Find out what gave our Incredible winners that Edibles edge......
Munster Winner
Scoil na mBriathre, Tipperary Town, Co. Tipperary
Fighting crime, taking down evil professors and saving kid's brains from becoming too sluggish is all in a days work for the students from Scoil na mBraithre, Co. Tipperary. Well, that and growing the 5 Incredible Edibles to perfection! These 3rd class boys got their project off to a lively start by actually becoming the Incredible Edibles Team for a day. Like all good action heroes they were faced with a dastardly dilemma when Professor Bonbon tried to take over Tipperary Town with his nasty sweets and treats, however he was no match for the combined vitamin power of the Incredible Edibles and soon met with a quick demise!
Luckily the class captured this thrilling story on camera so if you had any doubts about the wonders of the Incredible Edibles just watch this amazing film!
Continuing to use their powers for good, the Monastery Boys got more involved with their compost facilities at school, launched a ‘5 A Day' poster campaign, visited an organic garden and even managed to incorporate the Incredible Edibles into their entire curriculum! Feeling tired? Well take a rest and enjoy a ‘Fruit Break' with the boys, it's their new ritual and one of their favourite times of the day!
Leinster Winner
Scoil Aodán Naofa, Carnew NS, Carnew , Co. Wicklow
Scrapbook may be a slight understatement for what the 5th class students of Carnew NS submitted, indeed an encyclopaedia may be more fitting. The main focus of this schools project was not just the growing of the plants but also to understand the diverse and many layered topics surrounding the whole area of fruit and vegetables.
Investigating the nutritional benefits and unearthing all kind of facts about each of the Incredible Edibles, discovering the medicinal uses of varying plants, exploring the history of Irish farming and learning about soil formation were just a few of the items on the index! On the more practical side of things these students were all about the hands on approach, waste not want not was the call of the day as the pupils made their very own organic fertilizer from nettles in the school field. Scientific experiments were conducted on everything from soil ph to how plants actually drink up all that water and grow!
Keeping it local was the order of the day in Carnew. Some of the pupils visited the local shop to find out more about the fruit and veg stocked there and how much they cost. They also organised a visit from a local farmer who brought in his own Incredible Edibles and indeed shared with the class some useful tips for their own plants.
Educating themselves and others was a very interesting element in this project.
The pupils made a visit to their younger classmates in the Senior Infants to pass on their knowledge by getting them to play games, taste and smell different vegetables and doing some fun and educational exercises with them, all based around fruit and veg! This class is certainly going to leave a healthy legacy behind them!
Connaught/ Ulster Winner
SN Chreachmhaoil, Crinnage, Craughwell, Co. Galway
Immediately catching the judge's eye from the picture parade on the cover of this project, the 5th class students from Galway proved just how much they enjoyed and indeed learnt about fruit and vegetables on every page of their submission.
A large collection of photos and written pieces on how their plants were progressing easily captured the student's initial efforts right up to the moment of harvest glory. A lot was discovered by the pupils throughout their earthy adventure as they incorporated elements of the Incredible Edibles into their curriculum. Composing essays on nutrition, painting incredible posters of their favourite edible characters, researching the Irish Famine, learning all about the life cycle of potatoes and strawberries and composing clever fruit and veg riddles gave this project a real energetic edge. Not limiting themselves to school books, these students created an impressive book of their own full of creative recipes to cover all meal times. Of course no project is complete without seeking some expert advice from those in the know and the young farmers added to their green fingered knowledge by inviting a local gardener to speak to them and pass on his seeds of wisdom! The growing skills of this class is certain keep hunger at bay in Galway for a long time!
Dublin Winner
St. Brigid's Boys National School, Foxrock, Dublin 18
Combining forces, the two 3rd classes from St. Brigid's BNS teamed up to make an exceptional effort in documenting the planting, growth and harvest of their Incredible Edibles. An impressively sized scrapbook found its way to the Agri Aware office packed full of photos detailing every stage of their incredible journey. Interwoven with this lively photo display were the findings of class research on a variety of topics such as the history of the potato, food groups and the students even added to their growing repertoire by setting sunflowers and finding out some nifty facts about them too!
A truly inquisitive class, taste tests were conducted on fruits never before sampled by the pupils and they even took the project out of the classroom and into their local supermarket to find out what kind of vegetables people were buying and even tested customers general food knowledge!
Following a very successful harvest the students really celebrated the fruits of their labour as they all enjoyed a delicious school grown salad. The real treat in this project however were the individual copybook diaries kept by the students. Ornately decorated these diaries recorded the progress of the pupils plants from seed to supper time and included recipes, 5 a day trackers, diagrams, a fruit and veg map of Ireland and some even included comic book sketches involving the Incredible Edible characters. These hard working farmers definitely know how to reap a winning harvest!
Special Needs Winner
Our Lady of Good Counsel Special School, Innishmore, Ballincollig, Co. Cork
On completing the Incredible Edibles Growing Challenge it's fair to say that the students of Our Lady of Good Counsel have become expert growers, could teach us all a thing or two about healthy eating, and well, let's face it, could now easily open their very own restaurant.
In an effort to truly understand the world they had entered the class took a trip to a fruit market and brought back a host of different fruits to try out! They also spent an afternoon on a farm where they learnt all about dairy farming, picked up a few hints and tips on growing potatoes and most importantly discovered that food doesn't just come from the supermarket!
Creating their own food pyramids, participating in the Incredible Edible Mini Challenges, investigating potato blight and incorporating fruit and veg into their art class, there was no stopping this creative and enthusiastic class.
Having successfully harvested 4 out of the 5 crops (sadly the carrots lost their will to live) the students took to the school kitchen with gusto and served up a whole
host of appetizing dishes and of course used their very own Incredible Edibles in each one!
The work and dedication gone into this project was outstanding, the students developed new skills to take into the future and many of them have now even started their own gardens at home. That's what we call the Incredible Edibles Spirit!
