On Friday 16 May, a group of students from Eynsham Community Primary School swapped pencils for plants at the Food Forest Garden in Old Witney Road Play Area.
The 23 students from the school council, which has representatives from each year group across the school, were brought to the site by their enthusiastic teacher Mr Williams and a teaching assistant. The children spent some time clearing weeds from around the young trees and creating space to plant new herbs and flowers.
Cllr Milly Chen, who has spearheaded the development of the Food Forest Garden, was delighted to see how enthusiastic the children were to get involved:
“It was absolutely wonderful to see how eager and helpful each child was! Everyone added something valuable to enrich this natural space. Lots of planting was done, including rosemary, thyme, sage, rhubarb, raspberry, lavenders, and marigold flowers. The children also helped to pot tomatoes for the greenhouse.”
The children were helped on the day by Victoria, a nearby neighbour who has generously volunteered to help care for the site and to get involved with its development. Victoria donated some tomato plants, while another nearby neighbour donated raspberry canes and our Cllr Ann Partlett donated more raspberry canes. Cllr Milly would like to thank them all, as well as the Oxford Nursery who provided water for the site.
A final, big ‘thank you’ is for Mr Williams, who leads the student council and continues to be a key collaborator in the development and care of the Food Forest Garden. The help and support of the teaching assistant on the day was also very much appreciated.
Scroll down to see some photos of the site after the children's hard work, or stroll down to Old Witney Road play area and see the Food Forest Garden itself.
There are plans for a community working session at the Food Forest Garden in the coming months so keep an eye out for when eager volunteers can come along and lend a helping hand at this blossoming community garden.