The gardens' year-round working bees were included in the eighth summer school's courses programme and yesterday about a dozen workers spent a couple of hours working to develop the new ''food forest'' at the Chelmer St site in Oamaru.
But the gardens' volunteer and site co-ordinator Ra McRostie said the community gardens' ethos fitted in with the spirit of the summer school so well that yesterday was just a typical Wednesday at the gardens.
The gardens taught people, of any age, the self-resilience the summer school stood for year round.
''This garden is first and foremost an education hub ... and it's for 'community'. So, it's about people coming together, meeting each other, working together, learning from each other and then learning from what we can offer as well. And, I mean, I learn things constantly. I'm as much of a student as anyone is here. It's beautiful.''
With tutors from within the community, the summer school this year hosts classes on everything from eating what you find in your backyard, to online lending, baby massage, tool sharpening, beekeeping and bike repair - more than 40 subjects are on offer over 16 days from last Saturday until February 4.
Yesterday, gardeners were helping to install the gardens' food forest, which Ms McRostie described as ''a food-growing area that's based on the structure of a natural self-sustaining forest''.
Based on the principles of permaculture, the forest's canopy and subcanopy ''all the way down to root crops and vines'' were planted so each plant was mutually beneficial to the others.
''What happens is they support each other, they nourish and nurture each other.
''And yeah, you can eat it.''
