NOTES from. the garden // school greenhouse

From funding applications to base solutions to fixing the final pane of glass to frame, the protected environment of the new school greenhouse brings growing opportunities and much needed shelter.

Becoming a school gardener was not something I planned, rather an opportunity that came my way at the right moment – a time when I was losing a garden of my own and needed a regular income to provide anchorage during an uncertain time. I also harangued the head teacher to let me make something of the garden during lockdown, not only so the key worker’s kids who were still there could benefit from growing things but also because I’m a firm believer that improving an environment can make a massive difference to the wellbeing of all that make its acquaintance. Fill a garden with flowers and its a hard heart that doesn’t smile.

Building a 12 foot x 16 foot greenhouse for the school was not on my agenda either but as last October’s Indian summer turned into an unrelenting series of freezing cold or down-poured teaching days – without any form of regular shelter (all the classrooms or communal areas were being used) – I decided to take matters into my own hands and find some funding to make some kind of outdoor classroom happen. As I settled into persuasive writing mode and simultaneously looked up how much various solutions would cost, it became clear that a greenhouse would be the most affordable and productive option, providing necessary shelter for at least 15 children (the size of most of my eight classes each Tuesday) but also increased growing opportunities.

I’ve always longed for a greenhouse of my own, and almost got one before we finally called it a day on our marriage. Good job I didn’t as I would have probably had to leave it there given the work that goes into installing one from a level base and matrix structure to fiddly sealant piping and final placement of glass. This greenhouse, on the other hand, will hopefully be here for many decades to come, bringing joy to multiple generations of children at Godwin Junior School but also the teachers and wider Forest Gate community.

The funding came primarily from the RHS and Groundworks London and in both cases, providing for the community was key. It is therefore my hope that the greenhouse not only allows me to create a more organised and successional series of gardening lessons throughout the year, but that it also provides a space in which to run workshops, plant sales, and grow food for those who need it most. The kids and I have already been talking about how we can use it best so I can’t wait to get in there on Tuesday and start laying things out and making plans.

Thanks to another grant through School Food Matters I’ve also bought a series of timed irrigation systems that we can use to water the raised beds, the greenhouse and the front border, so all our hard work doesn’t turn to dust over the summer. We’ve also got two wheelchair accessible, self-watering food planters to assemble, a whole load of greenhouse equipment including planting trays, propagators and capillary mats, shedloads of watering cans (no more using milk bottles or fighting over ‘the big watering can’!) and a part-covered pergola. Once we’ve refreshed the astroturf and finished the greenhouse area off with some bricks and gravel, we should have the school garden of dreams.

Thanks to all who have helped to make it happen including Ali Smyth from Ali Smyth Landscape Design, Tom Coupe, Sine Brown the head teacher, Godwin parents who helped move raised beds, and the children and teachers who shifted endless buckets of soil every week for months so we could make way for the base. Many hands make light work and will be repaid in a bounty of raspberries that are currently ripening over the perimeter wall.