A Passion for Plants

January 2008

Sarah-Jane Mason is a member of RHS staff based at RHS Garden Harlow Carr who appeared in the recent BBC2 series ‘A Passion for Plants’. She works for RHS outreach, known as 'Flourish'. As part of Flourish The Helen Hamlyn Trust have provided funding for a number of RHS Outreach Education Officers to take part in their OPEN FUTURE Campaign to deliver a skills-based curriculum.

Sarah-Jane Mason (c) RHS

The OPEN FUTURE Campaign is comprised of four strands, growIt in association with the RHS, cookIt in association with Focus on Food, askIt (Philosophy for Children) in association with Sapere and filmIt supported by a number of external consultants. The growIt and cookIt strands work very closely to provide children with first-hand experience of growing plants from seed, harvesting and cooking their produce.

The growIt project is cross-curricular and links can be made to all curriculum subjects with science, history and geography providing the most obvious connections. Throughout the project there is an emphasis on healthy eating, exercise, independent thought, teamwork and sharing. We encourage children to engage with the natural environment around them and aim to instil a passion for plants and gardening for the future.

The Yorkshire component of the OPEN FUTURE Campaign has been running since October 2006.