Our second harvest is much improved from last year’s single crop of carrots. This year we have successfully nurtured potatoes, onions, garlic, raspberries and strawberries. Our flower bed, dedicated to bees and butterflies, will hopefully burst into blossom once the promised sunshine arrives.

It has been a steep learning curve, for both students and staff, and we are beginning to understand soil types and the level of commitment that growing your own fruit and vegetables entails. We also have our first sign up (Gardening is my therapy), which was brought in by a club member, as she "feels calm and happy in the garden".

Over the summer, please keep us in mind if you find you have surplus gardening tools, water butts or garden ornaments. Your donations would be gratefully received by our Reception staff at both premises. We are also looking for small stones / gravel to make walkways between the raised beds, so the garden is accessible over the winter months.

The students have shown great determination and dedication to this fledgling initiative and will be submitting evidence for the RHS Level 2 award shortly and are already planning next year's crop and investigating possible fund-raising ideas.

"The love of gardening is a seed once sown that never dies." Gertrude Jekyll.