In May, RHET Borders arranged for S3 pupils from Berwickshire Highs chool to visit Whitsome East Newton Farm to learn about the work Alistair and Marianne Hodge are doing there as part of the Crop Mixtures Project being run in conjunction with the Hutton Institute.

They had 70 pupils visit, and were definitely all challenged by the strong winds, although the rain confined itself to lunchtime – so the pupils were back on the bus, only the co-ordinators and volunteers got wet.

Alistair began by explaining what he does to produce food on his farm, and demonstrated how the crops would be sprayed. We had representatives from Buglife, and The James Hutton Institute.  All the activities were very hands on, the pupils caught and identified insects, they dug for worms and did some soil analysis. This was a really interesting activity for us to be involved with, and fitted into the S3 biology curriculum really well.

These visits have also been delivered in Angus, Fife and Aberdeenshire.