A blooming good time was had by all when primary schools from across West Lancs gathered to celebrate their school gardening achievements. 70 children from 8 West Lancs schools came to this year’s Show What You Grow festival of school gardening held at West Lancs College on July 12th. The children brought school grown produce, homemade scarecrows and magnificent displays of drawings, paintings and photos of their gardening work to the event.

The Deputy Mayor of West Lancashire Noel Delaney and the Deputy Mayoress Mrs Ann Stubbert opened the day and the children then enthusiastically took part in activities such as making a veggie Pizza Face, an Allotment Quiz, and a Grow Your Own activity book. After lunch, the children took to the stage to give presentations about their gardening clubs and the day ended with prize giving.

A Skelmersdale based business called ‘All About Food’ donated a prize for the Best Chilli Plant. The lucky winning school was Pinfold Primary whose gardening club will visit All About Food’s office ‘The Tree House’ to find out more about their partnership to grow chillies with Southern African farmers and also sustainable agriculture. They will then be treated to lunch at Nando’s as part of the prize package!

The following schools won the main prizes:

  • Best school grown produce: Newburgh Primary School
  • Best display of work: Holmeswood Primary School
  • Best scarecrow: Richard Durnings, Bispham
  • Best pizza face: St Thomas’s, Upholland
  • Best bean stalk: Dalton St Michael’s
  • Best chilli plant: Pinfold Primary School
  • Best homemade produce: Holmeswood Primary School

Best fruit/veg collection winners:

  • Best new potatoes: Crawford Primary School
  • Best radishes: Holmeswood Primary School
  • Best strawberries: Holmeswood Primary School
  • Best beetroot:  Holmeswood Primary School
  • Best lettuce:  St Thomas’s, Upholland
  • Best spring onions: Newburgh Primary School

The event was organised by the Community Food Growing Project of West Lancs CVS (as part of the Active West Lancs programme) in conjunction with West Lancs Allotment Federation and West Lancashire College, and was funded by Upholland Tawd Vale Lions. The event was supported by the local business community – M.A Forshaw of Scarisbrick provided the vegetables and prizes were donated by Morrisons supermarket.