Tomato Harvest at Hampstead Gate

There was delight for children at Hampstead Gate Day Nursery in Milton Keynes as they picked their first harvest of tomatoes, having grown them from plants in the garden outside.

After patiently tending to the crops in their eco-garden over the past few months, pre-schoolers from the award-winning setting on Eelbrook Avenue were delighted to see the results of their hard work from the exciting daily gardening sessions, before picking the ripened red tomatoes and taking them inside to wash and taste as part of their snack.

During the activities, children were able to learn about the process from seed to plate, whilst showcasing their early language and mathematics skills to monitor and log the growth of the plants and identify when their crops would be ready to harvest through observations.  

It is for such activities that Hampstead Gate have been awarded the prestigious ‘Green Flag’ from Eco-Schools, the highest accolade in the international scheme, which is awarded for exceptional environmental awareness and conservation practices, with activities at the nursery including creating habitats for wildlife and litter picking sessions in their local area.

Hampstead Gate Day Nursery Team Leader, Jordan Hall explained;

“This was a fantastic learning experience for the children and even those in the group who don’t usually eat tomatoes were intrigued to try them, having worked so hard to nurture them. They were so proud of this achievement and couldn’t wait to tell their families; we are now looking forward to picking the remaining fruit and vegetables that we are growing.”