Page 46 - ALG Issue 4 2018

Show What you Grow Day
46
Newburgh Primary
This year’s annual ‘Show What You Grow Day’ was held in July at Skelmersdale. This day is for primary school children throughout the borough to tell us about what they are doing on their school allotments. This year there were nine participating schools with more than 60 excited and eager children taking part in the event.
The day started at 9 o’clock with each school setting up a display of their harvested produce together with photographs and diaries and a scarecrow.
At 10 o’clock the Mayor for West Lancs, Cllr Noel Delaney, and consort arrived to officially open the event. They then visited each of the displays to speak with the children and their teachers. At the same time, those children not involved were at their desks working on their first task of the day: a work book.
The display tables get better each year, making the judges task of picking the
best one more difficult. This year the ‘Best Display’ trophy went to Newburgh Primary school, closely followed by St Thomas, Upholland and St Mary, Scarisbrick.
The theme for ‘Best Scarecrow’ this
year was recycling. The winner, made from bottles and named Plastic Pete, came from St Michael, Dalton. St Michael also won the ‘Best Jack and Beanstalk’ trophy with a beanstalk over seven feet high.
This was a very lively and noisy event with a lot of fun had by all
The second desk-task of the day was for each school to create a ‘Veggie Creature’. This was a very lively and noisy event with a lot of fun had by all, and with Crawford Primary taking the top prize.
The afternoon session started with a fun Vegetable Quiz. This was followed by each school taking the stage to tell us about life on their school allotment plots. We are never quite sure what to expect here. Most have a visual element with a film or photo projection, some will speak to us, while another school will recite a poem. This year we found out that some of these young growers are also in the school brass band.
The vegetable show again gave the judges a bit of a headache. The eventual winners were: Crawford Primary for best potatoes;
St Thomas, Upholland for best radish and best beetroot; St Mary, Scarisbrick for best strawberries; Burscough Village for best lettuce and best spring onions. Crawford Primary also won the ‘Best Homemade Edible’ prize for their ‘Afternoon Tea’.
The day ended with the trophy presentations, each school taking home a collection of useful tools and compost for their allotment. Special thanks to all those who helped the day to be such a success. The event was managed by West Lancashire CVS, supported by West Lancashire Allotments Federation and funded by Upholland Tawd Valley Lions. Additional produce was from Morrison’s Supermarket, Southport. The event was hosted by West Lancashire College Skelmersdale.
Ray Fowler
Crawford Primary
St Mary Scarisbrick
Best creature
Pinfold Primary
A scarecrow
St Michael Dalton
Hillside Skelmersdale