Rabbit-free at last and handing the garden over for the summer holidays!

The last two weeks have been busy and hectic!  The weather has been mixed and we have had several challenges to overcome.  One was discovering that we had finally finished the rabbit fencing but managed to fence a rabbit IN!  It has lived under the shed by day and roamed the garden when we have been away!  We tried in vain to chase if from under the shed.

We called in Annabel the Ranger from Forvie who brought in two traps...but still no luck!

Eventually Mrs Russell brought in her two (rather big softie) dogs who managed to un-nerve it enough to come out from under the shed and dart out through the open gate!  So at last we are now rabbit-proof in the garden...and...rabbit free!

We are now reaching the end of term so will be away for six weeks summer holiday.  Thankfully, folk from "Can-do" and Ellon Resource Centre are keen to look after the garden and bring things on in our absence.  They had a detailed tour on Wednesday and were given a long list of varied jobs to keep them busy!  We hope you have a lovely time and look forward to seeing more progress in the garden in six weeks time folks!!

Meanwhile this week several things have been filled: two long raised beds in the poly-tunnel and the 1000 Litre water tank!

Laying newspapers over the grass before spreading the compost was quite tricky in the wind!

Four different groups helped in all, so now the big compost pile has been shifted.  Now we await a top-soil delivery!

The delivery van can open the new double gates to gain access.  There is rabbit wire rolled and pinned to the bottom of the gates so it rubs against the plastic grid - no rabbits should get through!

The single gate which will be the main pedestrian access now has a strong spring to snap it closed as well as the same method of wire along the bottom.

It has been jointed so is very sturdy

Thanks to Wallace for making the signs!

Another challenge was to set up the water tank to a) catch rain water and b) be able to fill from a tap and hose pipe if the weather is very hot (! lol).  First we levelled it on pallets...

...then set up several hoses (150 metres in total!)...

...to reach the sink in the plant room at the back of the school building.  It took several hours to fill...

We set up yellow piping and "fashioned" an empty plastic bottle to connect to the guttering.  This was really tested on today in a torrential rain storm!

We have also roped off a wildlife area just beyond the garden so that the contractors do not strim the clover.  It is alive with bees visiting the flowers just now.  Mowing once a year will allow wild flowers to take a hold - we plan to add yellow rattle, floxgloves, red campion etc into the mix.

We are also busy building a weather tight cupboard to store the RIDAN equipment in.  

The "Can-do" guys will treat it for us ready for the new term in August.

Also, a big thank you to Jo and Joyce!  Jo has donated some garden furniture that will make good up-cycling projects: a picnic bench, garden bench and seats.  Joyce has donated a lovely array of plants e.g. sedums (these will make a great "green roof" on our next mini shed!), aquilegia, chives etc

So it's "cheerio" from us for the next six weeks and see you after the summer holidays :)

Thank you to community spirited companies!

Many thanks this week to several local companies: Keenan's Recycling, Morrow skip hire and John Duncan Plant Hire!

Developments continue apace in the garden: today in pouring rain we had a delivery of compost - lovely black crumbly compost made from grass clippings, branches and other green waste by Keenan's recycling.

A tipper truck dropped two cubic metres off for us - ready to fill the two raised beds in the polytunnel.  The compost needed "persuading" to come out of the truck!

 

A short while later, it was all out!

It will take a while for pupils to wheelbarrow it into the poly-tunnel to fill the raised beds!  Fingers crossed for some dry weather again soon.  Then we will be able to plant out the seedlings we have waiting.

 Talking of rain, last week we took delivery of a 1000L water storage tank from Morrow Skip Hire.  We man-handled it into position to act as an enormous water butt catching rain water from the shed. It needs a little more leveling and can then be plumbed into the guttering - shame we are missing out on this rain just now!!

This will mean we have a chance of keeping plants watered in the poly-tunnel as without a tap on site it would have been a huge struggle.

 

Also this week, we returned to school to find that John Duncan had been back with his digger to finish the trenches for our rabbit fencing!

Thank you John; now we just need some dry weather to be able to get the fencing in place and the trench filled back in again.  That will be another big milestone towards being rabbit-free!

Talking of rabbits, here is an example of one hole dug deep under the access road at the back of the staff car park!!

Meanwhile we have started constructing the first of our gates in order to seal the garden area from them.

Just the rabbit wire and "picket fence" timbers to fix next (to stop people sitting on the gate!)

Thanks also go this week to Aberdeenshire Council Recycling depot in Ellon.  They have supplied us with compost caddies in order for them to be a more suitable size for pupils to lift and empty into the RIDAN.  

Thanks to Izak and Sunisa for cleaning them out!  The RIDAN continues to "eat" our canteen waste and is maintaining a temperature of 53 degrees in this rainy weather.

 

 The first maturation bin is now full so in approximately four months, we hope to have our own fresh compost to use on the garden too!