In order to make our lovely allotments accessible to children in our area who do not have families with plots or have a garden at home, we often welcome small groups from local schools to visit. Only one school, Paddock, rents a plot but there are visiting groups from other schools. Not only do the children learn about the seasons, the plants and the bugs but sometimes they get a real treat with a difference! Courtney,a pupil at Granard School, wrote:
“On Mondays, we go to the allotments to see all the plants. This week we saw two dogs called Barley and Hugo and a cool cat called Simba. The dogs were cute and friendly to everyone.
When Hugo saw us, he got very excited and started to jump and run around like a raccoon.
Simba the cat is three years old. When Simba saw Barley, he wanted to hunt, but instead he jumped up in the tree. Simba loves going on trips by himself. When he was young, he would squeeze under the gate to reach the allotments. However, now he can’t go under the gate because he is too big. Simba loves going in the trees to look out for food. If you offer him some delicious treats, he will sit down and give you his paw. I like the way he looks. “
with thanks to Jackie Savage