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Primary School gardening projects

Marjorie ClarksonMarjorie Clarkson Posts: 3
in Plants
What are the easiest fruit and vegetables for a primary school garden which can be harvested before the school summer holidays?

Posts

  • lilysillylilysilly Posts: 511
    From experience with my reception class garden over the years I would recommend these crops. Peas, the children loved eating raw peas. Small cherry tomatoes, salad leaves, French beans, again we ate them raw and cooked to see which the children preferred.
     Last summer a parent donated capsicum pepper plants, we enjoyed sliced peppers the last week of term. We also had a pumpkin plant that although in a raised bed, and left to its own devices in the 6 week holidays produced 2 medium and 1 small fruit that we then used in the harvest festival assembly.
  • Marjorie ClarksonMarjorie Clarkson Posts: 3
    Thank you so much. I have to admit I have never grown vegetables so would appreciate some advice about how to prepare the plot. 
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    https://schoolgardening.rhs.org.uk/resources/info-sheet/simple-gardening-club-ideas
    Don't  know if you've seen this @Marjorie Clarkson , it may be of some help. Are you using raised beds? Is it an existing garden or are you starting from scratch? 
  • treehugger80treehugger80 Posts: 1,923
    one thing you need to consider is who will look after it during the 6 weeks holidays? this is the time of maximum weed growth and i've seen numerous school gardens be abandoned after one summer holidays weed growth.

    however I would consider fruit, thornless autumn raspberries, thornless blackberries, alpine strawberries (they fruit until the first frosts) fruit trees, even spiky gooseberries as the kids need to learn that everything isn't bubblewrapped for their safety, they only get spiked once, they'll soon learn.

    you can also do early potatoes, beetroot, fast crops like radishes and lettuces
  • tessagardenbarmytessagardenbarmy Posts: 346
    I ran an established  school.garden in inner city West Yorkshire. We had a small  orchard apples harvested in Autumn.  Plums turned into.jam over summer holidays.  Blackcurrant  bushes usually  ready before end of term. We had tomatoes and peppers and cucumbers in  greenhouse.  Beetroot, radish,cut and come again  salad, early spuds,peas especially sugar snap or Mangetout, baby carrots etc.Don't  neglect nasturtium they felt amazed you could eat those. 
    We had a class competition one seed spud in an old black.flower buckets . Each class had to look after it and they were weighed in assembly  to see who'd  done the best.
    Some local garden  centre were supportive and gave or heavily discounted  stuff. I made jam which we sold to raise funds.  RHS school.gardening fabulous  Think you've  already got the link.
  • Marjorie ClarksonMarjorie Clarkson Posts: 3
    Thank you everybody.  All your comments taken on board and I will look at the rhs link. Lots of homework!  
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