As a child I was fascinated by plants and trees and their ability to grow fruit, vegetables, nuts and flowers like the ones my mother would buy at the greengrocers!

Our next door neighbours had an apple tree in their garden that overhung our garden fence and my mother told me, no doubt to prevent me from clambering up the fence to pinch next door’s fruit, that under no circumstances should I eat any of the apples because they were ‘sharp’ and would give me an upset stomach. Never the less being a curious child, as most children are, I wanted to try one. It was a little tangy but delicious and to my delight eating it did not result in my having an upset stomach.

I asked if we could have an apple tree to grow in our garden but had to settle for a daffodil bulb instead. Not quite the same thing at all and I failed to see how a beautiful bright yellow daffodil could ultimately emerge from something that resembled an onion!

The primary school I attended annually distributed daffodil bulbs to its pupils to grow at home for a competition which I believe was part of a national scheme at the time. We were instructed to keep our bulbs in a pot in a dark place until it began to sprout. My father was very keen to ensure that my daffodil bulb had the utmost care and attention. We would both make regular forays to the airing cupboard to check for any signs of sprouting.
I wonder how many children, particularly those in towns and cities understand where their fruit, vegetables and beautiful flowers actually come from and how they grow.

I recently visited a primary school where I took along some seeds and also the harvested vegetables they would eventually produce. The pupils were totally engaged and fascinated that such tiny seeds should grow into tomatoes, aubergines, carrots, sweetcorn, peas, courgettes and cucumbers. The pupils had a taste too, and in some cases it was the first time they had tasted these things as they had always disliked vegetables!  Together we enthusiastically planted some green bean and lettuce starter plants in containers and even the die hard anti-vegetable brigade were looking forward to eating the food they were growing themselves.

Growing plants either for food or to admire is a basic pleasure and for many a necessity in order to supplement the weekly shop. We are now constantly being urged to ‘grow our own’, to eat healthily, with numerous schemes encouraging schools to grow food and programmes such as Jamie Oliver’s to encourage healthy eating. All absolutely fantastic, but what do you do if you are without a garden in which to grow your own? Or if you do you may have little time to dedicate to digging and hoeing - as most teachers find, or perhaps find it physically demanding.

Container gardening is the ideal answer to this problem. But how much fertiliser should you use, and what happens if you get the watering wrong? A hot sunny weekend could reward you on your return to school with pitifully dehydrated specimens in soil that has been baked to a biscuit.

Irrigation systems will take care of the watering for you and there are many kinds of slow release fertilisers on the market that will reward you with beautiful flowers and delicious healthy crops to eat.
Container growing means that every school and college can grow their own food whether or not they have a traditional garden. Learning about horticulture, the properties of light, soil and water, nutrition and healthy eating, food security, sustainability and the environment all serve to encourage awareness and responsibility as well as self esteem (and it’s so much fun too!).

Lo and behold my bulb did grow into the most beautiful daffodil ever, as far as I was concerned any way, and also as far as the adjudicators were concerned too as it turned out. Those of us at school who managed to nurture first class daffodils were awarded a certificate that had on it a colour photo of a daffodil – pure joy! Those with daffodils that were not quite first class received a certificate with a black and white photo instead and went home determined to do better next year. Proud beyond belief, I walked home with my coloured certificate and my beautiful daffodil resolving to grow another next year, which of course I did with help from my father - thank you Dad for your encouragement and thank you school for introducing me to what has become a life long pleasure.

Kim Chapman, Partner, EarthBox UK

Author’s suggested resources:

Garden Organic for Schools
www.gardenorganic.org.uk/schools_organic_network

RHS Campaign for School Gardening
www.rhs.org.uk/schoolgardening/default.aspa

Morrisons Let’s Grow
www.morrisons.co.uk/letsgrow

EarthBox UK
www.earthbox.co.uk/education/index.html

Recycle Works
www.recycleworks.co.uk