A school in Leyland won the top prize in a regional gardening competition organised by Booths and the World of Beatrix Potter Attraction.
Pupils at Lancaster Lane Community Primary School triumphed in the final round of this year’s Grow Your Own competition which was held at Booths central office near Preston on Monday 13th July.
The school received £1,000 from Booths for them to spend on gardening or cooking equipment for use in lessons as well as a special trip for the whole class to visit the World of Beatrix Potter and the new Peter Rabbit Naturally Better Garden in Bowness-on-Windermere.
More than 60 primary schools from across Cumbria, Lancashire, Yorkshire and Cheshire have entered the competition by sowing and growing a range of fruit and vegetables.
Eric Robson, the Chairman of the BBC’s Gardeners’ Question Time programme, was one of the judges. He said: “The standard was incredibly high again this year. All the schools should be very proud of the efforts that they made.
“Lancaster Lane School stood out for their innovative ideas that stretched from the garden into the classroom. The children’s enthusiasm for growing and eating the produce was wonderful to see.”
Children used their produce in science and cookery classes. As well as bringing in some examples of their produce they had also made a delicious broad bean dip from beans they had picked that morning.
The produce grown by the children included garlic, beans, carrots, squash, strawberries, sweet peas and potatoes.
There has been a strong emphasis on recycling in the garden. The children sowed seeds in cardboard tubes and paper pots and garden waste was composted.
Mum Wendy Haydock, who helps to run the lunchtime gardening club, says: “We’re excited beyond belief to have won. The children worked very hard and we’re very proud of them. They’ve been so enthusiastic at growing all the different vegetables – and learnt so much along the way.
“We’ll spend the winnings on expanding and growing the garden so more children can get involved, develop a nature trail and plant more fruit trees.”
Three runners up Nateby School near Garstang, Windermere School and St Herbert’s near Keswick each received £150 and a goody bag from Frederick Warne, publishers of the Beatrix Potter books.
The final round was judged by a panel of experts at Booths central office, with children from each of the schools doing presentations to show what they did and what they had learnt.
As well as Eric Robson, the judges were the deputy editor of Olive magazine Lulu Grimes; Richard Lucas, who has designed the Peter Rabbit Naturally Better Garden at the World of Beatrix Potter Attraction in Bowness-on-Windermere; and Booths’ fresh produce buyers Matthew Bruno and Val Gibson.
Booths’ Matthew Bruno said: “We were very impressed by all four schools in this year’s final. It is clear that all the children got a lot out of the whole experience. Lancaster Lane Primary School’s gardening club has certainly inspired the children who take part in it and they are worthy winners.
“I’d like to thank all the schools who took part in the competition and have put in so much effort over the last few months.”