The vegetable garden at Igartubeiti is an open-air learning centre, a practical workshop where groups of all ages can be taught how to care for an organic vegetable garden. Groups of between 15 and 25 people are envisaged, with ages ranging from five years old to adults.
The topics dealt with include biodiversity, the seasons, ecosystems, the food chain, photosynthesis, the primary sector, changes in agriculture in the 16th century and foodstuffs.
Visits to Igartubeiti are thus not just a school outing: classes can be given actually in the vegetable patch, using original materials and methods and a teaching method intended to achieve different results.
When the weather is bad these workshops can be held in the porticoed gallery outside the interpretation centre, where the seedbeds are located.
Knowledge Goals:
- First-hand knowledge of home-grown foodstuffs;
- How to work a garden;
- Seasonal changes;
- Difference between organic and conventional gardens;
- Links between animals and gardens
Methods:
Participants work in groups to learn about the produce and how it is grown, actually planting on the patches allocated to them at the appropriate time of year.
Values:
- Encouraging healthier eating as a daily habit.
- Importance of healthy eating and physical exercise.
- Awareness of the overexploitation of the earth’s resources
- Awareness of the current situation of Basque farmhouses.
- Awareness of the importance of produce markets and fairs