Local school ‘digs’ Sodexo and Rocket Gardens partnership

Pupils from Our Lady’s Abingdon School have received the first of three fruit and vegetable gardens, courtesy of Sodexo, a leading provider of on-site service solutions.

Sodexo has joined forces with, supplier of organic vegetable and herb plants, Rocket Gardens’ Dig for the Future project, which encourages schools to get children growing organic vegetables and learning about the food they eat.

As part of its STOP Hunger campaign, Sodexo is providing schools in communities where it operates with seasonal fruit, vegetable and salad gardens. The project sponsored by its own charity the Sodexo Foundation will provide nominated schools across the country with a year’s supply of school gardens which includes a fruit garden, a spring/summer garden and an autumn/winter garden. Our lady’s Abingdon recently received the first of their deliveries, the autumn/winter garden which included baby plants such as spring onions, pak choi, turnips, broccoli, broad beans to name just a few.

Karen Gackowski, a teaching assistant at Our Lady’s Abingdon said: “It’s an amazing opportunity for us to expand our garden, the gardening club really enjoy planting then picking their own vegetables they are so proud to take home even one onion to share with their family. With so many plants from the Rocket Garden we hope to increase are growing area using old tyres which we can get for free and more large containers.”

The school will receive a further two deliveries, the schools fruit garden, a collection of soft fruit bushes, canes and plants will be delivered in the winter term followed by a spring garden which will comprise a selection of baby plants including lettuces, spinach, carrots, leeks, tomatoes, runner and green beans, courgettes, cabbages and potatoes, which will be delivered after the Easter holidays.