Setting up gardening club at school

Mortal

moo2moo wrote: »

Most importantly have a plan in place for the school hols. One of my many responsibilites (as school caretaker) is to water the plants in the greenhouse and the hanging baskets during holidays as well as feeding the wormary.

I wish our caretaker was as good as you - we lost pretty much everything over last summer because he didn't water anything

mambury

Mortal wrote: »

I wish our caretaker was as good as you - we lost pretty much everything over last summer because he didn't water anything

I feel that will be my job.... I live the closest to the school out of all parents!!

I am looking forward to it but I am realising what I have agreed to!!!

emmilou

we found salad leaves and radish to be quick and easy, the beans were successful too but we lost a lot over the summer hols :-( so we are aiming to plan a bit better this year and have been advised to stick to the early varieties which will hopefully be harvested before the end of July

paybacktime2008

Garden Organics has a great kids bit.

If you google 'free seeds for schools' you will find loads of sites to sign up to. Or maybe google 'school gardens'. Don't forget to collect the morrisons vouchers.
We grew radishes, quick easy, and we chopped them up and every kid in the school got a taste.

Sowing bedding plants from seed now and hold palnt sales at the gate later on...more ways to raise cash.

Advertise for parents. I could not of run my club without them. Grandparents too are fab, both with available knowledge and time.

Lastly enjoy...the time when a burly 'challenging' year 6 pulls his first carrot with glee will make it all worthwhile.

Invest some of your money in water butts...or plumbing up an outside tap......muddy shoes and cleaners don't mix!

prettypennies

We started our gardening club last year. We managed to secure some funding to replace our old and dangerous concrete raised beds with new wooden edged ones.

Unfortunately, the soil our lovely new beds was filled with was poor quality, so much of our time was spent removing stones and weeds!

We managed to raise £500 doing a Christmas Fayre and this together with the Morrisons let's grow scheme enabled us to buy:

A mini greenhouse
compost
seeds
seed trays and pots
spades, trowels, hoes and forks
a wheelbarrow
watering cans
gloves.

We also acquired a metal garden store from school funds for all our tools. This made it much easier for us to get to our tools without pestering the caretaker all the time.

This year we have managed to get an outside tap fitted (absolutely essential, our crops struggled last year as watering was so difficult).

We have also ordered a hose, sprinkler and open compost container.

We were unable to access the school premises over the summer break due to building work, so some of our crops died due to lack of watering.

Things that flourished regardless were:

Courgettes
Pumpkins
green beans

Our cabbages and brassicas were mercilessly attacked by seagulls and pigeons, so we plan to up the defences this year .

We have decided to order an instant garden from www.rocketgardens.co.uk this year as all the veggies should be ready to harvest before the summer break.

We are also going to set up some temporary beds for experimental growing.

Here is a link to a blog I started last year: www.fagleyprimarygardening.blogspot.com. It tailed off towards the end of June, but I am planning to start it up again in the next few weeks. Another TA and I are going to prep the beds, sort out the garden store and build the cold frames before we get the kids involved. On occasions, managing the children's input could be a little tricky. Also we found that meeting every week meant there wasn't always enough to keep the children occupied (particularly in bad weather) so we are going to be more flexible this year and call the children in when there is plenty to get stuck into.

mambury

a blog is a brilliant idea..... I wonder if some of the kids would like to do that.....

I have been noting all your ideas and tips!!

I shall report back

Antispam

What a good idea, more schools should do this and it may encourage kids to grow there own stuff and also a great thing to learn

Good luck

oldsam

I buy my some of my seeds from Seeds of Italy ,They have a scheme to supply seeds that have been returned to them, In turn they will supply schools with these seeds and posters, This done free of charge , The amount in a pack is suited to large users , I have no hesitation in saying that the germination of the Franchi seeds supplied is of a very high standard - On line site is available for Seeds of Italy to find out the full details , Also GARDEN ORGANIC which the Prince of Wales is patron - They do work with schools across the country helping out to set up their own gardens they may be able to help you and the children , if you can make can contact with local garden clubs in your area you find them able to help on many levels- The local council officer for allotments has the details , you may end up with school plot on a site near the school- Spend the money like a Yorkshire man - long pockets, short arm, Since this is going to be partnership with other schools in the E.U. best of luck - Longlevens Primary School , Glos, went to the Great Autumn Show in Malvern in 2008 and put on a display of their efforts, They were given a prize .

paybacktime2008

Also try your local wildlife trust. Our local one will come out and advise on ponds, composting, wildlife areas etc. Also conservation trust volunteers for any ground work...also any nearby agricultural/horticulture colleges nearby? Sometimes will offer willing students.

We also contemplated getting in offenders doing community service to carry out heavy work.

If you want to 'tick lots of boxes' your garden can be a huge resource in community/school partnerships.

Miss_Imaginative

Oh, lickylonglips, I'm so envious! I'd love to set up a gardening club when I get a permament post in a school!

I recommend B&Q! They have a range of products specifically aimed at children, i.e. seeds that grow fast, show a variety of changes while they grow, etc. I grew some runner beans with my Year 2 class for Science last year, which they absolutely loved. The previous year I grew herb gardens, which was a big success! If you have a cookery club, it could be interesting to liase them together to see what they can cook out of the produce you'll grow in your gardening club. I had to do this as the children had no idea what on earth to do with the herbs they'd grown! I'd also ask the children what they would like to grow - they'll have alot more interest in it if it's something they have chosen themselves.

Definitely second rubberdubbers suggestion of getting a wormery - they had one at one of my previous school's and the children absolutely loved it! The teacher in question had been on a course to get ideas to help contribute towards becoming an eco-school and they got the wormery when they went! I'll see if I can find out what organisation/course that was with, as it was very informative.

Get the PTA involved, they may have some contacts or suggestions for you, you may be able to go to the local garden centre and get some advice or reductions on products. Definitely advertise for parental (or grandparents) volunteers, they are invaluable!

Can't wait to hear how you get on!

Miss_I