Children in farms project

Mar 13 2008 by Hudd Student1, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

A YEAR-long project on food and farming is to take place at Oakwell Hall Country Park.

It will allow local children to see how their food turns from field to fork.

Fieldhead School, St Patricks School and St Mary’s School will each make three visits to Oakwell Hall Country Park in Birstall.

They will dig over a plot in Oakwell’s ‘Working Garden’, prepare the soil with compost, and plant seeds.

They will grow various salad items such as spring onions, radishes, peas, beans and unusual vegetables such as purple and yellow carrots, and red and blue potatoes.

During a second visit to the hall they will weed, tend the young plants, plant those they have grown themselves at school, and make labels for the various plants.

Then in July, they will reap what they have sown by having lunch at Oakwell made entirely from their harvest.

The scheme has been inspired by The Prince of Wales’ desire to promote healthy living by giving young people hands-on learning experiences around food, farming and the countryside.

He wants primary school pupils to have a first-hand experience of growing food by visiting various farms or other countryside locations and preparing a plate of food.

The Oakwell project will achieve these aims.