The Ramsey Academy Gardening Club has once again found a novel way of raising funds for tools and materials. Last year it was Pallet Pumpkins, this year Pallet Skulls. All the skulls are made from recycled wooden pallets, broken up and de-nailed by club members. Each one has its own unique face and expression. Made in the American Primitive style, they certainly stand out. Club members have made 40 skulls and hope to raise around £100.

The ladies of the Halstead Women’s Institute saw the press article earlier in the year reporting the vandalism to the school’s new polytunnel. The club members are really pleased and grateful that the WI have donated £200, which will replace the damaged polythene cover.

Exciting News – the Ramsey Gardening Club has been granted a place on the RHS Rocket Experiment! Two kilos of Rocket (lettuce) seeds were sent up to the International Space Station in the summer. It would have been earlier, but the first rocket exploded soon after launch! Selected schools in this country are being sent packets of space seed at Easter time next year. We will spend a month measuring and recording their germination and growth. The results will be fed back to the RHS for analysis. The Gardening Club is proud to provide the school’s first Rocket Scientists! The ‘Anglia In Bloom’ judges have fed back, via ‘Halstead In Bloom’, some great comments following their visit to our allotment site. We are proud to have supported the town which has once again achieved a gold award.

Come the new year, we will be looking for new members from the student body and also hope that we might attract adult volunteers from the community. We are an active and enthusiastic group with a lot more to do with our allotment site.

Club members Oliver Smith and Joe Firman “cannot believe just how far the club has come in a year!

- Mr S Pittuck