Eco blog:
Growing a sense of wonder in ECO!
Back in October, when planning our seed order for the year ahead, we wanted to grow produce that would create a real sense of wonder and excitement for our children. While we could have simply grown traditional allotment vegetables, we wanted to create something a little different... and what an incredible growing year it has been!
One of the most magical parts of our ECO sessions is seeing the children's reactions when they return after just a week away from the tunnels and growing beds. Without fail, there are gasps of amazement and excited comments about how much everything has changed.
"It's like a jungle!" is a phrase we often hear, while the wonderful scents of nasturtiums, herbs and other plants are regularly noticed and enjoyed too.
Our growing spaces are now bursting with an incredible variety of produce. We have grown Dragon Egg cucumbers alongside American Long cucumbers, Black Beauty, Banana Song and the more familiar Defender courgettes. Our first Fiesta sweetcorn is growing well in the sweetcorn bed and our beautiful French Purple beans have also started producing.
There is still plenty more excitement to come, with melons, aubergines, squashes and pumpkins continuing to mature!
Our onion and garlic harvest has been a fantastic success too. This week, the children harvested an enormous onion — quite possibly the biggest we have ever seen! They proudly took it to our school kitchen where it was added to the curry for everyone to enjoy.
Even better, our home-grown courgettes, cucumbers, beetroot and beans will all be making an appearance in this week's school dinners. What an incredible experience for our children to see the complete journey from planting a tiny seed to growing, harvesting and finally eating the food they have helped to produce.
It has been an amazing year for ECO and we could not be prouder of everything the children have achieved. Their excitement, curiosity and sense of wonder have made every harvest even more special and we cannot wait to see what grows next!
