Fantastic Day!

Despite all our woes over the polytunnel, we have just run a super session with a Robert Shaw year 5 class, which really helped brighten our mood.

Harvesting the mini sweetcorn

Ellis, Tracey and new Groundwork bod Craig helped the class to harvest produce and then we split into groups (Vampires, Spooks and Zombies!) to plant onions and garlic, paint totem poles and cook to make a pasta dish with a fresh sauce using the tomatoes, onions, garlic and herbs from the allotment. We were delighted about this as a Robert Shaw class helped us to plant the tomatoes when they visited in the Summer term, so it only seemed right that they would be the ones to do the harvesting and get to taste what they'd grown.

Adding the final touch - some shredded basil from the polytunnel

The pupils all worked hard, and then enjoyed the food that the Vampires had made (despite having to handle garlic!) They also helped us to harvest our pumpkins, which we'll be using during a variety of sessions over the Autumn, though we made sure they had one to take away as a thank you for their efforts.

Trying out the pasta with fresh tomato sauce

Robert Shaw Year 5's with our pumpkin crop

Tracey made good use of the small amount of left-over pasta when she then went out to do an outreach session helping children from the NUSA after-school group to start planting up their new raised beds. The group were delighted to get the bonus of an early tea.