Edible Garden

Last week, Keeley, our Catering Manager visited the Junior Department to talk to Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 about healthy eating and the importance of a balanced diet.   She immediately sparked the children’s curiosity by handing round a bright green Romanesque cauliflower and red carrot and asking the children to guess what they were (some fascinating responses), before introducing them to the main food groups and explaining which foods fell into which category.

Keeley explained where some of our more well-known foods come from and was impressed when the children spoke confidently about the fruit and vegetables that they grow at home, demonstrating some impressive horticultural knowledge.

The highlight of the session had to be the opportunity to create (and eat) their own Edible Gardens!  Pupils could choose from plain, beetroot or cream cheese and pea hummus ‘soil’ before ‘planting’ baby corn, asparagus, tomatoes, radish and broccoli spears.  Having planted the garden, naturally, it was time to ‘harvest’ the crops and everyone had a chance to sample the fruits of their labour.

What a brilliant way to bring this topic to life, and we were seriously impressed by how many children could remember (and pronounce) the word ‘carbohydrate’!

The highlight of Keeley’s day?  Apart from seeing everyone tuck into their edible gardens, was finding out later that afternoon that we had won the award for Independent School of the Year for Healthy Eating!