Gardening News

1st at Garden Organic Show - Oct 09

Our young gardeners are celebrating after scooping ‘Best in Show’ for their home grown box of organic produce at the ‘Autumn Harvest’ event held at Garden Organic headquarters near Coventry. 

They also won first prize for their compost made from school kitchen & fruit waste.  The judges were impressed by the quality and wide variety of vegetables in the basket.  The contents of the box are now being turned into delicious meals by the school kitchen.

We are a Flagship Food For Life partnership school. A scheme which works to help children make more informed choices about the food they eat.

For more information: www.gardenorganic.org.uk

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Look at what's on the school lunch menu

Chard, Lettuce and leeks - all grown by the school gardening club! - Jun 09
 

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Young growers relish radishes! - June 09

       
Teachers at school have been impressed to see pupils eating radishes from the school’s veg patch.

The reception class children, from Franche Community Primary School, have been growing their own food with the expert help of Garden Organic, the UK’s leading organic growing charity, and it seems their efforts have paid off as now the pupils are not only growing vegetables, but eating them too!

The school, which is signed up to the Food for Life Partnership – a project that aims to transform school food culture - began growing the ‘French Breakfast’ radish variety back in April. When it came to harvest day the teachers were amazed to see that the pupils had grown a bumper crop of radishes - some 8cm round and 12 cm long! They were even further delighted to see the children really eager to tuck in to their homegrown harvest.

Teaching Assistant, Mary Bendall, who runs the school garden said, “The children have been enthusiastic about growing their own vegetables right from the start. What’s great is that they are just as keen to eat the veggies as they are to grow them. To see 4 year olds enjoying radishes just proves that involving them in growing their own really can change their eating habits.”

Malcolm Smith, Garden Education Officer at Garden Organic said, “The Food for Life Partnership’s work is about helping children make more informed choices about the food they eat. Garden Organic’s role is to get the children started by helping them, and their parents, grow their own food. From then on they harvest the produce and even eat it in their school meals, all of which helps to give them an appreciation of when food is in season and how it looks before it ends up on their plates.“

Next pupils will be harvesting a healthy crop of podded peas, which teachers are eager to see enjoyed as much as the radishes!

To find out more about the Food for Life Partnership visit www.foodforlife.org.uk. Or for more information on Garden Organic visit www.gardenorganic.org.uk.

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School grown beetroot is on the menu this week - Jul 08

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Lettuce, coriander and parsley are on the menu this week - Jun 08

Digging for Victory - Mar 08

Class 2RW at Franche Community Primary School, Chestnut Grove, Kidderminster are digging for victory in an attempt to beat other years at the school and grow the most weight in potatoes.

Each year band at the school is taking part in a competition to grow the most weight in potatoes and have been issued with seed potatoes, containers and organic compost. The prize is an afternoon treat for their year band where they will be able to enjoy smoothies and juices made from locally grown fruit and vegetables. All of the potatoes grown will be used in the school's kitchen.

Franche Community Primary School is a Food for Life Partnership Flagship School and is working closely with Garden Organic to promote a variety of growing projects throughout the school. They also teamed up with Hodge Hill Farm Shop who offered special pricing on the equipment needed for the project.