Ysgol Bro Dewi pupils help St Davids pub's carbon footprint (From Western Telegraph)

Ysgol Bro Dewi pupils help St Davids pub's carbon footprint

6:20pm Saturday 4th July 2009

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A St Davids pub is going green-fingered to reduce its carbon footprint — and has enlisted a primary school to pitch in on the patch.

The Grove, in High Street, is taking to the trowel and planting vegetables, herbs and flowers in its garden and has handed over part of it to children from nearby Ysgol Bro Dewi school.

The Brains pub and hotel, which is taking part in the Welsh Assembly’s Climate Change Challenge, hopes the home-grown organic crops will make a contribution towards lessening its carbon footprint by reducing the number of visits lorry drivers have to make to deliver produce.

Pupils have been studying the environment this term and snapped up The Grove’s offer to transfer classroom learning to the outdoors. Youngsters and staff met with a water-saving expert for tips on how to be green while tending to the garden.

Contract partner Aqualogic has installed four water butts in the pub garden, installed monitoring equipment and surveyed the pub making recommendations on ways they can save water and also save money.

James Hogarth Jones, chef at The Grove said: “We’ve got a huge garden which our customers love to sit in and soak up the St Davids sunshine. But we use so many vegetables and herbs in the kitchen that we thought it was time to put the garden to another use.

“We’re going to plant anything that will grow, from runner beans, carrots, potatoes, onions and garden peas to a range of herbs. We try to use fresh produce wherever possible and I can’t wait to get the first batch of crops on the chopping board.”

Ysgol Bro Dewi headteacher Mr Griffiths said: “The project fitted in with the school’s science work and it’s great that pupils will be learning from direct experience of growing plants.”

Pupils Ben Syrett and Robin Martin-Smith, both nine, said: “We really love gardening, especially when we get lots of lovely veg to eat.”

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