THE primary school in Broughton Gifford is appealing for help to improve its vegetable garden, as part of a new project.

The aim is to get the children growing, caring for, harvesting, and sharing delicious and healthy food, having fun while they do so and learning lifelong positive eating habits.

Hayley Gardyj, one of the teaching assistants at St Mary’s Primary School who is helping to lead the project, said: “Successful implementation of the project requires many supporters and sponsors to help build the garden in the initial stages.

“All the evidence shows that children who grow fruits and vegetables are more likely to eat fruits and vegetables.

“Eating these foods in childhood has shown to be an important predictor of higher fruit and vegetable consumption in adulthood, which can prevent or delay chronic disease conditions over a lifetime.

“Whether your child struggles with sensory processing or not, all children benefit from sensory play, which is also an element of the garden we wish to implement.”

The project will take an innovative approach to pleasurable food education, with the 96 children using the garden helping to design, build and maintain the vegetable plot on the school grounds.

Hayley added: “They will spend time learning about plants, seeds, water management, compost and soil. They will also learn about the seasons, different vegetables, stages of growth and the connection between care in the garden and flavour on the plate.”

In May, the school hopes to have a celebrity visit to carry out a formal opening ceremony when the garden is in progress

In the meantime, the school is appealing for donations in the form of seeds, bulbs, plants, tools, and garden furniture. Items it is looking for also include shingles, paint for the shed and the garden fence, sowing pots and seed trays, compost, seeds, bulbs and shrubs and even purpose-built raised beds.

Equipment needs includes small children’s watering cans, wheelbarrows, potato growing bags, various sized terracotta pots and tools such as rakes, hoes, forks, spades and small spray bottles.

The school would also welcome gifts of sensory plants, such as those with scented flowers or foliage.

If you have anything you would like to give the school, call them on 01225 782223.