On 15th January, Marlborough College Malaysia (MCM), Iskandar Puteri, was delighted to invite parents to tour the grand opening of Barton Farm. In true MCM tradition, they have made the connection back to Marlborough in the UK and named it after a very old farm, the land of which, although not used as a farm now, falls within the grounds of the original Marlborough College.

With funding for the initiative provided by the parents’ group ‘Friends of MCM’, and with the support, advice and lots of seedlings provided by a team of experts from the charity FOLO, the College is growing a range of organic produce including mulberries, bamboo, sugar cane, pineapples, bananas, aubergines, sweet potato, pigeon pea, Sarawak eggplant, tapioca, chillis, cucumber, okra, string beans, and pandan, all of which will be available, in season, for parents to buy. Groups of pupils are working on a composting project and how tomake recycled name plates to identify the huge variety of vegetables growing there. Children across the entire College aged 3 – 18 are involved, whether in growing seeds, building beds, or tending the crops. Themost recent addition to the farm has been the arrival of 10 chickens, providing animals both to care for and study, and a number of eggs are now being watched closely to see if they will hatch.