Did you know that the potato was introduced to England by Sir Walter Raleigh? These were just some of the potato-related facts that children learnt about at a morning of workshops in Ipswich.

Potato Day was hosted by the Suffolk Agricultural Association on behalf of the Potato Council in Trinity Park yesterday.

66 children attended the event which is in its fourth year, they were from Sproughton CEVC Primary, All Saints CEVA Primary, Birchwood Primary School and Charsfield CEVC Primary.

The children were guided through four workshops which culminated in them planting their own varieties of potato to grow and care for themselves. In this they were guided by Helen Mickelson from Home Farm Nacton. Come June these potatoes will be weighed and the school with the best yield will win the competition.

Last year the title went pupils at Dennington CEVC Primary under teacher Michael Burges.

Now Michael is teaching Years 3 and 4 at the affiliated Charsfield CEVC Primary, and he again took his pupils to the Potato Day.

“The children loved it,” he said, “Over our lunch break I asked them has anybody learnt anything today and they all reeled off a huge amount of things that they had learnt.

“I think it’s quite nice as well because they’re going to look after the potatoes and take them home in the Easter holidays, so it ties in well with the curriculum and particularly with the geography curriculum where they learn about what can be produced from the land.”

The pupils also took part in a quiz led by Emma Jackson from Farming and Countryside Education, following which local farmers John Taylor and Bruce Kerr presented a talk entitled ‘From The Field To The Shop’ which looked at how the potato goes from a tiny seed to a consumable product.

Finally Jim Wayman, a champion of vegetable growing in Suffolk, provided an introduction to the various crops which are grown on our doorstep as well as giving them some tips for good growth conditions.