Pupils from St Paul’s CE Primary School in Cambridge took part in a special after-school planting activity last week with the help of First Base, the mixed-use developer behind the Devonshire Gardens project, and its local landscape architects, LDA Design.
First Base has been working with the local primary school throughout the year, supporting the curriculum with various activities including a design competition. This particular initiative supports pupils’ education in relation to sustainable food and gardening, providing advice on what plants grow well and provide food, in particular locations or seasons.
First Base and LDA Design assessed the site and selected plants which would thrive in the location of the planters given the season and hours of sunlight. The team then visited the school to advise the after-school club how best to embed and establish plants that grow food, ahead of winter. The edible plants – including marjoram, lavender, rosemary and mint – will be harvested for food preparation and cookery classes later in the school term.
Doug Higgins, Project Director, First Base, said: “We have thoroughly enjoyed working with the teachers and pupils at St Paul’s CE Primary School this year. There was so much enthusiasm for the planting activity with many pupils correctly identifying the plants and herbs and wanting to understand why we were planting them in certain locations.
“We will be delivering a sustainable development at Devonshire Gardens and a big part of this is a focus on edible planting on site for the benefit of the local community so we’re pleased we could create an opportunity in line with these principles for the young pupils too.
“We are grateful to Emily Jacob from LDA Design, our landscape architect partners for the Devonshire Gardens project, who gave her time freely to advise on which plants to use and helped the children get stuck in planting them!”
