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Meet the schoolkids growing and selling their fruit and veg

Meet the schoolkids growing and selling their fruit and veg

BBC News3 days ago
Do you grow fruit or vegetables outdoors at your school?Well, the children at one primary school in the south of England are so good at it, they've been feeding the local community too.Green-fingered schoolchildren have been selling their produce to restaurants and shops in their area.The project raises thousands of pounds every year, which helps buy new gardening tools and compost for the school.
'For me gardening is really peaceful'
Pupils at the school in Hampshire have been growing plants in their allotment garden for the past 16 years - and all year groups get involved.School horticulturalist Louise Moreton explained: "Year two are growing onions, year five are growing garlic, but we also like to grow more unusual plants like lovage, caraway and bronze fennel."The school also has a polytunnel, a kitchen garden full of herbs, and an orchard that was planted eight years ago which grows apples as well as more uncommon fruit such as medlars and quince.The garden has produced so much fruit and veg, that the school has been selling their harvest to the local community.Oscar, 8, said: "I think it's very cool because we grow here and other people eat it at restaurants."The schoolchildren also take home recipe cards and some have even been inspired to start gardening at home.Elara, 10, added: "We have wild strawberries growing by our fence. We grow blueberries and grapes too. For me gardening is really peaceful. It just calms me down."Whenever I'm a bit stressed at home I normally just go into my garden and just water my plants because it just makes me feel very zen."
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