost.
It can be transported to different sites e.g. Year 6 Information Night.
To take advantage of the sun, shelter from wind
Water runoff can be managed efficiently.
Students with disabilities can access the tower.
We planted a variety of plants including herbs and radishes in our vertical garden and now plan to grow a 2 mixed gardens for the 2018 competition.
We grew the plants from seeds and cuttings. We started some directly in the vertical garden and others we started in the hothouse and transplanted as seedlings.
The Vertical garden has inspired many students to try small scale gardening at home, especially strawberries yum, yum.

6. PUMPKIN FUN
We grow a variety of pumpkins and giant pumpkins and have had a lot of fun growing them.
We have won 1st for the heaviest pumpkin in the open class at our local show.
We also came second at the Collector Pumpkin Festival, our pumpkin weighed just under 100 kgs.
The cattle and sheep love eating the giant pumpkins.
We have collected and stored seed in preparation for the 2018 interschool pumpkin challenge, we just hope that the pumpkins were not cross-pollinated.

7. SUSTAINABLE GROUND PREPARATION
We have a little tractor and a rotary hoe the VET Primary Industries students use the tractor to create new garden beds.
The cattle manure is collected from their night yard along with the wasted hay. Once it has been left to settle it is then rotary hoed into the new garden bed.
We try to plant as soon as the beds are ready to prevent erosion and loss of top soil.
Recently we extended the Year 8 garden beds to cater for the increased number of Agriculture students.

8. SUSTAINABLE GROWING TECHNIQUES
Plants are grown using a wide range of techniques
We save plant seed and store for the next year.
Plants are mulched as required to reduce water loss and reduce weeds.
Companion plants, like Marigolds are used to reduce the effects of pests.
Weeds are removed manually, many hands make light work.
Organic fertilisers are used like compost and manure.

9. GREEN MANURE CROPS
Green manure crops are also grown at the farm and then ploughed in.
The improvement in the soil quality is outstanding especially when you include an legume crop in the mix.
There are significant improvements in all areas of soil quality including;
fixing nitrogen,
reducing soil compaction,
providing habitats for bees and insects,
helping with drainage and
Increasing organic matter in the soil.

10. THE HOTHOUSE
The hothouse is used to germinate seed prior to hardening off and planting out in the garden beds.
Water used in the hothouse is accessible to the plants via a timed irrigation system. It can be switched to only water sections being used. This assists to conserve water usage.
The waste water from the hothouse is transferred to the cropping paddock, which is currently growing brassica which is grazed by the cattle.
Brassica will be followed by a Lucerne crop to fix nitrogen that was depleted by the previous crop.
The hothouse allows us to extend the growing season and protect plants from the frosts.
All students can use the hothouse and we germinate and grow everything from vegetables to succulents, flowers, native trees and everything in between in there.

11. PLANT PROPAGATION
We start growing our plants many different ways at Trinity
We grow some plants from -
Seeds which we buy eg. Lettuces.
Seeds we collect eg. Native trees
Cuttings which we treat with either honey or hormone gel eg. Rosemary.
Pieces of the plant eg. Succulents
We grow some plant directly in the garden beds eg. Potatoes
We grow some plants in the hothouse then harden then off and then plant in the gardens.

12. WASTE OR WONDER
The organic matter for example weeds and pumpkin vines from the Agricultural plot is used to make compost.
The compost tumblers is used to make compost for the raised garden beds.
The cattle and sheep along with wasted hay is stored in piles and incorporated into new garden beds, and incorporated into our existing beds to replace lost nutrients form previous crops.
The fruit and vegetable scraps are fed to the chickens and their manure is also used in the gardens.

13. AGRICULTURE IN THE COLLEGE
The produce grown at the College is used in the Food Technology and Hospitality classes.
There is even a vertical garden bed on the wall if the Hospitality kitchen so as the students can access herbs whenever they need them, they also love to use micro herbs as a garnish.
The herbs are returned to the Agricultural Plot to recover and regrow in the hothouse.
The fruit and vegetable scraps from the kitchen are enjoyed by the College Layer Hens as an addition to their pellet ration and in return they supply eggs for the students to use in hospitality.
Produce is also used in the Canteen, students enjoy sandwiches, wraps, salads, berries and yoghurt and watermelon cups just to name a few.

14. HARVEST DINNER
The harvest dinner is a highlight of the school calendar.
The Hospitality students use produce from the
farm to create an amazing three course meal.
The Hospitality students plan the menu well in advance and we plant the seasonal produce that they require.
This year there were 70 people at the Harvest Dinner.
The food was amazing and everyone commented on the quality.
The dinner gets bigger and better every year so we think we will have to plant even more to meet the Hospitality students needs for the 2018 Harvest Dinner.

15. TRINITY CATHOLIC COLLEGE MAKES IT, GROWS IT, SHOWS IT