Spring becomes Summer 2010

It was in the spring of this year, 2010 that my research took me to a college and a commercial enterprise who use Polytunnels as both teaching and commercial ventures. I did this to find out just what would be the best set up to suit the schools needs.

It’s some what of a hybrid between a teaching establishment and a commercial production unit. Taking into consideration the constraints of our budget and the wish to curtail the attitude of spend, spend, spend. I was determined that I would introduce that old culture many of us grew up with; “ Make do and Mend”, to the group of pupils who would help me set the polytunnel up. That was also part of the scheme; a project that pupils could get ‘hands on’, out side of the class room. The schools ground staff were a godsend, obviously schooled with similar doctrines to those pupils who attended school on The Hill pre the late 1980’s, the Orwellian years as I refer to them. A lot of items came from a hidden store of disregarded items purchased at school for various jobs and were left over rather than burnt, or put in the refuse skip’s tucked away. We were also able to resource items at little or no cost from the three recycling yards in Milton Keynes, so all in all the materials were acquired

Now the labour required to put the show on the road; our grounds staff came up trumps again, by agreeing to build the doors for us outside of their working hours, and the head grounds man turned up one Sunday at the crack of dawn. Unpaid in his own time, to assist me, or more probably me assisting him to erect fence panels and posts to create a reception -come shop area. The schools maintenance manager donated a work bench that had been discarded from the schools CDT room. Yes folks, those of you who like myself learnt to “Plane the face side, plane the face edge then gauge and plane to width” between the years of 1940 to 1970 would instantly recognise this as one of Frank Balls woodwork classroom benches. Alex boxed this in to make a large solid cupboard bench, with two lockable doors, to enable our gardening tools to be locked away at the end of our sessions.

Now, to the group of pupils who volunteered to become Eco Warriors !

Tom, Dick, Harry, Uncle Tom Cobley and young Knobby Hall.

As you can see again like the fairy tale or old fable, the names most certainly are fictitious to protect any innocent amongst them.

The boys worked exceedingly hard week in and week out through the spring and early summer and now the school does have a creditable resource, that doubles as a teaching venue and a production unit.

Aptly named VB.

This worked well for us; both very practical and productive.

As you will see in these next photos taken on Speech Day in July this year, crops were planted just to break up the soil/clay at the base of these vegetable beds, prior to filling them with quality top soil and manure, ready for next seasons crops. This time seriously growing cash crops to supplement the school kitchens if for only one or two meals per week.