New bear project to get youngsters into gardening

30 April 2019

A new project has been launched based on the tale of Craster the bear trying to get his honey in a bid to encourage youngsters to get into gardening.

Primary schools in the city can apply to get a pack about the friendly bear Craster and his friend Bella the honey bee, which includes a grow-bag, seeds, bamboo canes and string, and a series of short animated tutorial videos on how to grow and care for the vegetables.

The animated story follows Craster the friendly bear who lives in the woods. However, he can't get his favourite food – honey – from his friends Bella and the bees, as not enough fruit and vegetables are being grown for the bees to collect the nectar from.The tale of Craster and how he can help the city’s youngsters grow flowers and vegetables came from Aberdeen City Council’s environmental chargehand Danny Shand, who also stars in videos as The Council Gardener at https://www.youtube.com/user/AberdeenCC/videos.

Danny said: “As a gardener for our beautiful parks and gardens, I love it when children are interested in what we do and how growing flowers, fruit and vegetables helps to improve the environment for everyone.

“We want to encourage youngsters that not only that gardening can be fun, but the end product can be eaten, is beautiful to look at, but also helps bees and other insects through pollination. The project also teaches them environmental responsibility and the real impacts of sustainability.

“I’ve visited several schools for the The Council Gardener videos and it’s fantastic to see the enthusiasm the pupils have for gardening which we’re aiming to nuture and grow.”

About 26 schools across the city have asked for Project Craster pack already and others are welcome to apply. Schools in Aberdeen wanting further information or how to get a Project Craster pack should email projectcraster@aberdeencity.gov.uk. The animations can be viewed at www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/craster.

PICTURE CAPTION: 

NAMES-18/04/19 Council gardener Danny Shand with pupils from Hazlehead Primary School demonstrate the Project Craster seed trays- L-R Danny Shand with Esther Burns, Namiso Kanganuarara; Emma Lewis, Molly Muldoon; Rosheh Tabari; Eilidh Gorman.