Walking into the kitchen garden at ANU you are greeted by the smell of garlic bread and homemade pizza cooking in a woodfired outdoor oven.
A group of around 20 students are busy making dough, picking herbs from the garden, collecting fresh eggs from a chicken coop, and preparing pizzas with a selection of (mostly) home-grown vegetables.
Welcome to the Kitchen Garden program at the Australian National University. The program features gardening bees, cooking classes, workshops and a communal healthy meal each Wednesday.
The initiative aims to bring students together, help them connect with nature and teach them how to grow, harvest and cook food.
Walking through the garden, at the Canberra Environment Centre in Acton, it's clear every bed has been carefully considered by the small army of volunteers.
The students have planted an assortment of beans, tomatoes, silverbeet, garlic and rhubarb among other fruits and vegetables.
ANU student Caleb McCollum is a volunteer at the Kitchen Garden Program.
"I volunteer because I really like the close knit community. Growing up my parents had a garden and I really liked having an area where I can work and really see the product of my labour.," he said.
"I really like working my hands and the garden gives me an area where I can do that. You see a lot of reoccurring faces here every single week. It's just a really good opportunity for me to connect with the community.
"The garden offers people an opportunity to learn about food by growing it. Canberra is a pretty urban setting and not a lot of people think about where their food comes from, how it's grown, what to do with it."
Ziang Jai works at the university's Thrive program, which includes the Kitchen Garden. He said students involved with the garden were also able to take fresh produce home, an option many take full advantage of.
"We are offering students a chance to learn how to grow vegetables and how to cook. We actually have some new participants who are moving into self-catered accommodation and they're looking forward to learning how to cook," he said.
"We cook all different kinds of things: nasi goreng, dumplings, etcetera. And also students can come in and grab produce whenever they need to. Especially because fresh produce is a bit expensive at the moment."
Deputy manager of student development, Aisling Dowling said the garden not only teaches young people life skills but has been helpful in alleviating student loneliness.
"We are working with students to develop life skills that many come to university without and especially students who may have had their first year in a catered residential hall and are now living on their own, or are grappling with sharing a house with other students," she said.
"It's a lovely relaxed environment to engage with staff and to engage with the students in a non-threatening way. To get support and feel like they belong, there's a place for them to connect."
