Schools & the RHS

Raised beds at John Hampden School

The John Hampden School gardening club was set up by parents at the beginning of the year to utilise an underused area of garden at the school, which had been laid out with planting beds, a herb and flower parterre, and fruit trees some years ago. Much of the early part of the year was spent restoring the garden ready for planting.

There are eight raised beds, one for each year group (1-6) and one each for the nursery and foundation stage. We have been planting these out with various year groups, using a square foot approach (as seen on the RHS website!). We have planted potatoes and broad beans in a single bed, but elsewhere we have lettuces, carrots, peas, spinach, runner beans, marigolds, sweetcorn and radishes.We are also trying gourds and pumpkins. 

The school kitchens use our produce when it becomes available. The children really enjoy being involved in the gardening process and tasting the results. At present we run the garden during school hours, but when we have more volunteers we too start an after school club.