On Earth Day, every year group at Titchfield Primary School made their way to the school allotment beds — and for a few wonderful hours, learning looked nothing like a classroom. It looked like digging, planting, laughing, and going home with soil under their fingernails and a story to tell.
Every child sowed a sunflower seed with their own hands. Each one also planted either a strawberry or a Sweet William, tucking them carefully into the earth with the kind of attention that only comes when something is truly yours. There’s something powerful about that — a child choosing where to press a seed into the ground, smoothing the soil over it, and walking away knowing it’s theirs to watch grow.
And if all goes to plan, those same children will pick their own strawberries at the school’s Strawberry Fayre in mid-June. That moment — biting into a fruit they planted themselves, weeks earlier — will mean so much more for having started here, on their knees in the mud on a bright April morning.
The day was made even more special by Kim from Barfoots, who gave a brilliant and engaging talk on vegetables and where food really comes from. She spoke to children of every age in a way that landed — sparking questions, lighting up faces, and making the connection between field and fork feel real and exciting rather than abstract. Year R, suitably inspired and never ones to hang around, wasted absolutely no time putting their new knowledge to use. They headed straight to the school air fryer and cooked up sweet potato fries. Because why on earth wouldn’t you?
Throughout the day, the children were engaged, curious, creative, muddy, and absolutely beaming. There’s something irreplaceable about watching young people connect with where food comes from — not through a screen or a worksheet, but with their hands in actual soil, their boots on actual ground. It’s the kind of learning that sticks.
None of it would have been possible without the extraordinary generosity of Stewarts Garden Centre, St. Margaret’s Nurseries, and Barfoots farm, who came together to make the whole day happen. Their contribution — in plants, produce, time, and enthusiasm — was everything. Thank you, sincerely, to each of them.
Here’s to the strawberries, the Sweet Williams, and the sunflowers. And most of all, to the children who planted them. We can’t wait for June.
