Horsham in Bloom
Summer Competitions 2018
HiB regrets that except for the Schools Competition, it was unable to run annual competitions in 2018.
We understand the disappointment this decision has caused to regular and prospective entrants.
More information will be shown soon.
Horsham in Bloom (HiB) was delighted that Newbridge Garden Centre again hosted their annual presentation event for schools that had entered the 2018 competition.
This year the children were asked to interpret the question, 'What's in the garden?' but the choice as to how was left to their imagination, ideas and skills.
HiB felt that all the schools who entered this year deserved a gold medal and the highest praise for persevering during the prolonged period of hot, dry weather. They 'wowed!' the judges with their outstanding results. The conditions were challenging for even the most experienced gardeners.
Thanks to generous sponsorship from Newbridge Garden Centre, schools were given a start-up voucher for compost and seeds, and each received further vouchers at the Awards Ceremony at Newbridge.
It is unusual for every school to be given a prize. However, the judges thought that the wide range of 'answers' to the question, coupled with the high standard of maintenance, all deserve recognition.
Holbrook Primary School - BEST for presenting Afternoon Tea, demonstrating the complete process from seed planting to harvesting their produce, explaining it all in detail to the judges before showing a table laden with goodies some of which children had spent the morning cooking which looked and tasted delicious.
Kingslea Primary School - BEST for their table of produce for a healthy three course meal, grown separately in a Soup Garden, Roast Dinner Garden and a Salad Garden, all adding up to a wide variety of fresh vegetables and salads.
Forest School - BEST for coping with adversity as they battled with builders and unpredictable access to their garden but still produced a tempting and tasty lunch table using freshly grown produce some of which finds its way to the food technology lessons.
Millais School - BEST for originality with a tea table in miniature where the plants and produce had all been scaled down to fit on a specially commissioned table, suitable for people unable to dig and work at ground level.
QE2 School - BEST for thinking about how they felt and responded to the whole team while sitting round their large and colourful picnic table. They included the largest group of participants and the widest interpretation of the brief encompassing communication, art, food technology and many other areas.
Sue Brundish from HiB commented “Congratulations to everyone involved in this year’s competition. It is inspiring to see a new generation of gardeners finding the joy of growing their own food and sharing it with their classmate”.
An interesting footnote - The judges found that the most enthusiastic and knowledgeable children often worked with their Grandfathers. So, a challenge for Grandparents - if you grow flowers, fruit and vegetables in your garden or allotment, involve your grandchildren to ensure the next generation of keen gardeners!"