I had thought for ages about setting up a club but once I suggested it, it was so simple I wish I'd done it earlier. Here are some things that helped me and some which were obvious but which had never ocurred to me.
- Think carefully about the time you are going to hold the club. After school means you'll have longer and there will be no other distractions but during lunchtime ensures there will be lots of staff around. Our club is held during school hours, which means I'm competing against hungry tums or the delights of playing Stuck in the Mud.
- Pencils - you will need loads. They always get lost. Tesco currently sell 40 for a £1. I keep mine in a jam jar, which sits in a box in our shared shed.
- This year I'm going to have a small blackboard propped up with the names of the seeds we are planting. A lot of the children are very young and don't know how to spell many of the veggies. And it will be one less thing 12 children are asking me all at the same time. Now, if I can work out how to minimise the "what can I do now" questions.........
- Gloves - if the school can stretch to it, it's always handy to have some spares. I think they are about 90p from Asda. However, the children will always forget them so I've started to keep them in a beach bucket in the box too. A couple of club members want to take them home but mostly they all keep them in the bucket.
- Some children bought their own mini tools and some have been donated. These are a godsend and are kept in another beach bucket like the gloves above.
- The site you pick is obviously really important but usually in a school there isn't a whole lot of choice. Ours isn't the most ideal but it's better than nothing. This year I'm going to use hanging baskets for cherry tomatoes and strawberries and perhaps more tubs. But vandalism is a potential problem, and has been once in the past, so this is always at the front of my mind. You, of course, may be luckier.
- If you have room for a greenhouse (yipee!) lucky you, or a polytunnel (wow!) but if not a four-tier grow-house has a really small footprint and can usually be stored somewhere sunny and out of the way. But not too out of the way so that the seedlings never get watered.
- Watering. Ah, yes. Hmm. Trying to get the children to remember to water what's planted in the beds is extremely tricky. Luckily last year it was wet and not too much of a problem. I have tried all sorts - a note in their pocket with their day written on it, a wipe clean board on the cloakroom door at their height. None of it works. This year I have a feeling it's going to be hot. I can see myself hauling watering cans back and forth every day........
- Children are very keen on putting their name on everything they plant. I try to avoid this unless it's something they will eventually take home (when I will plant a few extras and switch labels in cases of disaster).
- Read Carrots and Kids regularly for activity ideas!
