BBC News: Gardening not for 'the thick or dull' (report on gardening as a career)

[Potstubsdustbins]

Potty, I see your local college is offering a degree in "Heavy Metal" - and its not engineering BBC News - Heavy metal degree is a 'waste of time' claim campaigners
To my mind, plumbing is a lot more useful

Could not agree more with your sentiment and unless you get to the top of your music genre the plumber will still take home more.

The chap next door is having quotes for some building work at this time. The guy yesterday turned up in a new BMW with a private plate, the one to day in a nice new Warrior 4 x 4.

Not my style you understand but it does give an idea of whats out there.

Potty

[zazen999]

Could not agree more with your sentiment and unless you get to the top of your music genre the plumber will still take home more.

The chap next door is having quotes for some building work at this time. The guy yesterday turned up in a new BMW with a private plate, the one to day in a nice new Warrior 4 x 4.

Not my style you understand but it does give an idea of whats out there.

Potty

I used to work for the CITB and one of the ways we used to get Construction Ambassadors to encourage and engage kids for a future career was to pick the ones with expensive cars to pull up in the school car park...used to work a treat.

[Mikey]

Schools suffer mainly with a lack of funding, which has seen an ever decreasing amount of practical application in all subject areas. When I was at school horticulture wasn't a subject for the masses it was for sen's. Can you imagine the number of risk accessment involved in the toolshed these days. Plus parents don't want their kids getting dirty clothes. There is a generation mine that didn't do horticulture in school, and as such see no value in their kids doing it.

I'm pretty sure my daughter will have an allotment when she's older as she spends so much time there with me.
If not she'll no how to pick the freshest produce in the supermarket at least.

[Potstubsdustbins]

I used to work for the CITB and one of the ways we used to get Construction Ambassadors to encourage and engage kids for a future career was to pick the ones with expensive cars to pull up in the school car park...used to work a treat.

True but you are not there to sell your services. I was fortunate enough to work for a national company as a contracts manager. Our salesmen were supplied with company cars 1.1 Fiesta's and were not allowed to use there own. Clean but not flashy was the watchword.

Must have worked because the side that dealt with private installations installed over 500,000 installations at well above market rates.

Potty

[zazen999]

True but you are not there to sell your services. I was fortunate enough to work for a national company as a contracts manager. Our salesmen were supplied with company cars 1.1 Fiesta's and were not allowed to use there own. Clean but not flashy was the watchword.

Must have worked because the side that dealt with private installations installed over 500,000 installations at well above market rates.

Potty

We were selling the concept...to teenage boys and girls...the only thing that was a draw was flash cars. Sad but true.

[VirginVegGrower]

We were selling the concept...to teenage boys and girls...the only thing that was a draw was flash cars. Sad but true.

Especially the boys. They love it. First question I used to get in an aero engine manufacturing unit from the local school kids, was "do you get a free roller (R-R)?" Er no.....

[Alison]

We were selling the concept...to teenage boys and girls...the only thing that was a draw was flash cars. Sad but true.

Probably true for some but defo not for all - a teenage family friend who is weighing up her options at the moment gave a long rant the other day that she's EXPECTED to only care about money but actually she wants to do something she finds interesting seeing as with the current predictions on length of working life she's going to be doing whatever she does until she's about 95!

Also remember when I chose to go into engineering - most definitely not a mainstream choice for girls in the '80s. An engineer (think their parent was a teacher at my school) came in and talked about their working day, the thought of doing something that was practical and that you could see fascinated me and I made the decision there and then that this was what I wanted to do - definitely the right choice for me and had no idea what they earned or what car they drove. Always find it sad that so many people judge success in simply financial terms

[Veggielot]

It's the same with institutions everywhere, Police Forces, Medical profession... Everything is target based, tick this box, tick that box, fill in this form. If there's no box to tick, it doesn't get done.

Sounds just like where I work, it was one of the main reasons I got my allotment. Its great to get outside in the fresh air and be able to do what I want.

[zazen999]

Always find it sad that so many people judge success in simply financial terms

Most people like to have a roof over their head and food in their bellies...that's not sad is it?

[Madasafish]

Targets work if applied intelligently.

Unfortunately many of the government funded organisations only promote people who stick rigidly to targets so "applied intelligently" does not work.

See :
"Teenager who has tended war memorial in his village for 12 years is accused by council of criminal damage after he installed a pipe to water the plants
Kurtis Green has tended to the Dersingham memorial since he was seven
He was questioned by police for two hours after installing the water pipe"

Teenager tends war memorial in his village for 12 years... then the council accuses him of criminal damage after he added a pipe to water plants | Mail Online

[bikergirl]

Just a point regarding the inclusion of horticulture in the school curriculum.......

When I was at school we didn't grow anything - at all. I'm 35 now. Nor did we learn anything applicable in the real world in so called cookery lessons. However, I was very lucky to grow up with farmers for grandparents, and a dad that loves cooking (particularly baking) and growing things.

My first long term partner also enjoyed gardening and I probably learnt quite a lot from him.

I'm now a single mother of an 11 year old boy. I'm pleased to say we have a greenhouse with lots growing in it. My son is involved in what we eat and the preparation of that food - he enjoys baking and is perfectly able to do so unsupervised.

Has he learnt any of that at school? No. But then I actually don't expect him too. There are only so many teaching hours in a day / week / month and more and more is expected to be taught. I would fully support going back to basics which sadly seem neglected now, which would give the opportunity for some of these life skills to be taught. If a child wants to specialise, there is plenty of time to do that after GCSE's.

Rant over!

I don't think I'm doing a bad job with my son when my Dad, friend and I came in from mending the greenhouse to find that my son had prepared lunch for us all - salad, all laid out on the table looking very delicious.

[Alison]

It never occurred to me that schools would teach horticulture as a stand alone item, certainly didn't do anything when I left school over 20 years ago. We did however learn about how plants grew and how food worked etc within other subjects. Personally I learnt to garden from watching my parents and spending time with my granddad at his lottie. We did do cookery and it wasn't too bad, taught us about nutrition and how to cook a variety of dishes both sweet and savoury as well as menu planning. That said, I remember me and my mate being told off for cooking a few of the dishes before we'd been officially taught as we already knew how to do that sort of thing

Oh and Bikergirl, sounds like you're not doing badly at all

[alldigging]

It never occurred to me that schools would teach horticulture as a stand alone item, certainly didn't do anything when I left school over 20 years ago.

One of our plot holders used to teach horticulture at a secondary school - he retired 15 years ago though.

[SarzWix]

Our local secondary school has taught horticulture since I was there, but it's never been a general option for anybody to take, its always only been offered to those that are considered 'good with their hands' (that old chestnut). On the one hand its good that alternatives are available to 'academic' subjects, but I hate the divide, which as Titchy says, makes a hierarchy between use of brains and use of hands.