Turner were back out in force today. The sun shone and we got to work. Splitting up into our three groups we got to work in the poly tunnel, across the school site and in the garden. Pots were topped up and watered; topsoil was transported across the site; seeds were planted, and we worked to build the compost bin for the keyhole garden. A huge amount was achieved. Well done, everyone. Click here to find out more about key hole gardens. Enjoy the gallery.
A really exciting day today as Sean started work on our large chicken enclosure. We originally wanted them to roam free in the garden, but all the advice is that with Norfolk being a high risk area for Avian Flu, we need to ensure that our hens are properly protected. The design for the enclosure is high enough for adults to stand up, provides vastly more space for them to roam, and the green debris netting that covers it will provide the necessary measures to protect our birds. The space will be amazing. We will have such happy hens! Sean will be returning in the next few days to finish the door and secure the remaining netting.
Enjoy the gallery (and thanks to Kate for the chicken portraits, Forest School and pond photography!).
A class of Y2 children came to visit this afternoon as part of a school project. They did pond dipping, visited the garden, met the chickens and explored the Forest School area. We look forward to welcoming the other class tomorrow afternoon. Enjoy the gallery.
A wonderful end to the week with Finchley. We started the day developing our scientific drawings, closely observing, the carefully adding colour and detail. We then divided into two groups for cooking and Forest Schools. In cooking we worked in teams to prepare a vegetable soup. At lunchtime, the Eco Council started to create the correct mix of 50/50 ‘green and brown’. Dolphin class planted up their SFG and completed the remaining planting at the front of school.
Today saw Finchley have their last Friday gardening session. Each member of the class (including Mr Wickens) planted an Aquadulce Broad Bean seed outside the polytunnel (30cm apart, 10cm deep and protected with an open topped plastic bottle cloche. A small group worked with Andy to finish the Finchley SFG bed and sow three squares of carrots, three of radishes and three of peas. Lastly, we had a very dedicated team which completed the compost bin and then started the process of gathering fallen leaves. Although Dolphin will be gardening from next week, Finchley class will still be responsible for the daily watering of their SFG bed and checking the progress of their beans. From next week Finchley will be doing Forest Schools and cooking on Friday’s.
Members of the school’s Eco Council spent lunchtime today preparing the ground for the compost bin they built before half term. The bin has been constructed out of pallets and the first job today was to remove the turf so that the bin can sit on exposed soil. We then hammered in two broom handles and wired them to the pallet to hold the structure in place. We need to hammer in the remaining stakes tomorrow and then create a hinged front panel. We can then start gathering up materials for the compost!
We now have an amazing fence around the polytunnel which gives us an enclosed gardening and growing space.
Thanks to Tom and Oli for digging in the compost and watering the Square Foot Gardening (SFG) beds this morning. It is important for us to remember that the beds will need daily watering as they are under cover and therefore do not get rained on! When we return next week, Finchley have one more gardening lesson. They will need to add the remaining wooden strips to divide up the SFG beds, plant their Aqua Dolce winter bean seeds outside, and perhaps get some seeds in the first bed!
Wonderful session today digging in compost, finishing up a couple of square foot gardening beds, and understanding all about seeds. We finished the day off with some beautiful scientific drawings of broad bean seeds. We carefully observed some Aqua Dolce broad bean seeds before recording words to describe them. We then created observational drawings of them, before making a careful annotated cross section drawing. We learned that seeds have:
In their last gardening session after half term Finchley class will be planting the broad bean seeds alongside the new polytunnel and sowing some seeds for indoor germination. Enjoy the galleries.
Today Finchley class divided into two groups. One worked with Andy and Lucas to start moving the square foot gardening beds into the polytunnel while the other worked with Mr Hubery to use pH preference information to identify which vegetables will grow in our pH neutral (7.0) soil. The is the list we created:
Next week we need to finish the preparation of the SFG beds and find out what we can sow at this time of year.
A couple of hours this evening and we managed to get the structure covered. We also started laying out the membrane that will cover the floor. A few bits to do to finish it off, but it will be ready for Y3 to install the square foot gardening beds on Friday. A huge thanks again to Andy and Amy who joined Victoria, Lucas and I to push the project on. Nearly there!
