Mayfield CE Primary School Market Garden

Following Transition Mayfield's help in establishing a vegetable garden last year, we have been successful in a bid for a Community Environmental Action Grant and have received £493 towards Market Garden project.

Our aims are

  • To raise awareness of the finite resources of our planet through establishing a sustainable small business related to the growing and selling of organic vegetables.
  • To re-cycle all waste produce from the garden project by composting and using a wormery.
  • To collect water to re-cycle for use in the garden.
  • To reduce our carbon footprint by planting vegetables and trees and sell produce on site to reduce food miles and to ensure pupils realise the implications of food miles.
  • To raise awareness of climate change by following our changing seasons & growth eg warmer and wetter conditions effecting the type of vegetables and fruit produced.

The Project

With the help of volunteers (Bert Curd and Amy Reynolds) the children will:

  • plant small orchard and vegetables to promote the reduction of carbon;
  • sell produce from vegetable garden direct to parents - reducing food miles and wasteful packaging;
  • run a small business selling vegetables and using the profit to buy seeds and plants for the following season. Any surplus profits will go to our partner school in Uganda.

Funding

Using the grant and other donations, we will purchase: child safe water butt, materials to build raised beds and compost heap, growing containers, top soil, compost, seeds, plants, wheel barrow, tools, storage for tools.

Monitoring

  • Children will report termly to the Headteacher and the school governors' Premises Committee.
  • The garden will be regularly opened to the local community for their comments & evaluation.
  • Questionaire to parents with full analysis by Headteacher

Supporting Information

The owners of the local greengrocers and garden centre will offer advice to the children about running a sucessful small business with a non-profit making bias.

The project addresses the Every Child Matters agenda: strand 3 "enjoying and achieving"; strand 4 "making a positive contribution"; and strand 5 "achieving economic well-being".

It will be a link with our partner school in Kabbubu, Uganda's scheme to teach villagers how to grow crops/run an allotment. In Kabbubu all food is grown by families not able to 'pop to local shop'. Our children need to realise that it is possible to be self-sufficient and that many families in the world do have to!

The project supports the Global Awareness curriculum and the British Council exchange visit between Kabbubu and Mayfield schools.