Back in 2019, our Prep Junior Gardening Club achieved the RHS Level 3 School Gardening Award. The prize? Three deliveries of plug plants for the Prep garden, spread through the year.

Unfortunately, the disruptions of the pandemic also caused disruptions to the delivery of our prize plants, with deliveries suspended until schools were fully reopened. This week, we received over 200 plants for the Prep garden and our Friday crew – the Prep IV group of gardeners – starter to transfer some of these to the garden.

The boys put in a variety of lettuce, courgettes, carrots, sweetcorn and dwarf French beans during this week’s session, these latter two part of an experiment of companion planting – the hope is that the corn will support the beans as they grow; the beans will add nitrogen to the soil which the corn likes. Usually, these are planted as part of the ‘Three Sisters’, usually including a pumpkin, but as we have grown a giant pumpkin plant that has gone elsewhere in the school as our beds are too small!

The Prep III gardeners will be continuing the planting next Wednesday, with the Prep garden promising an excellent yield of fruit, vegetables and flowers this year.