What’s the big idea?

• You only need one square metre to start an edible garden at school.
  
• A school garden provides lots of opportunities for learning about science, health and nutrition and design and technology.
  
• Children will be excited to taste and eat fruit and vegetables they have grown themselves.
  
• Gardening is a great way of getting parents involved in schools (especially dads and grandads!).
  
• During World War II, schools regularly grew vegetables. One school grew 200 cauliflowers, 300 broccoli, 400 leeks, 200 brussels sprouts and 1,000 cabbages in one season!

Start from where you are.
Are there any teachers or parents who are keen gardeners? Are there any parents who would like to volunteer? Are there any local organisations that could help? Find some space for your garden - it does not have to be huge. Think about security, water, sunlight, wind and soil quality when choosing a site. Buy, borrow or beg some basic tools.

Make a plan.
Before you pick up a spade or start choosing your plants you need to make a plan. Draw a scale map of your garden (1:50 or 2cm to represent each metre, is a good scale for most school gardens). Mark on trees, walls, waterlogged areas and other existing features. Trace or make photocopies of the map and use it to plan out your garden. Be realistic! Involve the children.

Get weeding!
If your plot is full of weeds, this is a sign of good fertility! Nevertheless, your first priority will be getting rid of weeds. You can either do this by digging out all the weeds and their roots or by cutting them down and then covering the area with a light-excluding material such as mulch, black polythene, thick layers of newspaper, old carpet or cardboard. The first method is hard work, the second method is slower and can look a bit messy although you can plant vegetables such as pumpkins and tomatoes through the mulch.

Why not grow... Pumpkins Beans Sprouting seeds Blackberries Herbs

Only got a courtyard?
Many schools find that a courtyard is an ideal place to start a school garden. Being surrounded by buildings, courtyards are usually relatively secure and therefore safe from vandalism. There may be good soil under the paving stones and by pulling up a few you instantly have weed-less ground to plant in. Alternatively, large tyres can be filled with soil and compost to form perfect raised beds or grow bags can be placed around the courtyard.

Growing potatoes

• Obtain some 50-60 litre compost bags, upend and split in half. (Note that grow bags are probably too small tending to be only 20-25 litres).
  
• Take out some of the compost from each bag.
  
• Plant sprouted tubers.
  
• Add more compost as the plants get bigger.

Other plants for grow bags
Tomatoes and ridge cucumbers can also be grown very successfully in grow bags. Both plants grow quite quickly and are popular with children.

Lettuces can also be grown in grow bags very easily. Seeds can be planted at high density for baby leaf production which can be harvested daily. There are many different colours.

Sprouting seeds in the classroom
You need:

• Some seeds (alfalfa, mung beans, fenugreek, radish, lentils, oats, wheat, barley).
  
• A big jar and a rubber band that fits around the top.
  
• Muslin (fabric shop muslin is much cheaper than from a cookshop).
  
• Fill the bottom of the jar with a single layer of seeds and cover with cold water.
  
• Cover the top of the jar with a piece of muslin and secure with a rubber band.
  
• Leave overnight.
  
• Empty the water, rinse thoroughly and drain (you don't need to take the muslin off).
  
• Keep the jar in a warm place away from direct sunlight. It can be in the dark.
  
• Rinse the seeds thoroughly every morning and evening with cold water.
  
• xThese seeds taste good on their own or in a salad or sandwich.

You could use sprouting seeds to investigate germination and do sensory evaluation (taste tests) on the sprouts.

Start a compost heap
Many councils provide composting units at a subsidised cost to residents and schools (usually between £8-10 depending on size). Some councils may even provide schools with them for free. Several Grab 5! schools have set up composting schemes as a convenient way of disposing of the waste apple cores, orange peel etc. from their fruit tuck shops. Fruit waste, vegetable peelings, grass-cuttings and teabags are all good things to put into your compost heap or bin.

Although gardens can take a while to yield any edible results, there are educational opportunities from day one:

• Measuring the garden and making a plan (maths, geography, ICT, English, art and design).
  
• Counting and identifying weeds using a key (science).
  
• Experimenting with what happens when you cover plants and deprive them of light and water (science). Investigating different mulching materials (design and technology).
  
• Investigating soil types (science).
  
• Investigating which parts of each plant we eat (science).

The science section of the Grab 5! Curriculum Pack, has a lot of activities related to plant growth.

Walnut Tree Walk Primary School set up a composting scheme and used it as an educational project for pupils - teaching children about decomposition, waste and recycling.

Greenwood Primary School set up a growing club for their key stage 1 and special needs children. Tomato plants, carrots, onions, beetroot and sunflowers were grown from seed inside and then transferred to grow bags in the courtyard. When the plants were ready for harvest the children picked, cooked and ate them. Surplus was taken home to be shared by families and communities. Tomatoes proved the best plants to grow because children can have an individual plant each, they are easy to store on windowsills and they clearly show the lifecycle of a plant.

Wyther Park Primary School ran a gardening club once a week for one and a half hours after school for between 15 and 30 children. They only had a small court yard available but the club was very successful. A learning mentor and one teacher helped to run the club on a regular basis. The only cost was the price of the tools - about £50. Tyres, seeds and compost were donated by local businesses.

At Macaulay School the parents ran the growing club and 32 children joined. They kept a scrap book in which they recorded their activities and how their plants were growing, kept photos and drew pictures of what was happening.

More Information The Food in Schools Toolkit provides practical guidance on growing clubs and other food in schools activities. Availabe free to all schools and on www.foodinschools.org. Growing schools is a government led initiative that aims to encourage all schools to make better use of the outdoor classroom as a context for teaching and learning, both within and beyond the school grounds. Teaching resources, training programmes, information on funding, places to visit and case studies are provided on www.teachernet.gov.uk/growingschools or by calling 0870 000 2288. The HDRA Organic Network for Schools is a mine of practical information for any school setting up a garden. Their website www.schoolsorganic.net contains helpsheets and advice, much of which is useful whether you decide to garden organically or not. They also provide in-service training for teachers in skills such as pruning and making compost. For more information contact 024 7630 8238 or visit the website. Learning Through Landscapes works with schools on designing school grounds. They could, for example, help with planting an orchard. To order a pack call 01962 846 258 or visit www.ltl.org.uk Seeds and Plant Growth Discovery Pack, published by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), contains classroom activities and photocopiable worksheets on seeds and growing. It is available free from the BBSRC liaison service 01793 413302, and on the web www.bbsrc.ac.uk/tools/download (click on 'materials for schools'). They can also provide, on loan, discovery boxes which contain all the equipment and seeds needed to do the activities in the book. Stockbridge Technology Centre in Selby, North Yorkshire has a programme for primary schools. Children visit the centre three times in a year and get practical experience at growing and harvesting a variety of fruit and vegetables. Contact Julian Davies for more information on 01757 268275, juliandavies@stc-nyorks.co.uk. Women's Environmental Network engages women in inner city organic growing projects many of which take place in schools and also involve children and staff. For more details phone 020 74819004 or visit their website, www.wen.org.uk/local_food Info bank 5: Get food into the curriculum, info bank 6: Stay safe