Incredible Edibles is a healthy-eating project for primary schools. The aim of the project is to educate students about growing fruit and vegetables and to increase their knowledge of food origin and quality.

Besides learning about where our food comes from, kids taking part in Incredible Edibles also pick up geography, science and maths skills.

In our Incredible Edibles Diary, we hear directly from the classroom as to what students are learning about food systems and growing vegetables. This week, it’s Ms Fitzpatrick’s 1st class in Our Lady of Mercy primary school in Co Sligo.

The project in Ms Fitzpatrick’s class is well into task two, which is called “Identifying Irish”. In this task, the children learn how to recognise Irish produce in the supermarket.

The class got the chance to visit a local fruit farm online and traced their lunch boxes back to the farms. They have also been busy planting purple onions and garlic, both inside and outside. With their planting started, the kids are happy to see that their kale seedlings have taken off. They are in the process of arranging a visit or Zoom call with a local farmer who supplies vegetables to their local farmers market.

Ms Fitzpatrick’s class has traced where their lovely daily school dinners come from. They have been busy enjoying their harvest and the long-awaited purple-sprouting broccoli, which they had planted in raised beds.

The children loved the taste of their homegrown vegetables. We were very impressed at what they were able to do considering their school is in the middle of a town.

They wanted to prove that anything is possible when you put your mind to it!

The children made the most of the recent mild weather to prepare the vegetable beds and tidy up the polytunnel before their new Incredible Edibles grow packs arrive.

Task Three starts this month, with the seeds and grow packs arriving to schools around the country. This is the most exciting part of the programme.