Wymondham College

Morley, Norfolk

 
The new parterre-style allotment

The new parterre-style allotment

 

Several new gardening projects are underway to exploit the potential of this large and varied site. Wymondham College is the largest boarding school in Europe with over 500 students living on campus along with many of the staff. Although the site has large grassy areas, many mature trees, and had once run a large kitchen garden, the students seemed to have little connection with the natural environment. Geography teacher Rebecca Davis felt the site had huge potential, and decided to start by creating a new vegetable-growing area. Funding will initially come from school funds and a contribution from the Parent Staff Association, but is being helped out by donations of compost, seeds, tools etc from parents, and requests to local businesses. In the longer term it is hoped the project will be largely funded by sales of produce, including an organic box scheme.

As part of their audit of the school grounds, Year 8 students investigated land use and the diversity of vegetation on the site.

 
Wymondham land use survey

Wymondham land use survey

 
Wymondham tree survey

Wymondham tree survey

 

Their conclusions included the need to increase the diversity of hedging plants to benefit wildlife, and to introduce more colour into dull, institutional borders.

The allotment garden has an attractive parterre design incorporating vegetables in rotation and permanent fruit beds.

 
The school's allotment plan

The school's allotment plan

 
The school's allotment planting plan

The school's allotment planting plan

 

Gardening will be embedded in the Geography curriculum as part of a food and horticulture unit, and will also provide a resource for Science and Food Technology. Several Year 10 students have also chosen gardening as their Duke of Edinburgh challenge.

Good ideas from Wymondham College
 Use the school newsletter and website blogs to promote your garden project, ask for help, and report progress.
 Plant potatoes in old car tyres. Start with a stack of two, and then add more tyres and soil as the plants grow. Dismantle the stack to harvest the potatoes.
 Contact your local Freecycle group (www.freecycle.com) for tools, equipment and materials.

 

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