School Holiday care

As suggested in the first section ‘Setting up your organic food growing area’, what you can grow in your school garden in terms of variety, and how successful some crops may be will depend on whether or not the garden can be tended a little during the school holidays.

With everything in the ground already, it is really just a matter of keeping on top of weeds and watering where necessary.

Ideally a rota system where a number of people share a small amount of time commitment would keep the garden ticking over through the summer months. Depending on the size of your school garden and whether or not you have planted in open ground, raised beds or pots and containers, a quick visit once per week may suffice. Pots and containers require more watering than raised beds for instance. There is always the option to let the garden fend for itself over the summer, and if your plot is weed free beforehand and there is some rain, then the results may be surprisingly good!

You also have the option of buying young plants in September in garden centres or by mail order, such as leeks, kale, spring cabbage, spinach, etc. which would get an empty garden off to a good start.

Obviously plants such as the hardy herbs (sage, rosemary, thyme, mint, and fennel) which will slow down or die back over winter, will burst into life again in the spring and are a permanent feature. Similarly so are rhubarb, fruit bushes, fruit trees and strawberries.