BROADCASTER Chris Packham visited a Hampshire school to open a vegetable garden created by the pupils.
Students at Hounsdown School in Jacobs Gutter Lane, Totton, have turned a previously derelict piece of land into a productive area capable of growing a variety of crops.
The garden has been created with the help of a £23,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Pupils received expert advice from the Minstead Training Project, Totton and Eling Historical Society and the nearby Sunnyfields Organic Farm.
Doreen Longman, the school’s community development officer, said the project was launched after a discussion in a geography lesson.
She said: “A group of students wondered whether the wasteland behind the newly built sports hall could be converted. Following research into traditional crops and methods they decided to create something along the lines of a Victorian garden. They learned about traditional ways of planting and pest control, and have been able to use traditional tools.”
Pupils are hoping to sell the vegetables to the local community and plough the proceeds back into the project.
Echo picture by Paul Collins.
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