Learning To Grow Food Competition Overview
An annual event for young children covering a wide menu of gardening activities
Learning to Grow Food – Overview of the Competition
Who takes part?
For many years, we have run competitions for the local community. In the early days, we judged best local gardens, hanging baskets and containers and vegetable plots, and then went on to provide practical help for those unable to tend their garden for themselves. Finally, for several years, we ran a competition that involved young children covering a wide menu of gardening activities. This all came to a halt with the Covid epidemic!
A new-look competition was launched in 2022, based on the idea of helping young children in our local nurseries and primary schools to understand where their food comes from, how it’s grown and having a go at doing so themselves.
The project is in line with the learning outcomes defined within the Early Years Foundation Stage requirements, and for Key Stages 1 and 2 of the National Curriculum. The project is also enjoyed by the young people in our largest school for those with special educational needs and disabilities, particularly focusing on the science descriptors within their statutory framework.
Who supports the competition?
We are supported by Farlow Farm Nursery, a local business that provides equipment and gardening supplies such as pots and compost. We also bid for funding from other sources, especially for the prizes for winners and runners up, but also for the seeds that we give them to grow and nurture.
The judging is carried out by members of the committee, with prizes awarded in July.
What do they do?
Each year explores a different concept:
In 2025, the competition explored the concept of varieties of the same vegetable, using potatoes as an example, posing the question ‘Are they all the same?
In 2024, the competition posed the question ‘Does pollination matter?’
In 2023, the focus was on ‘Does seed size matter?’
In 2022, the entrants grew a range of microgreens to learn how to grow and nurture seeds, including the best conditions needed for them to flourish and produce food to eat.
Click here to read the previous years’ competition briefs in detail, including the judging expectations for each of these competitions.
Learning To Grow Food Competition Brief 2026
Coming very soon!