Joan French had one thing at the top of her wish list when it came time to move into a retirement home.<\/p>\n
“I’ve always had a garden. Really loved it. So that’s why I chose this place to live,” she said.<\/p>\n
“I like to be out in the fresh air.”<\/p>\n
The 92-year-old moved north from Bribie Island near Brisbane to Bundaberg to be closer to family last year.<\/p>\n
But she’s now cultivating some unexpected younger friendships.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Students grow tomatoes and other vegetables. (ABC News: Johanna Marie)<\/p>\n
It’s harvest day in the garden of Ms French’s aged care home, which has been built by students from the neighbouring high school.<\/p>\n
“We’ve got tomatoes, like cherries and your romas, and then we’ve got cauliflower, some broccoli, lettuce \u2026 even silverbeet and carrots,” Jayden Van Rooyan, 14, said.<\/p>\n
“There’s chickens and we even bring in goats to interact with the residents.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The produce is provided to the aged care home kitchen for mealtimes. (ABC News: Johanna Marie)<\/p>\n
Joy in ageing<\/p>\n
The teenagers tend the garden under the watchful eye of the elderly residents, who relish the time outdoors.<\/p>\n
“It makes me feel like I want to bog in and help them, but I’m past that now,” Ms French said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The students grow a variety of fresh fruit and vegetables for the aged care home. (ABC News: Johanna Marie)<\/p>\n
Greg Cronan from the Australian Institute for Intergenerational Practice said it was important for people to continue experiencing purpose and meaning later in life.<\/p>\n
“This is one of the biggest challenges for senior adults in residential aged care,” Mr Cronan said.<\/p>\n
“What we’re doing with these programs is bringing joy into ageing.<\/p>\n
“These older people can have a tremendous influence on the lives of these students.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Greg Cronan says the program is restoring joy in residents’ lives. (ABC News: Johanna Marie)<\/p>\n
The health benefits of the social connections can’t be underestimated either.<\/p>\n
“It’s meant to be stimulating \u2026 and studies show these interactions can not only delay the onset of dementia, but also help diminish its severity,” Mr Cronan said.<\/p>\n
Reciprocal learning<\/p>\n
In this all-ages gardening club, shared interests make good fodder for conversation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The teenagers and elderly bond over gardening and life experiences. (ABC News: Johanna Marie)<\/p>\n
June Cuskelly, 90, grew up on dairy farms across southern Queensland, so there is no shortage of tales to pass on to her young prot\u00e9g\u00e9s.<\/p>\n
“Riding horses, getting the little pigs and dressing them up in doll’s clothes,” she said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Aged care residents June Cuskelly and Joan French patting the baby goats. (ABC News: Johanna Marie)<\/p>\n
“Dad would play the banjo, and mum would play the piano and us kids would get around dancing and singing.”<\/p>\n
“It was good to hear how different their growing up was compared to mine and learning all the history was brilliant,” added fifth-generation farmer and student Bailey Jansen.<\/p>\n
St Luke’s Anglican School director of community and service, Matthew Cathcart, said the “community agriculture club” was a joint initiative with Meilene Residential Aged Care.<\/p>\n
“We’ve got a lot of students that are involved in farming, so it’s great to bring the two together and be able to connect with one another,” Mr Cathcart said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Joan French and June Cuskelly enjoy watching the teenagers in the garden. (ABC News: Johanna Marie)<\/p>\n
Mr Cronan believed the interactions encouraged reciprocal learning.<\/p>\n
“The young people can learn about how hard it was to farm land 50 years ago and the older people learn about new technology and how we farm today,” he said.<\/p>\n
Paddock to plate<\/p>\n
It’s also a lesson in sustainability.<\/p>\n
Scraps from the school tuckshop are collected for compost, while chickens help fertilise the aged care garden.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Produce from the vegetable garden is used in the aged care home’s kitchen. (ABC News: Johanna Marie)<\/p>\n
Everything grown goes straight to the cooks in the kitchen to prepare nutritious lunches and dinners for the aged care residents.<\/p>\n
“They reckon they bloody love it,” Bailey said.<\/p>\n
This story is the final in a five-part series exploring how regional Queenslanders are ageing well outside the capital city.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Joan French had one thing at the top of her wish list when it came time to move…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":73938,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[8828,64,63,57397,134,57395,57396,57400,57399,57398],"class_list":["post-73937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-ageing-well","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-institute-for-intergenerational-practice","tag-entertainment","tag-gardening-in-aged-care","tag-high-school-students-do-gardening-at-aged-care-home","tag-intergenerational-education","tag-meilene-residential-aged-care","tag-st-lukes-anglican-school"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73937"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73937\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}