Nikita Afe

Teacher

Sir Edmund Hilary Collegiate

In 2016 you donated two domes to our two schools a primary and intermediate school. Our principal John Shearer and some of the teachers helped put it together, it took one day to do two structures! Five years later we are still going strong, adding a solar vent because it’s hot in NZ! Thank you thank you, generations of students are getting their hands in dirt and growing produce… We now have a pallet built pop up shop where we give out extra harvest we haven’t frozen or dehydrated! These domes mean we can grow all year round 2021

Gaylene Hill- Principal

Linden School

58 Ranui Terrace, Linden, 5028

P O Box 51-190, Tawa

phone: (04) 232-5329

fax: (04) 232-6629

email: office@linden.school.nz

To Whom it may concern

At Linden School we have an ethos of sustainability which is reflected in our environment. We have a school garden, compost and worm farm, fruit trees, vege pods, but our pride and joy is our garden dome.

It was all thanks to Michelle Leslie- McArthur and Dome to Dish ltd  that we managed to get this. I was aware of her drive and determination from work at a previous school, so approached her to ask if there would be a possibility to have a dome at this school. She moved heaven and earth for us, and managed to fund a dome. It didn’t stop there. She, and some willing volunteers travelled for 2 hours to our site with all the product we would need to erect this dome. With willing volunteers from school we all worked tirelessly to erect this in 1 day! This was only possible by Michelle having prepared and painted parts first, and enabling others on the day to be active in the building through clear task designation.

Since then, there has been no holding back. Each week we have a gardening club, run by an amazing parent. During these sessions, and at other times, students are tending plants in both the garden and the dome. There is always a rush to see who can get to the dome first to work in there.

The process of planting, tending to these, watering, harvesting and eating the produce is a highlight of each week. The fact that produce grows so much quicker in the dome is evident when plants are planted in the dome and in the garden at the same time. The students marvel at this and enjoy the fruits of their labour, such as tomatoes and strawberries, months earlier than those grown outdoors.

This fact encouraged school to fundraise for class vege pods which we now have. These are not as enclosed as the dome, but produce fruits and vegetables quicker than the outdoor garden, enabling us to have produce all year round now.

 Sometimes this produce is eaten by the students in the gardening club, and sometimes by the whole school. At other times, it has been used to make a lunch for the school staff (prepared and served by the gardening club) or shared with families who really appreciate the freshness of these products.

On behalf of our school and community, we would like to acknowledge and thank Michelle and Dome to Dish for the foresight to install these domes to support students and their families.

We wish Michelle well in all her ventures.

Regards

Gaylene Hill

Principal Linden School

Testimonial- Judi Adams  Principal

Tuturumuri School
New Zealand

The Solar Geodesic Dome are user friendly domes that are easily constructed and installed due to their unique design. Our small rural school of 26 students, Year 1 – 8, was very interested in the Eco Sustainable heat banks the dome provides.  There is no artificial heat or power needed to run the dome making it very reliable and inexpensive to run and maintain.  The idea behind installing our dome was to provide the students with a year around tool where they could learn about vegetable growing leading into Healthy Eating Education in their curriculum.  We never thought it would be as successful and beneficial as it has!

Our school installed a dome from Domegrown in mid 2011 (our winter).  It was an exciting time for the students, school, and community. The installation went smoothly and within 8 weeks the dome was thriving with vegetables the students had grown even through our coldest months.

Growing vegetables all year round has been a great educational experience for the students and is teaching them not only about gardening and growing healthy food but about raising money from the excess vegetables that are grown.  The demand for the vegetables has been so successful that the students are now growing seedlings to sell to the community with the intent of inspiring others to grow healthy food.  Since the dome was installed Michelle and Gavin have supported our school by visiting us on numerous occasions to see how prosperous the planting is within the dome.

Thanks Michelle and Gavin you have provided our school with a priceless resource!

Judi Adams

Principal
Tuturumuri School
New Zealand

tawanews-july (check out this link for more on our NZ programme)