Tag: Orchards

Counting on … day 178

25th September 2024

What about edible playgrounds in our schools?

“Edible Playgrounds offer a lively, engaging, multi-sensory way to teach children about growing and eating healthy food. Aside from the physical health benefits that eating well brings, learning in an outdoor environment combats Nature Deficit Disorder and has been shown to increase mental health by boosting mood, confidence and self-esteem. Furthermore, allowing the children to connect with nature develops attentiveness and self-reliance in the pupils, leading to more sustainable behaviours in the long term.” (1)

Equally what about a school orchard?

“With a little maintenance and planning, trees give back so much more than we put into them. But they do need to be cared for, especially in the tender early years of their growth”. (2)

(1) https://www.treesforcities.org/our-work/schools-programme/edible-playgrounds

(2) https://treecouncil.org.uk/grants-and-guidance/our-grants/orchards-for-schools/

Counting on day 405

12th December 2022 

The Wildlife Trust notes ‘Orchards are areas of trees and shrubs planted for food, usually fruit. They are an historic habitat; many species of fruit tree were brought over by the Romans and cultivating fruit trees might date back to the Neolithic period. Not only are orchards useful and beautiful, they can also be important for wildlife. They are perfect for pollinators, and fruit trees age quickly which creates essential deadwood habitats.’

Preserving orchards is an important way of maintaining the UK’s biodiversity. Many orchards are under threat partly because the lack of people to pick the fruit and partly because of the propensity of supermarkets to stock imported fruit – so equally that may suggest we as consumers need to ensure we seek out UK grown produce.