Harvest Festival and competative baskets!

[Anenome]

Does your DC's school do Harvest festival? And if so what kind of things do people put in their DC's baskets/boxes?

For our 1st festival we were told "Just put a few things in as the children have to walk to church carrying them and we don't want heavy things."

So I gave DD a small basket of apples prettily wrapped....only to arrive at church later that day to be confronted by blinking huge trays full of expensive bath items and luxury food! our crappy apples were shoved at the side of the display!

I won't be caught out again! Or should I stick to simple? I laugh at the thought of all the tinies struggling up the road beneath their massive gifts.

Wicker baskets with shredded tissue...
Duchy of Cornwall biscuits and jams...
Fine teas...

All carefully wrapped (in case of droppage) in clear plastic, with curled ribbons....

(And I'm not kidding.... )

rofl - last year I volunteered as a parent helper to walk the children down to the local church and see the harvest festival display. (school hall is too small to have a harvest festival display at in the school itself) Not having seen one since I was at primary school I was expecting wheat sheaves and plaited loaves, but no, it was row upon row of yellow Morrisons's value tinned stuff

Definitely no curled ribbon round here!

That was them Fluffyhamster! Posh breakfast teas and really lovely scented candles etc.

I don't have blinking Duchy of Cornwall stuff! Lol....the things do go to a family centre nearby to make up baskets for families who have lost their homes..they get given a box of things when they finally get rehomed...can just see them now..."Great...no food in the house but got a lovely candle and some "Calm down tea"...gather roound kids and we'll have a feast!"

Fluffyhamster Thu 23-Sep-10 11:35:28
Wicker baskets with shredded tissue...
Duchy of Cornwall biscuits and jams...
Fine teas...

All carefully wrapped (in case of droppage) in clear plastic, with curled ribbons....

They will be unwanted Christmas presents from last year. After all who actually drinks those fancy teas and odd flavour biscuits.

ProfYaffle

That's how it was where I went to school too! It all went to the pensioners in the bungalows...my Nan was so offended to find a box of Tesco value beans etc on her step one day that she marched it back up to the church and left it with a note to "kindly donate this to those who need it...I don't!"

She'd lived in REAL poverty in the 30s and was horrified to be considered "In need" still...when she wasn't! ..bless her!

When I was little my Mum had a harvest basket 'formula':

• keep box from new school shoes in Sept
• Kids to 'cover' it in shiny wrapping paper to keep is quiet one day..

Add:

• tea bags
• jam
• packet of biscuits
• tin of 'fruit salad'
• one of those oval tins of ham

And off we went!

Later on I think we used to get those veg boxes with handles from the greengrocer...

He,he

At our school last year, amongst the very normal offerings of baskets of apples, arrived a 3 months out of date tin of mushy peas, some mouldy crap apples and conkers - I guess it depends on the school!

Conkers! LOL!

Ohh my word!!!

This is the message from our school - hoping that parents will donate vegetables, fruit, packaged goods that don't need refrigeration.

There is always a good turn out, small village so lots of home grown stuff, can't remember exactly what we gave last year, will have been a few bits of tinned stuff as the veg plot wasn't up and running last year, this year it will be maybe 2 tins from the back of the cupboard and some bits and bobs from the garden.
Our school, seems to save it's competitiveness for the bake sales (how sad did my little fairy cakes look the first sale when I arrived to be faced with cakes you would pay £££s for at a posh shop) so the harvest is quite tame, the boxes are made up by the Y6 kids and given out to the village OAPs, what ever left is sold off in the hall after school and cash given to charity.

chatch - that might have been me - I once sent a very out of date tin of some sort of interesting beans - and everyone laughed at me . In my opinion tinned stuff does not go off, and if you are in need will you not be grateful? We get the overtop curly ribbon and wrapped basked ffs!

Having recently openend a tin of something that had been kept in our caravan that had most definately gone off I can't agree with your statement coatgate!!!!!!!!!!

A child in my nursery class once brought in a beautiful wicker basket filled with various posh items and wrapped in cellophane with the obligatory curly bow.

The mother made sure that the child was at the front of procession to church, ahead of all those who had brought perfectly normal vegetables, tins etc.

Then once they had all put their items at the front of the church and been blessed by the vicar she snuck in and took the basket back as she needed it again for the harvest festival in her other DC's school! So she didn't actually have any intention of donating the food, just wanted to look good!

domestic - PMSL!! Fluffyhamster - do we have the same mum??

Domestic - that's hilarious!

Actually we had something similar and funny last year after out harvest festival.

One Mum had sent her child in with the grand basket/bow combination and it had been placed at the front of the church....

Local photographer arrived at end for newspaper photo and picks two suitably cherubic children (one of whom was my DS2... ) for photo, then picks up two fancy baskets for them to hold...(including the basket/bow one).
At which point, the mother comes flying forward, saying, "Oh no, you can't hold THAT basket... that's ours Jemima's basket... if you want to use that basket then Jemima needs to be in the photo!!"

Thankfully the photographer just gave her a withering look, put the basket down, and chose another one...

There were lots of and from the other parents!

Forgot to add, I went to a church school and was dragged along to sunday school aswell, so double harvest festival boxes! I learnt from a young age how to deftly cover a shoe-box, select the correct ratio of fresh/tinned, and what not to put in for fear that "Anyone might think we are common"!!. So just call me a harvest festival veteran

Actually defyinggravity, I can still taste the tin of 'off' sardines I once ate in South Africa. My DB informed me that I had purchased them on a previous visit about 4 years prior. I should learn.....

I misread this as Harvest Festival and contemplative baskets. Which would be nicer really - a basket to think about the fruits of the earth. Which is what your apples were. Stick with them if you can bear it!

I wasn't nervous until I read this! My first harvest festival and still don't know anyone at school... oh help!

What shall I put in???? Do you really need a posh basket?

If you really think you need a 'basket' the pound shop etc usually sell them cheap (er... like for £1 )

LaRochelle...Oooh! I want to make a "Contemplative Basket"..I just think it sounds good...like it would have prayer beads and a few nice stones in it.

Mirrorball...no...it's not ALL schools...my sisters DC goes to a nice state school and there is a big show of home grown veg and fruit because it's quite rural...in my others sisters kids school there's no competition and it's all beans in a box...the trick is to go inbetween in my opinon..no big shows...no mouldy sardines lol.

Some of our children pop into the fields on their way to school, cut a few gladioli or dig up a couple of potatoes, perhaps a stalk of sprouts if they are ready and bring those in!