Grow Your Own BusinessSow It. Grow It. Sell it!

www.foodgrowingschools.org

Sowing Ideas. Growing Inspiration. Cultivating Futures.

Activities Pack – September to December 2014

Picture Credit: Garden Organic

Sowing Ideas. Growing Inspiration. Cultivating Futures. www.foodgrowingschools.org 2

A city-wide celebration of school food growing, enterprise and learning - creating young entrepreneurs and healthier local communities. With our expert guidance, learn the secrets to starting your own school food growing business, raising money for your school, developing employment skills and selling healthy, home-grown food in your local community.

Culminating in Global Entrepreneurship Week from 17 to 23 November 2014.

Join us each term for themed Grow Your Own events, each with a fun packed programme of school growing activities, curriculum resources and competitions! www.foodgrowingschools.org

Keep updated - register for our e-newsletter www.foodgrowingschools.org/events

Tell us what support you need - fill in our survey: www.foodgrowingschools.org/challenge

Contents

Introduction

Page 3 Why Grow Your Own Business?

Page 7 What to grow and sell

Page 11 Working with your local community

Page 16 Competition time

Page 18 Life beyond Grow Your Own Business

Page 23 Contact us

Grow your Own Business – Sow it. Grow It. Sell it!

Why Grow Your Own Business?

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Global Entrepreneurship Week17 to 23 November 2014

Celebrate your school growing success at the end of term, with schools and businesses around the world! Run a market stall or host a pop-up food event in your local area during Global Entrepreneurship Week

www.gew.org.uk

Sowing Ideas. Growing Inspiration. Cultivating Futures. www.foodgrowingschools.org

Why Grow Your Own Business?Grow Your Own Business gives schools the opportunity to learn about enterprise through growing and selling food, giving children the chance to learn new business and employment skills, across a range of subjects (e.g. maths, technology, PSHE).

Our research shows that the most effective food growing schools achieve significant learning, skills, health and well-being outcomes for children and young people as well as the local community - building stronger local economies in the future.

www.foodgrowingschools.org/challenge/research

Join In Need expert advice? Join a school food growing enterprise project run by one of our partners:

· Young Marketeers at Borough Market

· Schools to Market at Whole Foods Market; both run by School Food Matters, involving school members: www.schoolfoodmatters.com

· Teach a Man to Fish School Enterprise Challenge working with schools in the UK and developing countries. Have a look at their excellent case studies and get involved next year! http://teachamantofish.org.uk/ school-enterprise-challenge

Free Lesson PlansCooking and nutrition are back on the curriculum as part of Design and Technology, from September 2014. To find out how to incorporate food growing and enterprise into these and other subjects, visit:

www.foodgrowingschools.org/events/gyobusiness

www.growingschools.org.uk/resources/library

www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resources and search ‘growing food’

Picture Credit: Simon Rawles/ Borough Market

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Sowing Ideas. Growing Inspiration. Cultivating Futures. www.foodgrowingschools.org

Step 5:Lesson planning

Incorporate your food growing business activities into a range of curriculum subjects, for example as part of maths lessons:

· When pricing your products, why not set a class challenge - to choose some crops to grow, and predict how profitable each will be. Then test your hypothesis by selling them and recording the results!

· Is your garden aspirational, under-utilized, or thriving? No matter the age of the children or the state of the garden, you can teach using what you have - and work towards the garden you want! Our free maths lesson plans ideas are adapted to these three circumstances, and split into Key Stage (1 to 2 and 3 to 4) so

Food growing and maths lesson plans ideas visit: www.foodgrowingschools.org/events/gyobusiness

What you need to know Step 1:Business and garden planning

The first step when growing your own business is to generate some business ideas. Assess what plants you already have, and plan your growing, selling and marketing activities with the available time and resources you have:

· Generating business ideas: www.gardenorganic.org.uk/schools - and look for activity sheet A49: ‘Generating Business Ideas’.

· Learn to write a school enterprise business plan: www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resources - search ‘business plan’.

· Create a harvest plan: www.gardenorganic.org.uk/schools - and look for activity sheet A35: ‘Creating a term time harvesting plan’.

· Be inspired by other young entrepreneur’s week by week growing plans: www.lpec.co.uk/green-fingered-entrepreneurs-2/

Step 2:Fundraising and finance

Get a head start and raise some school enterprise start-up money. You could even be ambitious and start a school Community Supported Agriculture Scheme (CSA) with investment from your community: www.foodgrowingschools.org/resources/funding/

Or discover competitions and offers to give you a boost: www.foodgrowingschools.org/resources/competitions/

For funding bigger community projects read www.capitalgrowth.org/publications

· Financing community food: Securing money to help community food enterprises to grow

· A Healthy Profit - a simple guide to pricing the food you make or grow

· A Growing Trade - a guide for community groups growing food to sell in our towns and cities

Step 3:Health & safety, food hygiene

If you are selling produce regularly from a market stall or to a restaurant, you should contact your local authority for advice on registering as a food business, and ensure that you have the relevant insurance and food safety procedures in place. The Food Standards Agency has information on best practice and legal requirements: www.food.gov.uk

Step 4:Get the packaging right

Be creative and design eye-catching sales materials for your product.

· For design and marketing ideas and lesson plans visit: www.gardenorganic.org.uk/schools and look for activity sheet A48: ‘Designing sales materials’ www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resources and search ‘marketing’

· To market your products on the internet: (e.g. www.etsy.com/uk/handmade/home/plants_and_garden )

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Be inspiredStart your own school enterprise, by learning from other successful schools, including;

· Richard Challoners School in Kingston

· Borough Market Young Marketeers

Read their stories at: www.foodgrowingschools.org/events/gyobusiness

Share your school storyJoin in the conversation and appear on our website!

Share your photos: www.flickr.com/groups/foodgrowingschools

Tweet your news: www.twitter.com/FoodGrowSchools using the hashtag #GYOBusiness

And watch your Tweets and photos appear on our website: www.foodgrowingschools.org

Training and events for teachers or volunteers Build your confidence and skills working in the school garden and creating classroom food growing resources, with our expert partners;

Food Growing Schools: London Food growing training and events in your London borough - www.foodgrowingschools.org/events

RHS Campaign for School Gardening: Growing to Sell - Design and Run your Own Enterprise Project http://apps.rhs.org.uk/ schoolgardening/teachershome/ teachertraining/london/default.aspa

Capital Growth: Autumn term events including - looking after the soil in your school garden, planning your school food growing space and growing unusual vegetables in your school www.capitalgrowth.org/training

Sowing Ideas. Growing Inspiration. Cultivating Futures. www.foodgrowingschools.org

Competition time!

Enter your school for the Schools Enterprise Garden Competition, part of the Edible Garden Awards. And you will have a chance to trade your school-grown goods at the City Hall, the

business home of the Mayor of London!

We will help you along the way with a workshop to get you started, and a networking event

to meet inspirational people who have successfully grown to sell in their school.

Find out how to enter on page 16.

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What to grow and sell

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USING YOUR aUTUmN GLUTS

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1 Chutneys, pickles and preserves

Use the remainder of any summer crops in your school garden to make chutneys, pickles, and preserves. Vegetables and fruit to harvest at this time include apples, blackberries, plums, raspberries, french beans, runner beans, tomatoes, peppers, sweetcorn, courgettes, pumpkins, and squash.

Pickles, jams, and chutney recipes www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/pickles-jams-and-chutneys

2 Fresh herbs, herb tea, herb-infused oil

Give your herbs an autumn haircut. Harvest rosemary, sage, thyme, mint, and lemon balm. Bundle them up and sell to cooks, or package them into heavenly herbal teas. Olive oil infused with dried herbs or dried peppers can be sold in bottles at winter fetes and fayres.

More great ideas on using herbs www.herbsociety.org.uk/schools

3 Nasturtium seed capers

Nasturtiums are a popular flower in gardens, but did you know you can eat the seeds? Pick nasturtium seeds while fresh and green and bottle them in brine for a unique and local alternative to capers.

Pickled nasturtium seeds recipe www.cottagesmallholder.com/pickled-nasturtium-seeds-recipe-uk-capers-3791/

4 Strawberry plants

If you have a strawberry plant, it may be sending out ‘runners’ (new baby plants on trailing stems). Strawberry runners can be potted up in later summer or early autumn, and sold on as young plants. Only use runners from healthy, pest and disease-free specimens.

More on strawberries https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=306

5 apples and other fruit

Collect apples and pears from school grounds, or ask children to bring in fruit from their gardens. Use an apple-press or juicer to make juice, or set up a little green-grocer, selling fruit individually or by the bag.

Harvesting and storing apples (pdf) www.fruitfullschools.org/pdf/1278577825Harvesting-and-storing-fruit.pdf

Apple jam recipe www.fruitfullschools.org/pdf/1383129614apple-jam.pdf

6 Tomato ketchup Use tomato gluts to make bottles of delicious homemade ketchup. Homemade tomato ketchup recipe www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/aug/09/homemade-tomato-ketchup

Top 10: What to grow and sell in the autumn Term (September-December)

Sowing Ideas. Growing Inspiration. Cultivating Futures. www.foodgrowingschools.org

See next page for more!

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STaRT NOW!

Grow to sell Comments Click here for….

7 Growing plants for sale

Start a miniature garden centre by growing vegetable plants for sale. Spring cabbage, pak choi, broad beans, peas, and winter lettuce seeds can all be sown now, ready for sale in just a few weeks. Sow seeds in individual pots or modules filled with good quality seed compost. Plants are ready to be sold when they are a few inches in height and have their ‘true’ leaves.

Growing instructions www.gardenorganic.org.uk/growyourown Sowing seeds www.gardenorganic.org.uk/sites/www.gardenorganic.org.uk/files/resources/fflp/a18-Sowing-seed.pdf Potting on seedlings www.gardenorganic.org.uk/sites/www.gardenorganic.org.uk/files/resources/fflp/a21-Potting-on-seedlings.pdf

8 Seeds, seed packets, seed bombs, seed packet exchange

Autumn is the time for saving seeds. Runner beans, peas, tomatoes and pumpkins are all easy to save seed from and keep for sowing next year. Consider running a seed exchange in your school or at a community venue, with a donation entry fee to raise money. Ask people to bring their surplus seed to swap.

Pupils could design seed packets with growing instructions and an illustration for each type of vegetable.

Tips on saving your own seeds, and seed packet template http://apps.rhs.org.uk/schoolgardening/uploads/documents/Tips on saving your own seeds_1501

Instructions on saving seed crop by crop www.gardenorganic.org.uk/sites/www.gardenorganic.org.uk/files/resources/fflp/a56-Saving-seed-crop-by-crop.pdf

Help protect diversity and encourage seed conservation: www.gardenorganic.org.uk/heritage

9 ‘Grow Your Own’ kits

Inspire the world to get growing. Design and sell ‘Grow your Own’ kits comprising of pots, seeds, plant labels, and growing instructions. Seeds can be bought in bulk and split into individual packets. Start with easy to grow seeds such as rocket, cress and mustard that people can grow on their windowsills.

Growing instructions www.gardenorganic.org.uk/growyourown

How to make origami seed packets http://apps.rhs.org.uk/schoolgardening/uploads/documents/HOW TO maKE aN ORIGamI SEED PaCKET USING RECYCLED PaPER_1829.pdf

Top 10: What to grow and sell in the autumn Term (September-December)

Sowing Ideas. Growing Inspiration. Cultivating Futures. www.foodgrowingschools.org

See next page for more!

Picture Credit: Garden Organic

Picture Credit: Garden Organic

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STaRT NOW!

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10 Salad bags Pick and package winter salad leaves to create healthy salad bags. Start sowing seeds in September to harvest salad throughout the autumn and spring terms. At this time of the year you can sow leaf beet, rocket, corn salad, hardy varieties of winter lettuce, plus some Oriental greens like mizuna, komatsuna and pak choi. Sow every three or four weeks to maintain a continuous supply.

Winter salad bags – Top varieties to sow in autumn

· American land cress

· Corn salad

· Lettuce ‘Valdor’ and ‘Arctic King’

· Mustard

· Mizuna

· Komatsuna

· Winter purslane

· Chard/leaf beet (harvest as baby leaves)

· Kale (harvest as baby leaves)

· Pak choi

· Pea shoots (harvest when 4 or 5 inches tall)

· Rocket

Growing winter salad www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/basics/techniques/growfruitandveg_wintersalad1.shtml

Cut and come again salad https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=618

Growing mixed salad bags (p19 – 22, School Farmers Market Toolkit): www.foodgrowingschools.org/events/gyobusiness

The School Farmers Market Toolkit is a comprehensive 46 page guide to running your own school farmers market - available to buy in full from Garden Organic www.foodgrowingschools.org/events/gyobusiness

Top 10: What to grow and sell in the autumn Term (September-December)

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Working with your local community

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Working with your local community to run an enterprise projectEnterprise projects are a fantastic way to enlighten pupils about how business works, and a way to involve families, local community members and businesses in your school. By using food growing as the focus for your enterprise initiatives you can open up a whole array of interesting ideas, enterprise opportunities, community partnerships and sharing of skills across curriculum subjects.

Why involve your local community? The benefits of growing food with support from your local community are huge, bringing:

· Partnership and people-power to support the learning process through growing activities together.

· A whole range of knowledge, skills and real life experiences to assist pupils and teachers, and inspire and nurture confidence in young people.

· Opportunities to develop as a school hub - a centre for local learning for all age groups within and outside the school and school hours.

· Community empowerment as adults build confidence and skills, and feel inspired to encourage their children’s learning in school and at home.

· Pupil Spiritual, Moral, Social & Cultural Development, as they interact and work with people of all ages and backgrounds.

· Recognition from Ofsted who value school and community partnership!

Sowing Ideas. Growing Inspiration. Cultivating Futures. www.foodgrowingschools.org

Picture Credit: Eleonore de Bonneval / Garden Organic

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Get grown-up help in your school gardenThe RHS have launched their Get Your Grown-ups Growing (GYGG) campaign for 2014.

Host a GYGG event this October and invite adults from the local community to help out in your school garden. Events can be a few hours, a whole day, a week, an evening – whatever you want.

You may decide to enlist adults to help build raised beds, sow seeds, plant bulbs or even take part in fundraising events, gardening games or fruit and vegetable tasting.

There are also 3,000 free GYGG packs to give away this year which include seeds – register now

www.rhs.org.uk/communities/ get-your-grown-ups-growing

Sowing Ideas. Growing Inspiration. Cultivating Futures. www.foodgrowingschools.org

Working with volunteersBuild community through food growing by attracting local volunteers, planning how they can help you, and offering them opportunities to develop their interests and skills - to enable you to work together as a team. Groups that you can consider working with are:

· Parents, guardians and locals: get your hands dirty, share knowledge, learn skills, write a gardening blog, build your CV.

· Local authority: support schools, donate land, develop partnerships, run volunteer programmes.

· Local businesses: sponsor a school, share skills, attract customers, encourage CSR staff days.

· Find out how to make the most of local volunteers here: www.foodgrowingschools.org/community

· For those big jobs consider corporate volunteers: www.capitalgrowth.org/our_support/corporate_volunteering

Volunteer networksAdvertise and look for volunteers to help your school

· Team London - http://volunteerteam.london.gov.uk/

· Greater London Volunteer Centres - http://greaterlondonvolunteering.org.uk/volunteer-centres-2/

· Capital Growth map – register as a member and add your school growing space to help you find gardening volunteers: www.capitalgrowth.org/spaces/

Volunteer trainingAimed at helping your school get started, Food Growing Schools: London workshops for school staff and local volunteers are packed full of simple and achievable growing tips, whatever the size of your growing space – from container growing, through to establishing a new school garden.

· Keep an eye on our website for future workshop dates: www.foodgrowingschools.org/events/training

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Picture Credit: Garden Organic

Sowing Ideas. Growing Inspiration. Cultivating Futures. www.foodgrowingschools.org

· Organise an open meeting - inviting pupils, their parents and guardians, grandparents, teachers, governors, local businesses and other members of your local community to brainstorm ideas for an enterprise project. Allocate jobs to all those present to encourage involvement and a sense of ownership, and set dates for regular meetings.

· Hold a practical work day in school - Some people may prefer to get involved with an activity alongside their child rather than attending a meeting. This could be followed by a school lunch or picnic with an opportunity to present information about your enterprise project by pupils and teachers. See resources for help organising a gardening day: www.gardenorganic.org.uk/schools - and look for activity sheet A2: ‘Organising a gardening day’

· Organise a holiday garden care rota - If the school has plants in pots or grow bags that need looking after over the summer they can be ‘fostered’ by families during the school holiday. For plants in the ground set up a rota for families to sign up to help with the watering and weeding. They can be rewarded by harvesting the produce to take home. Take a look at a practical toolkit for organising a holiday care rota www.gardenorganic.org.uk/schools - and look for activity sheet A17: ‘Holiday care of the garden’

· Be proud of your garden! Ask pupils to give families a tour of the garden at home time or as part of parents’ evening or a school open day and host school ‘growing and cooking’ activities

· Set up a Saturday gardening club. This could include visits to other gardens, allotments and farms for ideas and inspiration.

· Donate your produce. An alternative to making a profit is to set up a ‘Food Share’ scheme to help local people or donate your project to a local hospice or homeless charity. Citizenship in action!

How to get started with volunteersHints and tips on how to get volunteers engaged with growing and enterprise activities:

For more information on

• Community Engagement (pdf

• Working with Volunteers (pdf)

Visit: www.gardenorganic.org.uk/schools -

and look under ‘information sheets and documents’

(bottom of the page)

Picture Credit: Garden Organic

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Organising local community events · Set up a weekly after school ‘market stall’ to sell

your school garden produce to families and the local community.

· Sell produce to a local café or restaurant. A primary School in Camden grows salad leaves which they sell on a weekly basis to a local café for their sandwiches. Read more here: http://outdoorclassrooms.wordpress.com/2013/11/ (see 15 Nov 2013 blog)

· Sell your produce in a local shop or supermarket. School Food Matters member schools sold their produce in Richmond’s Whole Food Market last October. Download their recipes: www.schoolfoodmatters.com/ projects-campaigns.html

· Hold a ‘school farmers market’ once a term. Invite local food producers, farmers and other local schools to attend, and become a ‘hub’ for local food growing information. Discover how with the Garden Organic ‘School Farmers Market Toolkit’ www.foodgrowingschools.org/events/gyobusiness Find out about the Soil Association’s London Farm Academy: www.soilassociation.org/schoolfarmersmarkets

· Run an inter-class growing competition. Each class could grow a specific plant or crop to be judged on size, shape and taste. You could invite a local horticultural expert or allotment society to come and judge your produce.

· Grow a meal with each class. This could link with your cookery lessons where pupils learn to grow 2 or 3 ingredients for a recipe. Invite parents to these cookery lessons to help and learn new recipes themselves.

· Hold a ‘Dragons Den’ competition. Classes are given the same money or resources to develop their growing project. Once complete and the produce has been sold they present what they did to the ‘Dragons’ who decide on the winner and a class prize. This is a fun way to involve families or governors as the ‘Dragons’.

· Hold community events, such as a produce or garden show or invite outside speakers to talk about garden related topics. See resources for hosting an annual event - www.gardenorganic.org.uk/schools - and look for activity sheet A1: ‘Hosting an annual event’.

· Sell surplus produce to local restaurants and market stalls: www.capitalgrowth.org/ our_support/growtosell

Sowing Ideas. Growing Inspiration. Cultivating Futures. www.foodgrowingschools.org

Picture Credit: Garden Organic

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Competition Time!

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Picture Credit: Garden Organic

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Competition Time!Enter our competition for a chance to win fantastic prizes including compost, tools, seeds and fruit trees and get the opportunity to trade your school produce at City Hall, the business home of the Mayor of London!

Edible Garden awards: The Schools Enterprise Garden Food Growing Schools: London and Capital Growth are looking for enthusiastic schools who are running food growing enterprises. Whether you’re selling your school-grown fruit and vegetables, running a pop-up market stall, or creating garden goodies (e.g. potted plants, jams, seed packets, cordials) – we want to hear from you! And if you haven’t started yet it’s not too late as you have until November to complete your entry.

Prizes include compost, tools, seeds and fruit trees for your school, a Grow Your Own Business workshop for school staff, and the opportunity to attend a networking event (details right). And we are offering 10 schools the unique chance to trade their garden goodies at City Hall during our “grow your own school marketplace” event, with the passing-trade of all the staff and visitors. If you are interested email julie@sustainweb.org.

Register your school to win!* Deadline to submit your entry is Monday 17th November 2014, 12noon. To enter go to: www.capitalgrowth.org/our_support/edible_garden_awards/

Sowing Ideas. Growing Inspiration. Cultivating Futures. www.foodgrowingschools.org

*Please note that to enter the award you need to be registered with Capital Growth www.capitalgrowth.org/apply and to have filled in the Food Growing Schools survey: www.foodgrowingschools.org/survey. Capital Growth membership is free and includes a broad range of benefits.

more Grow Your Own Business opportunities for schoolsThere’s something for everyone. The following opportunities to learn new skills and gain enterprise experience are open to all schools but places are limited so make sure you contact us quickly if you are interested:

Grow Your Own Business workshop: Wednesday 24th September 4.30-7pm at The Regent’s Park allotment Garden: Designed for teachers and school staff; pick up advice, ideas and inspiration on how to work with your pupils to start their own enterprise during the Autumn term. The session will cover links to the curriculum and is led by Ida Fabrizio, the head grower behind the amazing Castle Climbing Centre garden.

Grow Your Own Business School marketplace – Tuesday 14th October: We are offering 10 schools the chance to trade their garden goodies to the public and staff at City Hall. If you are interested email julie@sustainweb.org - and you will also receive a free place on our workshop – see details above.

Capital Growth Youth Enterprise event - Tuesday 14th October from 3:30-6:15pm: This open event, also at City Hall, is a chance to network with other schools and growers and hear successful school enterprise stories from experts including School Food Matters, Food Growing Schools: London and many more. You can also visit the marketplace before the event.

Booking For details on the events and to book contact: julie@sustainweb.org

Picture Credit: Garden Organic

Picture Credit: Garden Organic

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Life beyond Grow Your Own Business

Sowing Ideas. Growing Inspiration. Cultivating Futures. www.foodgrowingschools.org

Picture Credit: Garden Organic

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Life beyond Grow Your Own BusinessThe autumn and winter term will be full of excitement with Grow Your Own activities, but once the excitement has died down, it’s important to think about the long-term sustainability of your new enterprise. Here are some ideas to help you reap the long-term benefits of your food growing business for you and your school community.

Evaluate your success so farLook back at your original plans and review your progress (see page 5 on developing a business plan). Decide what went well and what will you do differently next time. Setting simple criteria for evaluation linked to your plan will help you to develop your food growing habits, your longer term enterprise initiative, and embed your food growing cycle. Use http://evaluationtoolbox.net.au

Let us help you. Fill in the Food Growing Schools: London survey to identify what additional help you need, and find additional support: www.foodgrowingschools.org/survey

Plan for next termThe RHS Campaign for School Gardening provides the following planners taking you through the year for your planting and harvesting cycles to support your business initiative and ideas for next year.

· School Gardening Weekly Planner: http://tinyurl.com/qfptjyn

· Kitchen Garden Planner: http://tinyurl.com/oxtexsb

Both from the RHS Campaign for School Gardening Website: http://apps.rhs.org.uk/schoolgardening/ default.aspa

Register for the Food Growing Schools: London e-newsletter for termly growing information: www.foodgrowingschools.org/events

Career development through enterprise Social enterprise - Consider using the GYOB campaign as a catalyst for students to think about employment and longer term business opportunities through the model of social enterprise. Participation Works provides a robust document on how to understand social enterprise for young people, the legal structure, case examples, organisations providing support and funding. www.participationworks.org.uk/resources

On a practical, accessible and local level, Urban Food Routes, supported by The Mayor of London is all about supporting community enterprise projects across London. Check out the website for resources and ideas: Urban Food Routes www.urbanfoodroutes.org.uk

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Sowing Ideas. Growing Inspiration. Cultivating Futures. www.foodgrowingschools.org

RHS horticulture qualifications Why not equip your students with practical skills and qualifications for future employment in Horticulture - an industry that needs skilled young people, who are passionate about their jobs. RHS have some videos and courses to inspire your students:

Learn about careers and watch ‘I love my job’ videos at: http://apps.rhs.org.uk/schoolgardening/teachershome/resources/secondary/default.aspa

Celebrate enterprise with your community Throughout the school year identify festivals and events that are celebrated within your own school community and incorporate food growing and enterprise themes into your event plans.

BBC faiths and festival calendar: www.bbc.co.uk/religion/tools/calendar

Exploit the possibilities of marketing Celebrate school food growing all year by promoting your product and using your produce as part of Food Growing Schools: London themed events, each term – Grow Your Own Business in Autumn, Grow Around the World in Spring, and Grow Your Own Picnic in the Summer.

Register for information packs and curriculum ideas each term: www.foodgrowingschools.org/events

Summer term theme: Grow Your Own Picnic

activity: Plan your picnic, use any recipes you discovered from last terms theme of Grow Around the World use the with your school community, use the herbs you started last autumn for Grow Your Own Business and sell your herb pots on your celebratory Grow Your Own Picnic day in the summer term.

Autumn term theme: Grow Your Own Business

activity: Start sowing and propagating herbs in september to sell at your chosen school festival/faith celebration later in the term: www.herbsociety.org.uk/schools/index.htm

Follow up: Keep sowing and increase your supply indoors during the winter months for tender herbs. Plant perennial/hardy herbs outdoors in autumn, ready for the next theme.

Spring term theme: Grow Around The World

activity: A focus on herbs, culinary uses and origins linked to Food Growing Schools: London spring term theme. Pick up the theme of where herbs originate, recipes and a celebration of food and dishes that reflect your school community.

Consider making a herb spiral as a design and construction project for herbs from around the world to be planted up as part of next terms theme. Visit the garden organic website for a resource on building a herb spiral. www.gardenorganic.org.uk/schools

Use the Food Growing Schools: London spring term toolkit to support your work this term.

Themed growing. Example – using herbs

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Sowing Ideas. Growing Inspiration. Cultivating Futures. www.foodgrowingschools.org

Why run a school growing project as a CSa? · Self-financing – a way to support the setting up or development of a school food

growing project.

· Financial independence – your customers or ‘shareholders’ provide the main funding so there is less need to apply for external funding, although sometimes a top up can be useful.

· Business enterprise experience – giving students the opportunity to develop a variety of skills including marketing, publicity, communications, team working and budgeting as well as learning food growing skills.

· Curriculum links – many subjects across the National Curriculum can be covered including Business Studies, DT, Science, Maths and IT.

· Social enterprise – opportunities to learn about fair trading and social entrepreneurship. Surplus food and plants could be donated to other schools, retirement homes and homeless charities.

· Community involvement – an opportunity for schools to reach out and involve the wider community

Go one step furtherCommunity Supported agriculture (CSa) is a way for food producers (growers) and consumers (customers) to mutually support each other. It welcomes investment from customers to help with set-up and business costs (e.g. seeds, equipment, animals, wages), and ensures a regular customer base, as a foundation from which the enterprise can grow.

For a school this would mean parents or members of the local community get together to provide the capital needed to develop a school garden and produce food, for the community to eat, sometimes employing a paid local grower or parent to co-ordinate the project and growing activities, and holiday watering rota.

Picture Credit: Garden Organic

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Working with existing CSa schemes or gardensA school could also grow to support an existing scheme and take a cut rather than set up their own. Or link up with a local community garden, allotment or rooftop garden to make use of other’s space.

How to run a school CSaThere is no set format for running a school CSA, enabling you to be creative in your own community. You could grow vegetables to supply a weekly veg box, or ask parents and guardians to sponsor an apple tree and harvest its fruit. For example, for a simple veg box scheme:

For more information visit:

Setting up a CSA - www.soilassociation.org/communitysupportedagriculture/whatiscsa

Setting up a school food co-op: www.foodgrowingschools.org/events/gyobusiness

Labour - part-time grower/trainer *Polytunnel/greenhouse Soil and timbers Seeds and fruit bushes Other tools and equipment

*£8.80 an hour is the current minimum wage in London – www.livingwage.org.uk

CSa - example start-up costs:

Sowing Ideas. Growing Inspiration. Cultivating Futures. www.foodgrowingschools.org

Picture Credit: Garden Organic

· Identify a group to manage the project (plan what to grow, share roles, budget and organise the distribution of produce).

· Identify your customers (e.g. staff, parents, governors, local community), the ‘members’ of your CSA.

· Calculate the number of customer members being supplied with food, (e.g. 20members)

· Identify available land (e.g. school, local community garden)

· Calculate your start-up costs (see box right)

· Each member customer will make a financial investment called a ‘share’. (e.g. 20 x £8.29 share per week)

· Calculate the amount of produce each member will receive each week (e.g. fruit and vegetable, young plants, eggs, honey).

There you have it - a pantry full of ways to take your food growing through the school year!

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Sowing Ideas. Growing Inspiration. Cultivating Futures.

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