School garden yields a ‘souper’ crop for experimenting chefs
PUPILS AT the Faythe National School discovered that their school garden was more resilient than they thought when, on returning to school, they inspected the summer’s growth.
Sixth class teacher James Murphy brought his eager gardeners out to see the if the drought of the summer months had an adverse effect on their garden but they were pleasantly surprised to see that there had been some growth.
Mr Murphy explained: ‘Every year, Colm Ó Muiri from the South End Family Resource Centre guides the children in all aspects of gardening preparation and planting and, up to the end of June, these plants are weeded and watered like nobody’s business.
‘After that, it is really in the lap of the gods as holidays kick in and plants are left to their own devices.’
He said that after the scorching summer, there were concerns that the good work in June may not have been enough to combat the conditions.
However, guided by Joy Wall, the sixth class Special Needs Assistant, an impressive array of carrots, onions, celery, beet and some early potatoes were harvested. These were quickly transferred to the kitchen where the gang took to washing, peeling and chopping, blending and, most importantly, taste-testing the resultant soup.
Mr Murphy remarked: ‘Apparently, the soup was delicious but I’ ll have to take the chefs’ word for that, because I got none!’