We offer a Gardening Club at school which runs once a week from March to October. The children are able to plant crops, pick fruit and vegetable, plant flowers and seeds, gather leaves and generally keep the garden tidy and all sorts of other seasonal jobs around the school.
This term they were able to pick tomatoes, onions, garlic and basil from the allotment and make a very delicious pasta dish!
We want children to experience not only growing fruit and vegetables, but to use the produce for cooking - a real fork to field experience!
At Fittleworth school we are lucky to have a beautifully designed allotment garden which gives every child an opportunity to grow fruit and vegetables. The garden includes raised beds and a small poly tunnel.
Each class is allocated a bed and grow various seasonal fruit and vegetables. Over the last few years the children have grown broad beans, onions, garlic, raspberries, strawberries, tomatoes, courgettes and herbs. We have even had a dedicated crop of lettuce and other leaves for school tortoise Bella!
We also have a thriving Gardening Club which meets every week after school. They also do lots of planting and also help to keep the allotment tidy with weed picking and leaf clearing. In addition they keep the school looking lovely with bulbs planted for the spring and lots of lovely bedding plants in the summer.
We are lucky to have lovely grounds and are thankful to all our parents who come together for weekend or morning gardening sessions and help keep them looking so great. It's a real team effort here at Fittleworth!
We have an Orchard planted in our grounds with rare Sussex fruit. This year we have harvested really good crops from all the trees - some of which the children have used to make crumbles.