Global Lessons
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Mapping your carbon footprint
Project: Mapping Carbon Miles One of the fondest memories from my childhood is the trips my mother and I made to the local high street (Palmerston Road, Southsea) on an almost daily basis. To the local Clark’s for shoes, WH Smith’s for school stationery, Debenham’s for the odd fry-ups, and of course, Woolworth’s for the…
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Carnivorous plants
Here’s the thing: they never fail to get children excited! And when children are excited, they are fully engaged and ready to learn! At the BBC Gardeners’ World Spring Fair in May 2024 where World Garden Schools was conducting workshops for children (photos and worksheets here), our resident star, Ellen Bella Cheese the cheese plant,…
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History Through Trees – Medlar
Food connects people with each other and also with their history. Eating the food our ancestors used to eat is one of the few ways we can get a direct experience of life in the past. One of the fruits that used to be very popular in mediaeval England is medlar, but these days, not…
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How to care for bees
The rise of urban agriculture Urban areas now account for more than half of the world’s population. The United Nations estimates that by 2050, 68% of the world’s population will live in cities, with rapid urbanisation happening in low-income countries. With this population shift, it becomes more important than ever to develop sustainable urban agriculture:…
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Turkish greens (Turkey)
There are thousands of plant species in Turkey, many which are endemic (meaning that they only grow in Turkey). However, there are some familiar ones such as nettles, sage, rosemary and thyme that are suited to the dry, arid soil. These are some of the plants that are grown in a local primary school in…
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Growing Garlic – Learning about Agricultural Economy (World)
This afternoon, I was planting garlic into compostable cups for the Permaculture Festival on September 23rd and 24th in Lambourne End. The garlic seed I was planting were organic garlic from the Garlic Farm on the Isle of Wight that are specially for planting (Gardeners’ World recommends not using supermarket garlic for planting). I put four cloves into each pot.…
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Sayur Manis (Borneo)
As part of the World Garden School Programme, we get to know Sayur Manis (sauropus androgynus), a popular plant from Borneo. Watercolour (work-in-progress) by Almas Binti Abdul Kadir. “Sayur manis“ simply means sweet vegetable in the Malay language. It tastes like spinach but more flavoursome, as if this plant had been crossed with asparagus and broccoli.…
World Garden Schools 