The two educational gardens at San Martín Primary School, where crops, one containing cereals (wheat, oats and barley), pulses (lupin, peas and broad beans) and lettuce, and the other containing brassicas (rapeseed, cauliflower, broccoli, romanesco and cabbages) are being compared with their wild relatives, continue to develop.

As expected, the wild relatives have not germinated in some of the planting rows. This in itself is a lesson in crop domestication, but given that one of the activities carried out in the garden this term is to compare the crops with their wild relatives, and following a group discussion with teachers and pupils, last week we decided to resow the rows where there were fewer than three seedlings.

To do this, the wild relatives were marked (so as not to confuse them with weeds) with wooden sticks, counted, and then replanted with the Year 1 and Year 2 primary school classes.

Fortunately, many of the CWR species we planted are growing healthily, and we already have material for comparison… but we hope new seedlings will emerge to bring even more joy to the garden! Furthermore, as each pupil has chosen a crop and its CWR to monitor more closely, we can ensure that everyone has plenty to observe!

We are grateful for the enthusiasm of the teachers and pupils, and the number of observations they make each week! It’s a real pleasure!