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Gardening With ChildrenIt is no accident that the youngest team member at Victoriana is 4 years old; we have long been in the forefront of encouraging young hands into the garden, starting from when Jeremy's parents encouraged him to start gardening in the 1930's and continuing on to this day with our own children - that's four generations! Our motto is - “If they grow it, they’ll eat it” - and from our own experiences (and those of others) this is invariably the case. Whilst it is true to say that learning to grow your own food is probably the most important of all life skills, it should not be forgotten that gardening should be fun - and is a wonderful source of shared enjoyment for families at home, community groups or in schools and school gardening clubs. Growing shouldn't be restricted just to vegetables either - pretty things are important too! Here at Victoriana we are involved in a number of initiatives with schools, running gardening clubs and children's gardening days - and to reinforce our commitment to schools and young people we offer generous discounts; full information can be found at Discounts For Children & School Garden Clubs. Last year we co-designed "A World Outside The Classroom", a show garden at BBC Gardeners World Live, to demonstrate just how achievable (and reasonably priced) a school kitchen garden can be (a short video clip can be found here whilst the full story behind it all can be found at A World Outside The Classroom). Each year our pumpkin competition for Kent schools is widely subscribed; last year over fifteen hundred pumpkin plants were distributed and later judged - along the way many of the children kept growing diaries as well as completely enjoying getting their hands dirty (or should that be green?). It’s not just about children doing just another lesson. It’s about fun, about learning and about simply joining in. Herewith we list some of the essentials for the young grower - whether it be for growing at home, in a school gardening club or a community project. We have even put together termly seed packs to accompany the Year Planner produced by the government backed "Growing Schools" scheme (details on the planner can be found here - Growing Schools Website). For those seeking help or advice on gardening with children please do not hesitate to contact us. For school gardening clubs or those wanting to set up a school gardening club we are similarly more than happy to advise - and don't forget discounts of up to 20% can be applied to the prices below (and everything else that we sell) by using our Discounts For Children & School Garden Clubs! A Short Snippet About "A World Outside The Classroom"We had great fun designing and growing the plants for this show garden and really enjoyed meeting so many children and teachers at the show (and a few celebs). The full story can be found at A World Outside The Classroom - but here's a little snippet from the show! |
