First Potatoes planted and First Compost Station Up!

Today we planted some of our seed potatoes into bags.  The weather this week has been really cold, but hopefully it will warm up soon so they can start to grow.

They have good strong shoots on them ready to grow...

 

Varieties were Rocket, Salad Blue, Orla and Rudolf (guess which one we thought might be good for a Christmas dinner later in the year?!)

We moved the bags outside to catch some rain and light - they are the only things that will be safe from the rabbits just now!

 

Earlier in the week, Kieran helped to knock the posts into the ground for our first "Compost Station" - a leaf-mold pile at the community centre end of the site.

 

It now contains leaves (thanks to Mrs Brown for bringing them in!) and...

 

 ...an information panel and orienteering stamp for the Composting Challenge.

During the challenge, pupils will collect the uniquely shaped stamp on their worksheet and answer questions on leaf-mold.

 

In other news this week, we made a start on the second composting station for the challenge - a perspex "tube" that comfrey leaves will rot down in.

The four sides needed sticking together (it takes 24 hours to set!) so we needed to make formers and use clamps to hold it all together before applying the glue.  The weather was very stormy - hail and thunder so we were glad of the shed to be able to shelter in at times!

 

 Compost from the old school site has now also been transferred into two of our dalek bins - ready to use on growing areas as we create them.

Also this week, we were proud as a school to be awarded the status of a "United Nations Rights Respecting School".  We were also assessed for two other awards (the results of which are yet to be decided).  They are for "creative learning" and "working towards employment".  It was great to have our outdoor learning and gardening work show-cased for these awards - represented here with Kieran's bug hotel, Rachel's laminated information sheets and the potting station under the table.  We hope to keep up this good work and continue to expand the potential for future pupils to experience a wide range of learning through creating and enhancing the garden spaces.

Rocket Science Experiment Launched!!

Fergus Coutie (S1) and Megan Roger (S6)

On Wednesday 20th April, members of the Science Club sowed Rocket Salad seeds.  They have been sent two packs from the Royal Horticultural Society.  One pack was taken into space with astronaut Tim Peake and has been orbiting Earth in the International Space Station.  The other pack has remained on Earth.  Crucially, we don't know which is which!

The club will monitor the two sets of seedlings as they germinate and grow and feed the results into a national experiment to help scientists learn how to best grow food in space.

We feel privileged and excited to be part of such an exciting experiment - watch this space for news as the rocket seeds emerge!

Each seed is labelled and the trays were randomised before placing on the windowsill 

Kieran brings the water butts over to the garden

In other news, guttering has arrived for the garden shed.  

We have managed to fit it along with water butts so next time it rains we will have water "on tap" for the garden - yay!

Chelsay and Rachel have cut a length of rabbit wire and fixed it to posts to create a leaf-mold pile as part of our School Compost Challenge.

This will be erected at the front of the site where we hope to create a mini "spring woodland garden" around it.

The EAGer bunch also worked hard on Friday generally tidying the site.  We picked up litter, chopped some dead plants into the compost bin and cleared the poly-tunnel site of any extra bricks or wood lying around.  Well done Sophie!

Shed Extension and Poly-tunnel visitors

A sunny couple of weeks at the end of term has allowed us to progress well in the garden.  To summarise, we now have an extension on the shed to serve as overflow storage space!  The roof was felted on Good Friday so is now waterproof too.  Thanks to Ellon timber for their prompt delivery :) 

Lena North and Helen Henderson from Ellon Resource Centre came to visit the gardens to talk about the possibility of helping us build and maintain them in future.  It will be great for varied and diverse groups to be involved.  We will also very much appreciate folk who can keep things going during our school holidays!

We finally got a chance to work some more on the poly-tunnel too.  Here Miss Swallow fills in the trench to hold the door frame in place.  School has now finished for the Easter break so the EAGer bunch would like to wish you all a lovely holiday and see you again in two weeks' time!