Allotments and 'green ideas' for kids at a primary school - any suggestions ?

[hub2dee]

Our local horticultural society (of which I am the token young person, LOL) has been approached by a primary school for input / advice / ideas regarding transforming their grounds (pretty extensive I think) into outdoor educational play / classroom space, and establishing allotments for the children.

Allotments aren't my strong point, and dd is only 4 months old so I haven't yet done the gardening-at-school thing, nor have much appreciation for how ecology / green issues / growing veg etc. can be best integrated into the curriculum...

Do any MNers have particular experience in this area (perhaps I can CAT you ?) Do any MNers have any suggestions for

1. Best layout for allotments - one raised bed per class ? One bed per child ? Ordinary rectangular layout or triangular wedges (like cake slices IYSWIM) ? Anyone seen more 'themed' / structured kids' allotments (ie. in the shape of a fruit / vegetable etc.) ?

2. Other things to think about when establishing allotments which are often overlooked ? (I've thought about sinks for washing mitts, small tool sheds for implements and aprons, dwarf fruit-tree orchards etc.)

3. On a general point, any totally fab things you've come across at school re: green / gardening in the curriculum or amazing treatments of outdoor spaces ? (turf benches, sand / sea areas, wildlife ponds, compost home waste at school etc. etc.)

Thanks very much for any comments / ideas.

I'm using either bamboo screening or reed fencing for the roof (to give shade rather than rain proof) I think......
Decking and a balustrade (to keep them off the grass)

That sounds lovely km. Great idea for the roof material. Could double up as vertical 'blinds' too depending where the sun is in the sky !

It'll cost about a grand for a bit 16ft by 8ft - so it needs to be well planned
something like this?

Sorry H2D for the delay in trying to post everything I know about school gardens - didn't realise you were having a meeting so quickly!

Basically our gardening club is run by two parent stalwarts and a teacher, with me and a few others giving 'casual' help when we can spare the time and the workaholic caretaker doing a hell of a lot of watering over the summer.

We have two big compost bins, a Can-o-Worms worm composter, a pop-up greenhouse and a patch of garden which has veg beds plus tables and umbrellas for outdoor lessons etc. Thanks to enthusiastic watering we had loads of veg this year, and what struck me was how keen the kids were to take stuff home, even if only a few chard leaves. For this you need to provide bags for their harvest - I recommend Pick-a-bags from, where else, Lakeland, but any such bags would do. We also of course have enough small gardening gloves, trowels, watering cans etc for them all. As well as veg to eat, we grew some fancy swan-necked gourds and lots of flowers.

Besides harvesting, the kids plant up containers, collect and sow seeds, plant bulbs, propagate by runners, have plant sales, water, mulch and weed. If we wanted, we could dwell more on the science than we do at the moment, eg the science of decay cf composting etc.

Interesting what you say about competing schemes - I was beginning to get that impression myself, and tbh wouldn't say that the HDRA one I mentioned is likely to be the best, sadly.

Nice little deck, km !

Thanks Mirage for your e-mail.

Hi Fauve, yep, learnt about the project on Tuesday and the meet was Friday ! Your poor caretaker ! One of the things we discussed was feasibility of professional maintenance over the Summer hols to keep everything alive, but maybe a sprinker system on a timer would be suitable too...

Our local council supplies discounted composters, and we'll see if we can wangle some for free.

Your gardening club certainly sounds like a fun and busy place.

I'll post about how things develop !

Hello, our school is just started to talk about a allotment for the school. We have lots and lots of ground. Have anyone got any tips about grants. Thanks.

Hello, our school is just started to talk about a allotment for the school. We have lots and lots of ground. Have anyone got any tips about grants. Thanks.