All hands on deck for our Awards Ceremony preparations!

Pupils, staff and volunteers have been busy this last couple of weeks.  We are all working hard to get the garden looking "spic and span" in preparation for an awards ceremony this Friday afternoon.  We are delighted to tell you that Mr Jim McColl (from BBC1 Scotland's Beechgrove Garden program) has kindly agreed to visit the garden and award our S4 pupils with their Grow and Learn certificates.  Our head teacher Mrs Pauline Buchan will also award senior pupils with their ASDAN certificates.

Weeding and mulching the new Long Border

Harvesting potatoes in the polytunnel...

...and feeding & mulching the tomatoes.  

We have plenty of rich mulch from our RIDAN hot composter.

Many seeds have germinated in the gravel around the bird feeder so Ryan got started on them...

 ... Liam and Jacob helped out too.

Meanwhile there was mowing to do...

...and strimming.  The boys kept going through several lunch sessions too!

Thank you to the janitors who brought a memorial seat over from the walled area...

...this will allow us to start developing a quiet reflective area of the garden spaces now so keep revisiting this blog to see future progress as there is still much to do!

Ryan and Ross test it out!  I think it met with their approval 😄

A huge leap forward has happened in the second polytunnel too.  Sand and slabs were delivered...

...thanks to the Peterhead branch of B&Q and local firm Ellon Timber for their free delivery.

Then, Liz our star volunteer turned the floor from this...

...to this!!  We hope to put chairs in here for the actual ceremony as the weather is a little unpredictable at this time of year.

It was great that ex-pupil Euan volunteered to come in and help carry slabs and sand to help out.

Talking of volunteers, our faithful team from Ellon Resource Centre also got stuck in with weeding borders and paths, sweeping, watering and generally tidying so a huge thank you to them too.

Additional support for learning and science teacher Sheila also completed new blinds for the large windows in the shed...

...so it is looking much better than old sacking!!

David the local farmer brought us more topsoil so that we can continue filling the new raised beds.  We also need to level the area between the two polytunnels to improve access for all, so still lots of work to do before Friday afternoon! 

Meanwhile our produce keeps growing!

The rainbow and rhubarb chard plants are looking great...

...and we have lots of fruit in the garden including crab apples, apples, raspberries and blackberries.

The wildlife too is all about - Darren likes the lady-birds.  We had a large stoat run past us here too but didn't manage to get a photo!