Ebrington Primary pupils ‘dig’ gardening

On the menu from the school plots have been everything from strawberries to potatoes, and gooseberries to aubergines. Some of the produce has been taken home, while yet more has been taken to the school canteen, where the tasty produce has been shared out among the rest of the children in the school.

The driving force behind the horticulture is teacher Brenda Throne, who has been spending lunchtime imparting the seeds of knowledge with her young charges, but it took root five years ago.

“The project has been operating in its current form for about three years, using raised beds which were provided by the Housing Executive as part of the school-based scheme called the Junior Wardens Scheme. That was under the direction of another teacher, Jonathon Torrens and three raised beds were erected, but that has now been extended to five.

“Prior to that we grew things in plastic bags on the tarmac, because that is all we had. I think it all started off with a World War 2 study topic on the ‘Dig For Victory’ campaign, which turned into greater things,” said Mrs Thorne.

“The children enjoyed it so much that we continued to grow things in plastic bags and the children and their parents realised that even if they had concrete yards at home they could still grow something,” she said.

This year has been a prolific one for produce, even if it was a mini ‘harvest’, because there were five types of potato: Kerrs Pink, Smile, Arran Victory, Rocket and British Queens. There was ‘cut and come again’ lettuce, radishes, scallions, peas and beans (which the birds particularly enjoyed), as well as a raise bed devoted to cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, while mixed in with the salad were ‘Purple Haze’ and ‘Rainbow’ carrots, leeks, celery, onions and garlic.

In addition to being tied into the curriculum, the gardening club means children also developing their practical and social skills alongside their academic learning, and new features this year included the collection and use of harvested rainwater and produce grown in two plastic greenhouses, including cucumber, tomatoes and aubergines as well as sweet and chilli peppers and courgettes, and fruits like raspberries, rhubarb, gooseberries and blackcurrants, as well as the old favourite, strawberries.

Every opportunity is taken to tie the project into other aspects of school life, and the waste from the schools ‘fruit only break times’ is recycled through the compost area, which is then tended for use in the gardening.

The school has also branched out and planted two new trees this year, meaning Ebrington can now boast a bijou ‘orchard’ or apple, pear and plum trees.

Although all of the gardening activity is taken on by a dedicated little team of eight gardeners, chosen at random, the rest of the school is encouraged to get involved, and all the growing spaces are close to the nursery unit, which means natural curiosity among the very little people guarantees that by the time children get to P4 they can’t wait to get involved and get more hands on.

The entire project is now funded by the parents through the PTA, and is helped along with supermarket vouchers, making the gardening club a self-contained initiative that produces mouth-watering results for the whole school to enjoy.