Flourish news

Vegetables thrive in Walton-on-Thames

On 13 June 2005 Walton Leigh School in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, officially opened the allotment that the RHS helped the pupils plant and develop, as part of its Flourish campaign. Walton Leigh, a school for 64 students aged 11-19 years with severe and multiple learning difficulties, was one of 10 schools selected to be part of the RHS Flourish pilot. The project involved the development of two allotment plots, donated to the school by the Weybridge Land Trust, into an easy-access fruit and vegetable plot, for use by students with limited mobility.

In April a team of eight gardeners from RHS Garden Wisley’s Fruit Department and two Wisley trainees planted a mini orchard and soft fruit patch with the students from Walton Leigh. Fourteen apple trees grafted on M27 rootstock will provide a bountiful crop of fruit at ideal height for picking. RHS soft fruit supplier Ken Muir also kindly donated gooseberries, raspberries, strawberries and blackberries to the project.

The Walton Leigh pupils will prepare the fruit and vegetables, that they grow on the allotment, in the school kitchen to learn about healthy eating, as well as valuable life skills.

Other organisations that contributed to the Walton Leigh School project included allotment holders from the Weybridge Allotment Holders and gardeners’ association, who helped out by digging and donating plants, and the business, transport and construction services provider Carillion, who diverted a team of apprentices from construction training at Heathrow Terminal 5 to build raised beds and paths in the vegetable plot.