School garden help!

[lainey lou]

This year, myself, another Mum and one of the teachers at my childrens primary school are hoping to get a garden going at the school. It's very early days yet, we're waiting to see if the Head will spare as some ground.

I know others of you have been involved in this sort of project and wondered if you could share any, wisdom, ideas etc.
Also does anyone out there know if there is any funding for this sort of thing? I'm planning to ask around local garden centres etc.

All ideas welcome!
Thanks

[di]

Hi Lainey,I go in & help out at the school...started off just in Daisy & Ash's class,but soon progressed to them all!
I'd be really surprised if the Head doesn't allocate you a bit of space,I think it helps towards the school being awarded an Eco school...so would look good for him/her on paper!
Can't off the top of my head think of any pearls of wisdom other than,all the kiddies like to have a go,so if you're doing it in class time,I suggest taking groups of five or so out at a time & they get to plant either one potato or a couple of beans each...doesn't sound a lot,but it keeps them all happy & TBH some of them still don't have that great an attention span!
One of the things I did last year was to plant salad leaves in the shape of the initial of their class,one morning I was stopped by at least ten excited kiddies that their leaves were making an appearance & that yes indeed it was the right shape!
One of the important things to think about is how the food will be served?Initially some of the teachers thought it could be given to the canteen for school dinners,thankfully most of them agreed that this wasn't fair as most don't have school dinners,so I think most classes incorporated the produce into their snack time.
One problem I encountered was that a few siblings would dig around or pull things up whilst waiting to pick their older brothers/sisters up...Yep,you'd think the parents would stop them...so maybe if your plot(s)will be near classrooms it maybe an idea to make some little polite signs to put up to ask parents to be a little more considerate!()
I'm not sure about funding,but I know the school obtained several free packets of seeds through different schemes,if I get the chance I'll ask someone this afternoon.Morrisons did something last year,not sure if they're doing it again>(similar thing to Tesco's vouchers,but more for gardening stuff?)
Good Luck with it and although I'm sure you'll do great without my input,feel free to PM me with any other queries...or excellent ideas that I may need to steal!!!

[zazen999]

I'll be going through the seed parcels over the winter so if you want some seeds, post on here

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ons_37622.html

[lainey lou]

Thanks so much Di, there are some great ideas and tips there, I'm really excited about this!

Thanks Andrea, will do!!

[enrich100]

at last a post where I can actually be useful

heres a few suggestions


The Potato Council give free potatoes kits to schools

Potato Council

the web site has a teacher and student and printable certificates for any children who are involved

Seeds of Italy have a deal for schools
the packets that are damaged are collected
then roughly 7 packets can be ordered for just £1
( fully explained on the website)
Seeds of Italy - Seeds for Schools

if you have a Morrisons supermarket near you they have a school promotion
although the promotion is for 2009 im sure they will continue it next year
Let's Grow - Morrisons

The woodland trust are offering trees
( I know its not veg but your school might be interested)
Hedge and copse packs, free from the Woodland Trust

this link has several links (some out of date) of companies supporting primary schools

Think Food and Farming - Growing

United Kingdom (UK) Freecycle Groups' Homepage

Regions of United Kingdom
we have used this site to get hand tools,containers Pots/trays and propagators for free, the equipment that we have managed to get would have cost the school over £200 new

I'm now working on letters to my other local Supermarkets as well DIY stores with begging letters

I am also contacting the local Wyvale Garden centre as I was told that in the next month or so they will give any of last years left over seeds to schools and colleges

if its a community school you may be able to approach your parish/town council for a grant

hopefully for once i'm being useful

[di]

Wow Enrich!!!!Shall make a note of all that & pass it on.
I know the school know about the potato council,but don't think they accessed the others last year.
Thanks!...very useful!x

[lainey lou]

Wow enrich100, that's incredibly useful, thank you very much!

[Incy]

One tiny peice of advice from me.
Try and make sure that the kids plant stuff that won't need harvesting/go over during the summer holidays. There's nothing more dissapointing than putting in loads of effort, watching things grow and then missing the bit where you get to eat it.

[zebedee]

All I can say is, and you probably are and will, but involve the kids as much as possible!!! The amount of fun you and they will have is incredible. I know that the Health and Safety nazi's put all sort of barriers up, but the more the kids do, the better.
Enjoy.

[TPeers]

Rocket gardens will donate plants to schools

Dig for The Future - Rocket Gardens in School - Grow your own organic vegetable, herb or fruit plants with a Rocket Garden

This is the link.

[enrich100]

I forgot to mention members of the forums who have donated through the seed swap
and a couple of others who have PM me and sent seeds, You all know who you are, A big Thankyou to you all.

Other resources are people power, if you get the go ahead a note in the news letter will hopefully help with donations of equipment and even manpower to help set up

regarding crops
to make it really interesting grow things that are small, large or a bit different

purple haze carrots
Carrot Yellowstone,
Carrot Healthmaster
Sugarsnax
Carrot Rainbow

are multi coloured carrots are a hit with kids plus you can grow them in buckets (morrisons flower buckets 8 for 99p) so no ground work needed




tom thumb lettuce are good to



they are very small


so can be grown anywhere and take up a small area so each child can grow/ take one home t+m seeds have over 1000 seeds in a pack

I have been given some Chioggia Pink beetroot via a swap


which im thinking the children will love

try to be creative as you can, planters can be painted, old toy can be used too I had a large transparent tea pot that our kids had with a tea set in it, I had my eye on it as a class room propagator but my OH got rid of it when I was not looking. One of the issues of Grow your own had a good article on this a few months ago.

cbeebies have a few good ideas

BBC*-*CBeebies*Make and Do - Green Balloon Club

Incy is right about mentioning harvesting as the children want to see from start to finish

Am I boring you yet?
I shall stop now

[Hilary B]

Depends on total numbers of children (and not exactly veg), but growing sunflowers 'competitively' is usually popular if the school is small enough (or maybe one year's worth doing the 'tallest sunflower' bit, so that next year a different group are doing this).
There are loads of 'pretty-and-edible' things, so that is well worth doing at any time.
Things in containers can be taken home for the summer holiday, see how it's doing afterwards! If they make (or at least decorate) the containers in school before starting, it minimises the risk of parents 'helping' too much.

[enrich100]

growing sunflowers 'competitively' is usually popular if the school is small enough (or maybe one year's worth doing the 'tallest sunflower' bit, so that next year a different group are doing this).

Me thinks our school parents parents get over competative (I won't mention the other 10 sunflowers I already had growing in the back garden).

Another competition is the size of the seed head, the children can actually bring the seed head back to school for the judging

Sorry I told you I can't stop myself

[lainey lou]

Don't stop! This is great, thank you all!!!

[BumbleB]

I always think it is lovely when children prepare flower baskets for mothers day or easter. I expect that hardy annuals begun in september would suit this, some schools have a nice sunny windowsil to get pots going. And a request for old baskets, containers from the mums often brings in some interesting items.