School Kitchen, the new food delivery initiative in York, has opened its new kitchen garden at Carr Junior School, with the help of a landscape gardener.

Produce from the kitchen garden will be used by both School Kitchen for its four restaurants, as well as by pupils for school cookery classes, with any surplus going to parents in need.

David Nicholson, managing director of School Kitchen, with landscape gardener, Tom Brown.

The garden will also be incorporated into cooking demonstrations for pupils, alongside the cookery lessons. Pupils will be given the opportunity to select their own ingredients for the classes.

Crops being grown in the kitchen garden include broccoli, onions, potatoes, chillies, basil, courgettes, spinach and lettuce.

Nial Moran, commis chef at School Kitchen, will be the main onsite gardener. He was joined by landscape gardener, Tom Brown, to set up the growing space.

The site has been prepared by cutting off the existing turf, aerating the soil, and adding compost and lime to increase the pH.

The first crops have been planted on site, these include shallots and three varieties of potatoes, School Kitchen and the pupils will be able to use the produce as soon as it has grown.

Solar panels at partnering schools have also been installed to generate electricity, as well as bikes and electric mopeds for all deliveries.

School Kitchen will be sending out compostable bags with every order, into which customers can put the biodegradable packaging into – delivery drivers will then collect these bags upon their next delivery – all bags will be composted into organic matter for the garden.

The initiative will also offer apprenticeship jobs for school leavers, in an effort to offer opportunities to the next generation.

For more information, visit www.schoolkitchen.com.