Young Gardeners: Growing gardeners of the future - April 2011

The Whitgift Garden Project started in July 2009 when I presented to the school a plan for a kitchen garden project with a difference. The basic idea was to promote fruit, vegetables and sustainability on a level that hadn’t been seen in a school gardening project before. It would feature pioneering growing techniques, some of which have been lost over time. Children were invited to apply for a position on the project and subsequently after interviews were conducted, 36 pupils were accepted and the project started.

The aims

The project was designed not only to be dynamic and inspirational but to push the limits of what can be achieved within a school environment. Planting techniques from the Far East like Japanese tomato growing were to be mixed with exotic veg like white tomatoes. French intensive gardening would be coupled with sweet yellow carrot growing, all of which ultimately were designed to interest and inspire the children.

Part of the uniquely designed kitchen garden is a gutter salad bar with oriental leaves that doesn’t waste even a drop of water and the upside down tomatoes that never really dry out and show the children a different way of thinking and growing their own.

A fully engaged school cookery department and kitchen was poised to take the early vegetables and to produce culinary delights that would be on the school menu for all the children to try. Tasting sessions for some of the unusual vegetables were also scheduled. All that was left to do was to grow the produce.

The garden

A water harvesting system was attached to the main drainpipe from the flat roof of the school. It holds 1000 litres and is filled every time it rains. Comfrey beds have been grown to make plant food and a bug hotel ensures the project attracts as many beneficial insects as possible. Garlic is growing not only for the school kitchen but also for making the project’s own garden spray to keep the ‘bad’ bugs at bay.

A little help from our friends

Alan gives the garden the thumbs up Alan Titchmarsh has commented about this project at Whitgift School by saying: "I am so impressed with the developments at Whitgift – you are an inspiration. Keep on growing and enjoying it, every best wish Alan"

Victoriana Nursery Gardens in Kent supplied a package of soft fruit and seeds for the school garden. This added even more excitement to the project as the package included award-winning raspberries and a colourful range of seeds like golden beetroot, strawberry popcorn, red, yellow and white carrots and multi-coloured radish.

Also from Victoriana came the inspiration to try the ‘three sisters’ growing technique that the North American Indians devised. They planted sweetcorn, runner beans and squashes together. The sweetcorn provides a trellis for the beans to grow up and the beans steady the sweetcorn in the high winds. The squashes cover the soil and stop the water evaporating so quickly. Together with the children I took the three sisters planting a stage further and decided to grow Indian blue sweetcorn in the bed.

Gardening by the moon

Back over to the East and since 4000BC the ancient Egyptians studied the art of what to plant and when, in conjunction with the moon’s cycles. These cycles also take into consideration which constellations the moon passes in front of. Waxing and waning, earth, root and flower days are all part of the moon-planting calendar and I teach the children all about this fascinating system. They will also be comparing it to planting and growing randomly as normal.

Learning to be green

We are all very proud of our recycled greenhouse. This has been purpose built not only for the Japanese tomato growing, but for something a little more unusual. Specialist seed company Jungle Seeds kindly gave us ‘Red Noodle’, ‘Mosaic’ and ‘Yard Long’ runner beans; these produce runner beans that will all grow to approximately one metre long. The red noodle beans are dark red, tender, thick, meaty and crispy. The mosaic beans are red with green patches and also tender, thick, meaty and crispy. Then, the yard-long beans are green and again grow very long indeed. More on the progress of these crops in future issues.

The Whitgift Garden Project

At Whitgift Senior School the Inspiring Communities Government Fund made it possible for the school to team up with John Cavill to design and build the garden and help educate the children through gardening. It aims to lift the aspirations of all the children in the school through learning outdoors.

​Follow progress each month in KG and you can also log on to John Cavill’s website at www.simplygardening.co.uk/whitgift.htm to view the latest information.

If you have a school project you’d like us to feature in KG simply contact Steve Ott: sott@mortons.co.uk

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