About
Growing Kiwi Gardeners mission is to inspire the early childhood community to build an ecologically sustainable curriculum that seeks to reduce human impact on the planet through gardening programmes and professional learning.
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Kia ora, my name is
Anita Croft
I am a qualified early childhood teacher with six years experience teaching in the early childhood sector and eight years teaching in the tertiary sector. I hold a Master of Education degree where I studied pre-service early childhood teachers' preparedness to teach education for sustainability.
I have a long-held passion for growing my own food that began in my own childhood, and as such I believe that all young children should have the opportunity to learn how to grow their own food. From my home in Christchurch, I have my own large vegetable garden and glasshouse and grow seasonal vegetables all year.
I work with early childhood services and teachers to embed sustainable gardening into their curriculum because when children learn the joy of eating the food they have grown they take that back to their families and whānau which in turn extends out into neighbourhoods and communities.
I offer gardening programmes and professional learning and development for early childhood services across Aotearoa New Zealand, and a hands-on gardening programme for ECEs in Christchurch. For those unable to utilise the hands-on programme I offer a fully supported online course. I also host regular webinars on gardening and sustainability with young children.
