Holy Trinity Primary School Garden

A week later........

2012-01-16T06:37:00.000-08:00

On sunday morning a small team worked in the school garden to make good and replace the hazel hurdles which were damaged beyond repair in the last gales. They have been replaced with larchlap type fencing which should be stronger and last a little longer.

Nearer the pond the first daffodil of the year in the garden was flowering along with a few crocuses.

In the greenhouse the sweet pea seeds planted just before Christmas are doing well. They should give us an early show of colour and scent

Finally one of the rosemary bushes which had found itself in the wrong place has been moved to a new home in the World War 2 garden. It should fill out the space just inside the gate so when we go in and out of the garden we can enjoy the smell and the flowers.

With the diggers quiet next door over the weekend the birds had returned to the feeding station and made up for what seemed like a lack of appetite during the week. The fat balls and seed disapperared very quickly and had to be topped up before leaving.

A slight setback!

2012-01-10T05:22:00.000-08:00

The New Year brought with it some very strong winds with gusts locally of over 80mph. For the hazel hurdle fencing this was just too much. It was ripped clean out of the ground and blown back towards the boundary fence. One of the hurdles can possibly be recycled in the garden for another season.

The fence line clear ready for the new panels

The sun was warm and there were plenty of bees darting around the garden. With this in mind two more of the insect homes were installed. The new ladybird house was put up near the pond and the butterfly house was put alongside the pond dipping platform where it will get plenty of sun which will keep it warm inside for hibernating butterflies - and maybe moths!

The new ladybird house

The butterfly and moth house

The mild temperatures have kick started things. Nasturtiums are sprouting from self sown seeds of last year and in the pond insect life was abounding with plenty of pond skaters doing their stuff on the water. It should not be long if it stays mild before we see some frog spawn!

Nasturtium seedlings

In the greenhouse the Hibiscus is trying to flower again. This winter has certainly been very mild up to now.

Harmlessly staring...

2011-12-10T07:47:00.000-08:00

"What is this world if full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare..."

written by William Henry Davies in 1911 and taken from his book 'Songs of Joy and Others' .

With Christmas fast approaching and a time to perhaps think back over the past year, staring out from the Memory Garden earlier revealed small white flecks on the stems of the Rosemary plants there. They were in flower. These modest little white/mauve flowers had braved the last few days of cold and gale force winds.

The Memory Garden

These inconspicuous little flowers are hardly visible until you get up close..

The Rosemary in flower

As you lean in closer to look at them your clothes brush against the plant and as you walk away you realise that the plant has won. You smell the Rosemary on your coat and your hand! Clever stuff. Nature is like that.

"A poor life this is if full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare"

The poem is called 'Leisure'. Well worth a read in todays computer driven world.

Meanwhile in the pixie encampment things are stirring. They are getting ready for Christmas. They have kept a low profile since the school garden open day back in the Summer but now they are making themselves busy. What mischief awaits!

The pixies have been busy

Done and dusted - or should that be composted!

2011-12-06T08:16:00.000-08:00

This morning another 14 bags of horse manure were filled from nearby Martleaves Farm - for which we are very grateful - and transported to the school garden. All the class beds have now been treated along with the salad leaf beds in front of the garden HQ and the smaller beds to the right of the HQ.

The salad leaf bed

The garden club small beds

The worm rich manure

Detailed close up of the organic compost

During the afternoon activities a single squirrel was noted on the fence of the WW2 garden. It was probably checking out the edible possibilities of the compost but it will be disappointed!

The fox pays a visit!

2011-12-05T10:45:00.000-08:00

Working in the garden over the weekend it became obvious that the fox had made a very recent visit to the garden. He, or she, had left behind a lot of pheasant feathers by the willow classroom. I have seen and heard pheasants in this part of Weymouth but the fate of this bird will remain a mystery. On a more positive note a Red Admiral butterfly was on the wing, a large bumble bee was seen buzzing around and even a very late hoverfly was feeding on one of the bristly-ox-tongue flowers in the WW2 garden.

There is still no sign of the squirrels. There were some 20 Jackdaws smothering the fatballs this afternoon. It is no wonder that we get through ten to twelve fat balls a day in the bird feeding station,

Some lovely fungi clumps of late in the garden and around the school grounds

Today we started to put some organic compost on the classroom beds. This should be finished within the next day or so. The compost will remain on top of the soil for a week or so to let the weather break it up a little and then it will be dug in.

Not a squirrel in sight!

2011-11-20T07:26:00.000-08:00

This morning for over four hours not one squirrel showed itself! Plenty of Woodpigeons flew away on arrival but no squirrels. This is because they have eaten everything. They cannot get at the fatball holders for the birds now because the wire has been strengthened and they cannot reach down and get at them. They have moved on- for the time being.

Around the willow classroom is the biggest fairy toadstool ring that I have ever seen. Strangely all the toadstools seem to be on the outside of the classroom with just one or two inside.

The Strawberry bed has been moved. The plants will get more sunshine and warmth in the new position which should improve the crop. It will also be easier to cover and keep those hungry Blackbirds off the fruit as they forage about in the early mornings.


The new Strawberry bed

The strongest remaining colours in the garden come from the magnificent wind vanes constructed by Mrs Palmers' class during last term. Most of them have withstood the weather and still fly proud over the garden beds.


The magnificent wind vanes

Over the next few weeks we will be topping up the class beds with more top soil and also digging in some organic manure.All will be ready then for next Spring when the gardening starts again!

Those Living Stones

2011-11-06T11:19:00.000-08:00

Just a couple of photographs taken this afternoon of the Living Stones. The drop in temperature has spurred them into flower. Well worth a look if anybody passing by the greenhouse. The flowers do not last long

They will need re-potting next Spring and we can enjoy them again next autumn

A touch of gold!

2011-11-01T05:03:00.000-07:00

Whilst easing the doors of the greenhouse earlier and removing the debris which had almost jammed the door shut the fabulous colours on the leaves of the pear tree nearby caught the eye.

Before starting work on the greenhouse the net was set at the bird feeding station as a lot of Goldfinches could be heard in the tree tops. Four birds were caught straight away.

Juvenile Goldfinch - red head feathers just appearing

Adult female Goldfinch - red feathers stop short of the back of the eye

Adult male goldfinch - red feathers stretch beyond the back of the eye

The bill of the Goldfinch is a wonderful piece of engineering. The bird can extract thistle and teasel seeds with this. As can be seen the tip is very fine with a very delicate point to it. Some of these birds could well be moving to France for the winter. We shall have to wait and see if anybody in France finds one of our 'Holy Trinity' birds

At the back wall there were a few fruits on the passion flower. The plant responded well to a severe haircut back in the spring.

The Passion Flower

Passion Flower fruit

Finishing on a possible high note. Underneath the Passion Flower a small delicate antler like fungus was spotted. This is one of the Ramaria type. An evening with the field guide later is needed to sort this one out and identify the species. Some of these are rather rare!

The Ramaria fungus

Late autumn colour

2011-10-17T12:03:00.000-07:00

A stock taking walk around the garden after filling the bird feeders this afternoon revealed that there was still a lot of colour left in the school garden. The most outstanding flowers at the moment have to be the wonderful cosmos. They were very late in flowering and should only have been 18 inches high.

The plants failed miserably on both counts. Some of them stand 6 foot high in places and have just started to flower. They have stems like small trees. A great bonus is that the squirrels have not eaten them! Below are a few pictures of the magnificent flowers.

Returning to the bird feeders. The Goldfinchs have at long last found the nyjer seed. There were twelve birds perched on the feeder this afternoon. The fat balls are disappearing at nine a day.

Male Greenfinch

On sunday a net was positioned over the pond to catch the leaves as they fall from the Sycamore trees. It was positioned high enough to let the birds in under the net and drink. Blackbirds, Robins, Chaffinchs, Goldfinchs Greenfinchs and Pied Wagtails all regularly drink at the pond

The Living Stones

2011-10-09T05:52:00.000-07:00

As promised this update shows the flowering Living Stone plants in the greenhouse. The plants were not discovered until 1811 by a botanist called William Burchell. They occur mainly in Namibia and South Africa and are found in the deserts. Usually they receive less than 700 mm of rain a year and some rely only on dew formation on the plants themselves for moisture. The plants will not survive overwatering in this country.

Next year it is hoped to have a small desert garden in the greenhouse with other small succulent plants and cactii. These small delicate plants deserve great attention. They survive in very tough conditions in the wild and astound us with simple and delightful flowers.

Don't mention the squirrels! Too late. They have now found the few rotting pumpkins and have started to eat these as well.

The squirrels do not know that the seeds taste even better if baked in the oven

A strained relationship!

2011-10-04T04:54:00.000-07:00

The squirrels are now pushing an already rocky relationship just a little too far. They continue to eat anything and everything that they can find in the school garden. They have finished eating all of the sunflower seeds and have now moved onto the sweet corn cobs. In the space of just a few days they have caused a lot of damage to the sweet corn crop. Some squirrels are eating the cobs whilst still on the plants. There are now half eaten cobs all over the garden and one cheeky squirrel even removed a cob on sunday morning during a work party and proudly carried it into the willow classroom and sat on one of the log seats and enjoyed a late breakfast.

This is pushing things a little too far! Perhaps a recipe of squirrel pie pinned to the door of the shed might deter them. There are some lovely boletus mushrooms on the school premises which would flavour the sauce wonderfully.

Before the squirrels have a chance to investigate the pumpkins we have now harvested most of them and stored them in the garden HQ shed. There are a few left to ripen but already three have started to rot so it its time to put them to one side until we decide what to do with them. They are under lock and key so the squirrels should not find these.

The Leek Moth

2011-09-25T16:03:00.000-07:00

A visit to the WW2 garden to cut the grass yesterday revealed that the leek bed had been devastated by the 'leek moth'. This very small moth is very much a coastal species. It was not known to attack leeks in Dorchester . It emerges twice in the year. The Spring hatch causes minimal disturbance but the Autumn emergence really is noticeable. It is the larvae which cause the damage.

The Leek Moth

Leek Moth larva

The loss of the leeks is a shame but on a positive note there is still much colour in the garden.

Californian Poppies

On the vegetable front the specialist species of sweetcorn which we were trialling has produced some cobs. This is the species which is attributed to be developed and grown by the Hopi Indians in North America. The cobs are multicoloured.

The specialist species of Sweetcorn

Our rice plants are now producing plenty of seed heads loaded with rice seeds. A look in the greenhouse will also reveal that the Living Stones are about to flower.(picture later)

Who is eating the Sunflower seeds?

2011-09-22T14:13:00.000-07:00

I am!

Grey Squirrel

This morning three grey squirrels were disturbed from the garden and as then ran away they were clutching chunks of sunflower seed heads. The squirrels are also eating the sweet corn cobs. They are becoming public enemy number one along with the public enemy number two - the eleven Woodpigeons which flew off this morning.

Autumn is coming. A wander around the garden revealed mother nature at her best. Who else could create paintings like these?

Leaf from the Grape Vine

A Nasturtium leaf

As the wind dropped the mist net was set at the bird feeding station. The sun on the net did not help but ten birds were caught and ringed in an hour.


A Chiffchaff

Three Chiffchaffs were caught. These very small birds - they weigh about 8 grams - are on their way to West Africa.They get their name from their call. A melodious 'chiff chaff chiff chaff'

A couple of adult Blue Tits were also caught

Blue Tit

A couple of firsts!

2011-09-13T12:18:00.000-07:00

The first thing to highlight was the identification of a new species of spider in the school garden by our weekend entomologist. The six-eyed spider is coloured bright red. However the most noticeable feature on the insect are the long fangs. Females spiders of this species are known to bite - but it is no more painful than a pin prick!

The spider was very hard to photograph and would not stay still for very long. A close up in the next photograph shows the long fangs

The spider rests up under stones. It was discovered whilst digging some compost into the new bed for flowering shrubs to help attract bees and other insects.

The second first for the school garden was the discovery this evening that several of our rice plants have actually produced rice. At present the seeds have yet to fill out but we are almost there. The plants have been looked after since May with a late change of mind in July as to how they should be cultivated. The rice paddy approach was shelved in favour of keeping in pots and well watered. The rice paddy idea produced too much moss on top of the very damp soil surface which may have affected the outcome.

The newly developed rice seeds

Leaving the garden there were three Migrant Hawker dragonflies darting around the pond.

The School Garden Gets Some Good News

2011-09-08T10:24:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the summer holidays an invitation was extended to the National Garden Scheme to visit the garden to see if it would be eligible for inclusion in the famed Yellow Book. For those who do not know about the NGS it is a national organisation that raises money for charity by helping people to open their gardens to the public. Last year they raised £2.5 million pounds for nursing, caring and gardening charities. Their patron is the Prince of Wales. A visit was made by the local Weymouth representative, who was thrilled with the garden. A second visit by the Dorset representative, took place on Monday, before the gales. The conclusion was that they both loved the garden and would like us to open next summer for the gardening public. It is a mark of what has been achieved in the garden that the NGS are interested, they only accept gardens of a certain standard.

Whilst tidying before the visit on Monday I took some time to get some up todate photos of the garden, just as well as the gales did a fair amount of damage on Monday night and into Tuesday. Only got part of the garden before the visitors arrived but its looking good.

The grape and kiwi pergola

The Watering Station

Pumpkin Patch

Annual Nicotiana Plants (did very well this year)

Passion vine finally going strong on the back wall

Sweetcorn trials on the right

Raised beds

Pond Pergola

An insect morning

2011-09-04T02:46:00.000-07:00

Whilst tidying up for an hour yesterday a new butterfly species for the school garden was noted. A Small Copper. They do not stay still for very long but this one did for a quick photograph.

Small Copper

There were a lot of wasps flying around and also plenty of look-a-like-wasps- hoverflies, which are quite harmless.

Wasp -note thick antennae and round body

Hoverfly- flat body, large eyes and short stubby antennae

On the cherry trees there were also signs of recent activity. Many leaves now have leaf mines in them. Insect eggs laid on the leaves hatch and bury themselves into the leaf. As they grow they create wonderful shapes around the leaf until they create a small exit hole and drop out onto the ground to pupate and hatch afterwards. Sometimes they overwinter on the ground in this state.

Leaf mine trace

More leaf mine traces

The shape of the mine can possibly identify the insect which is making it. This particular one looks like the Apple Tree Miner but expert identification is called for.

Finally proof of another species of dragonfly breeding at the pond is this photograph of a female Southern Hawker egg laying on the vegetation yesterday morning

Female Southern Hawker laying eggs

Hawkers and Darters

2011-08-28T06:32:00.000-07:00

A few minutes relaxation sat at the pond this morning paid off. Within minutes a new species of dragonfly for the school garden was seen and photographed - a Migrant Hawker- and then a male Common Darter arrived and set up territory on the large pebbles. Within seconds a second male Common Darter arrived and for some ten minutes or so these two male darter dragonflies battled it out to see who would keep the territory.

A speedy chase was made to catch up with the Migrant Hawker as it frequently sped around the garden before returning to the pond. It was photographed trying to hide on one of the sunflower stems.


The male Migrant Hawker

Detail of the thorax - the yellow wine glass shape clinches the identification

The male Common Darter

Away from the pond the pumpkins continue to dominate the garden. There are several very large pumpkins now. I am not sure who is going to claim what when the competition comes round!

As the summer slowly slides into autumn the flowers around the pond are all but disappearing, Still left in full bloom are the water mint (still looking for that elusive little green beetle), Purple Loosestrife, Great Willow-herb and the handsome Angelica

Angelica

Angelica is a widely used herb. The stems can be candied - they are delicious! Try one straight out of the jar if your mum will let you. The plant is also used for bronchial and digestive problems, blood enrichment, rheumatism, arthritis and even influenza. It was once even thought to cure the plague.

Water Mint

Great Willow-herb

The magnificent flower of the Great Willow-herb

Finally you cannot help but admire those pond skaters. Wonderful insects which balance their life on the cusp of 'above and below' water. A close look at their legs reveals that they do not actually stand on the water but sit on bended knees.

Pond Skater -on bended knees! (click to enlarge photograph)

Don't look behind you............

2011-08-14T11:39:00.000-07:00

The gourds have escaped the confines of the greenhouse. Having filled up one half of the greenhouse completely they are making a bid for freedom as the pictures below show.

In the greenhouse the yellow hibiscus is going from strength to strength

The gourds are not the only plants which expanding their range. One of the runners from the pumpkin plants has grown through the tree mallow and now is about to cross the path.

Finally, remember the bees which had moved into the bamboo on the insect house? They have now finished there. They have laid their eggs in the tubes and sealed them with pollen mixture for the newly hatched larva to feed on. You can see the sealed ends- they are greeny-yellow in the right hand picture.

The left hand picture shows the bamboo just as the bees moved in. The bees have been very busy since then. We have not yet had time to establish the species of the bee but we have good field notes and some pictures so hopefully it will not be too long before we can identify them. They may well be Red Mason Bees- a friendly species which do a lot of good work in gardens and orchards

Finally this afternoon there were several Southern Aeshna (Hawker) dragonflies in the school garden. They were feeding around the pond and also under the branches of the sycamore trees - where they often perch for a while and rest up. They were too quick to photograph!

Jersey Tiger Moth

2011-08-10T04:00:00.000-07:00

Walking up towards the greenhouse this morning a brilliant flash of colour left the sweet pea plants on one of the classroom plots. It was a Jersey Tiger moth

These pictures are from the internet. No time to get the camera out! For some years the stronghold for this fairly scarce moth were the Channel Islands, Devon and then west Dorset but in recent years it has spread quickly across Southern England. It flies in August along the Dorset coast from West Bay to Portland but there have been inland sightings in the county as far north as Maiden Newton and Yetminster and even into Somerset. It has even been seen in London.

The Pumpkin Patch

2011-08-09T03:26:00.000-07:00

After a few good heavy showers the pumpkin plants have gone wild. They have sent out flowering runners which now extend beyond the plot where they were planted. Clearly the Holy Trinity School compost which was dug into the soil before the pumpkins were planted is working like magic!

A magnificent flower on one of the pumpkin plants

In the greenhouse the rice plants are now nearly two feet tall and we are ever hopeful that we will soon see the rice flowering. A week or so of good warm weather should help. The hibiscus is looking good with large yellow trumpet shaped flowers

The Hibiscus flower

And finally the sweetcorn plants are now producing some cobs. Hopefully by the start of next term we will see a lot more on the plants

Sweet Corn cobs

Wierd or what?

2011-08-01T11:43:00.000-07:00

The photo shows a leaf seen in the National Trust garden of Thomas Hardy at Max Gate just outside Dorchester. I have no idea what it is and a brief google search has not come up with anything useful. Not all the leaves of the tree were affected and some more than others.Perhaps it is a parasite of some sort. There was nothing evident on the other side of the leaf. The wonders of nature!

Ladybird, ladybird...........

2011-07-25T04:01:00.000-07:00

The school garden plots have been covered with ladybirds the last few days. They seem fond of the sunflowers and can be watched at close quarters munching on the aphids which are covering the leaves. They actually seem to make a small jump and pounce on them.

The nursery rhyme may date back to 1744 and has several attributes to it. One is superstition. You do not kill a ladybird. Another is that if one lands on you the nursery rhyme was chanted and when it eventually flew away your wishes would come true.

Wishes coming true or not they are fascinating things to watch and the school garden seems to be a major site for them. We have identified both the native species and a few harlequin ladybirds. Please excuse the following proliferation of ladybird photographs but these insects are addictive! A true friend of the gardener.

A few shots of recent ladybird activity and their various spotted appearance

How many can you spot here?

The ladybird staring at you could be a Harlequin Ladybird

A smile for the camera..

Garden Open Day 2011

2011-07-21T23:45:00.000-07:00

End of term round-up

2011-07-21T11:58:00.000-07:00

A visit earlier today revealed several small pumpkins on some of the classroom plants. They look like large gooseberries at the moment but hopefully they will keep growing and in a month or two we will have some pumpkins to show off. They will need a little nurturing as the small pumpkins are prone to rot off quickly.

Small pumpkin

Another small pumpkin

We could hardly post the last blog before the end of term without proudly showing our certificate for winning the Dorset Wildlife Trust Environmental Garden competition. The certificate and plaque are placed in the window of the garden building for all to see

Our certificate

The warm rain over the past few days has boosted the sweetcorn plants and they look really good.

The final picture this evening is of the artichoke. This magnificent flower develops on the plant if the seed head had not been removed, cooked and eaten - with a generous amount of butter! It looks like a monster thistle head.

Next term there should be rice to look at and plenty of huge gourds which are thriving in the greenhouse. One ambitious project is to make some paper from our papyrus stems. The gardening team will need to do a bit of homework over the summer break and then hopefully we can relive the Egyptian age

Our Local Horticultural Society

2011-07-20T02:21:00.000-07:00

As a community we are in the enviable position of having a thriving local Horticultural Society that many places, expecially urban areas, would dearly like. I have just read a blog about the society that informed me of many interesting facts that I wasn't aware of ....

Imagine, just imagine, that you belong to a horticultural society that began in 1925 when it was givengiven!) a large plot of land; and that in the 1950s, it was able to field a team expert enough to win a gardening quiz on the radio and that the BBC was generous enough to give a prize of enough money to erect a hall on that same site - and not a small hall either! Just imagine that after nearly ninety years it's still going strong .. . . then meet the Wyke Regis Horticultural Society.

To read about the society and indeed the rest of a remarkable blog. Follow this link.

I am a member of the society but until now never really thought about it and certainly have not used it as much as its volunteers deserve. I know Jeff the Chairman personally and he was very helpful to us in the school garden when we were starting out and the school garden became the first school members of the society. Through our membership of the society we were invited to take the gardening club to visit the allotments at Green Lane where Jeff is also a member, it was a very enjoyable trip and the children learnt a lot.
We should do more to support the society and help to keep this valuable community resource alive and flourishing.

Better than X-files!

2011-07-16T06:25:00.000-07:00

An early visit this morning to the garden revealed that, as strongly suspected, they have arrived. Whilst tidying up around the pond the pixie campsite was spotted. They are tucked neatly under one of the sycamore trees. They may still be there tomorrow so if you are going to the Garden Open Day do keep a sharp lookout!

The pixies campsite

If they do stay then hopefully they will not get up to too much mischief in the garden. However I have it on good authority that one was spotted in the greenhouse last evening trying to steal a tomato. We will have to keep a close eye in the future on the courgettes and other edible goodies that are growing in the garden.

We are WINNERS!

2011-07-16T04:04:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to Dorset Wildlife Trust and Castle Garden Group for Thursday evening's prizegiving event at the Poundbury Garden Centre. We are very pleased to have our efforts in the garden rewarded with the first prize in the Coummunity and Schools Category. It was a team effort to create the various enviroments needs to really cater for the wildlife and there is still lots more we can do and lots more we can learn about and pass on to the children. This of course makes a really good reason for a visit on Sunday for the Open Garden Day from 2.00 - 5.00. As well as this win we will also be celebrating the opening of the WWII garden with help from Nothe Fort Volunteers.

It's all over now

2011-07-10T12:46:00.000-07:00

It was with some relief that I saw that the bees had gone this morning. Bees and small children are not the best of combinations. There were a dozen or so hanging around but I suspect that these were transient bees attracted possibly by pheremones left by the swarm while in the willow.

Another busy day in the garden ready for Open Day next sunday. All work was brought to a halt when the shout of large dragonfly went up. Rushing up to the pond there was a female Emperor Dragonfly laying eggs on the underside of the lily pads. Between each egg laying session if flew very fast around the garden - returning each time to the lily pads to continue egg laying.

The female Emperor Dragonfly laying eggs in the school pond

Another shot of the female Emperor Dragonfly

This sighting was welcomed as breeding had been suspected whilst studying the larval stages/ nymphs earlier this year. Some of the nymphs found keyed out as Emperor Dragonflies. Another species on the list.

Also this morning a great selection of spiders and grasshoppers were found. More work needed on these!

Running for cover

2011-07-09T13:40:00.000-07:00

This afternoon after a busy session working in the garden with Pete, Moira and Jamie I decided to hang on a little and photograph the plants in the greenhouse as they had grown considerably since the last post. First of all some pictures from the greenhouse.

The papyrus has now reached the roof of the greenhouse and looks great with the large umbrella flowering heads. The plants need a lot of water each day to keep them in good condition.

One of the larger gourds. There are lots now growing on the six plants that we have growing.

The tendrils which the plant sends out to find support are amazing things. They always provoke interest. The growing tip of the plant rocks and rolls to keep in touch with the growing surroundings. The tendrils are then shot out to explore these surroundings and wrap on to whatever they can find. They slowly wind up on themselves and tighten the plant to those surroundings. Sometimes a cane and sometimes another part of the plant.

Detail of the growing gourd and the tendrils doing what they are supposed to do.

On leaving the greenhouse I became aware of a deafening buzzing in the sky above. The space over the school garden was covered with buzzing bees. There were thousands of them. I decided to take shelter in the door way of the building and see what happened.

The spots which look like rain against the trees behind the classrooom are actually thousands of bees. (click to enlarge the picture to see all the bees)

The bees then slowly settled onto the willow classroom

You can see the black mass of bees as they settled into the willow

Close up -well as close as I dare go - of the mass of bees. The noise was deafening (click on the picture to see the mass of bees)

The bees were still there at 8pm this evening. Hopefully they will move on tomorrow. Watch this space!

This years garden open day

2011-07-03T14:25:00.000-07:00

Hi there all.
Don't forget - this years garden open day is fast approaching. It will be in Sunday July 17th and will feature the official opening of the Second World War garden. More details to follow but do be sure to keep that date free.

New tenants

2011-07-01T14:00:00.000-07:00

The large bug house which has recently been moved to overlook the newly created orchard has got new tenants. At last we have some bees which have moved into some of the smaller bamboo tubes. We have waited a long time for this so hopefully now word will spread and more bees will move in. This evening there were 6 bees in residence.

The bamboo tubes

You can just see the head of the bee in the bamboo tube (click photograph to enlarge)

Perhaps the bees prefer the box now because it is now in a more sheltered position. Hopefully they will stay and take full advantage of their new home.

A close inspection of our newly planted apple trees revealed this.....

Our first apples from the new trees planted in the Spring

Shed Glorious Shed

2011-06-29T13:24:00.000-07:00

We don't just have a shed in the school garden we have a glorious, deluxe, first class shed. Of course we didn't choose the shed and neither did we pay for it, that would have been far beyond our means. But we were given it as part of the Dorset Cereals Hampton Court 2008 Best in Show Garden.

You can't really see the shed in this photo but if you look very carefully you can see the green bit below that white bit and that is the living sedum roof (common name Stonecrop) of the shed.
The shed is constructed of oak so will therefore be around long after the rest of us are dust. It came with a built in desk and two long benches. It is very deluxe in the sense that it has its own electricity supply from a small solar panel and wind turbine that feeds into a car battery under the desk. The battery can power the light in the event that anyone should be in the garden in the dark. It can also boil a very small kettle in about half an hour.
The sedum roof came in a roll like a carpet and was laid like a carpet. This week I took a ladder to look at the roof and assess the condition. As you will see from the photos there is some loss of plants but they have re-established themselves between the paving stones at ground level. I have a plan for how we can repair the bald patches which is part of another planned project.

The shed

Patchy in places but still living

The sedum colonising the paving

I am unable to exactly identify this sedum but this link at wikipedia gives lots of details of the species.
The sedum roof really does work as a form of insulation and our shed is lovely and cool in the summer and nice and cosy in the winter.

Lots of teaching resources and garden information

Busy as a bee!

2011-06-20T17:01:00.000-07:00

This morning when the temperature was much warmer than in recent days there were a lot of bees foraging in the school garden. On Mr Galloway's class patch of red poppies there were many bumble bees and honey bees all busy collecting pollen. In the photograph below you can see the pollen sack on the bumble bee absolutely bursting with pollen collected during its' visit to the school garden.

The pollen sack is clearly visible on this photograph- the grey bulge on the leg

Going Batty!

2011-06-19T05:55:00.000-07:00

Last evening we put up two bat boxes on the large Sycamore tree in the school garden. We are hoping that some of the bats which have been seen flying around the garden in the evenings will spot them and move in. The school has been kindly loaned a bat detector by the local RSPB team so on the next warm evening we will pop up to the garden at dusk and try to identify the bats as they fly about hoovering up the moths.

The RSPB Reserve Manager has offered to give us a bat talk so we might take up his kind offer soon


The Bat Detector

The Bat Boxes

In the greenhouse this morning our gourd plants were in flower.The plants are now growing very fast -several inches every day- and they are creeping across the net in the roof of the greenhouse.

The gourd in flower

And finally for today. Those pigeons are back. They have moved on from the peas and now they have found the cabbage plants. For some reason they have not yet found the brussel sprout plants. Let us hope it stays that way!

The pigeon beak marks on one of the cabbage plants

An Angel Arrived

2011-06-18T04:38:00.000-07:00

Sometime over the last couple of days an Angel has arrived in the garden. I have no idea who brought her but she is sitting under a tree in the memory corner, reading a book. A most apt place for her and I hope she likes it there and decides to stay.

An Angel

The Rose Chafer

2011-06-12T04:43:00.000-07:00

Recently Pete and I were buzzed by a quite large exotic looking irridescent green 'thing' which whizzed around our heads several times and then crash landed into one of the garden beds. First impressions were something like a Egyptian Scarab beetle but we managed to catch the insect and put it into a small pot for identification. It was found to be a Rose Chafer. This is a very local species found only along the South coast of Britain , but widely across Europe. The larvae behave like earthworms creating compost from vegetable matter as they move around under the soil. All in all a useful species to have around.

Rose Chafer larvae


The Rose Chafer

Greenhouse Update

2011-06-05T06:24:00.000-07:00

The last few warm days have seen temperatures in the greenhouse stay in the 30's even with the doors open. This has had an amazing effect on the plants inside. The papyrus was transplanted into three monster flower pots last week and it has doubled in size and is now throwing up flowering spikes. The gourds seem to grow in front of your eyes. They have now reached the roof of the greenhouse and will soon need to be trained along the supporting mesh, The rice plants have been re-potted this morning. Small cucumbers are forming and the tomatoes are just showing.

The rice plants in their new pots

The papyrus and the new flowering spikes

The overnight rain has worked wonders on the sweetcorn plants and they are starting to fill out and reach upwards. The Gardening Club are trialing four different sorts of sweetcorn this year. They are growing the usual yellow cobbed variety, and also a purple cobbed variety which has links to the Hopi Indians in North America. The other two varieties on trial are the small cobs you see in the supermarkets in cling film (usually alongside a handful of mange tout) and actual popping corn.If the latter is successful we may be able to make our own popcorn up in the garden one afternoon later in the year.

The Gardening Club's sweetcorn plants

P is for pigeon - and peas

2011-06-04T07:53:00.000-07:00

Whilst walking up the school path earlier 17 wood pigeons flew off from the classroom plots. On inspection it appeared that they had stripped the pea plants back to the stalks and taken a liking for the small beetroot plants by nipping off the leaves from the stem. Those naughty pigeons!

Wood Pigeon looking for more peas

The willow classroom was covered with lots of immature ladybirds. They were munching on the large amounts of both greenfly and blackfly which have taken up refuge there. The picture below shows one creeping up on an unsuspecting greenfly. Hopefully these young ladybirds will find their way to the broad beans in the World War 2 garden where there are plenty of blackfly to feed on!

Immature ladybird creeping up on a greenfly (click to enlarge)

Pond News

2011-06-01T10:47:00.000-07:00

The warm weather during May has woken up life in the school pond. Two pairs of frogs laid lots of frogspawn earlier and the tadpoles are now growing fast with many having grown small legs ready to leave the pond very soon.

young frog swimming across the pond

However the most exciting news is that we have discovered lots of breeding dragonflies and damselflies. The nymph stages of these were seen in early Spring either walking across the bottom of the pond liner or positioned on a plant stem, waiting for prey. These nymphs will eat just about anything which they find or swims by - even a small tadpole. They have large spring-loaded jaws!


Damselfly nymph Once the nymphs are ready to leave the pond they climb up a suitable plant stem which emerges from the water. This is often done in the early morning. Then the wonderful process of metamorphosis takes place - when a beautiful coloured insect emerges from the dull brown casing. As the insect emerges fluids are pumped into the wings to stretch them until they are perfectrly formed and then the same fluid is taken back into the body to extend the abdomen an empty dragonfly nymph case (Click to enlarge) The insects then bask in the sun for a while on the stem of the plant until they are ready to fly. The transformation is truely amazing.

Click to enlarge pictures of the dragonfly

A recent pond dipping exercise found several very small newts and lots of Water Boatmen
which were very evident rushing up to the pond surface to collect a bubble of air and then diving back down to the bottom of the pond.

A young Water Boatman- you can easily see the oars!

The Greenhouse

2011-05-31T02:35:00.000-07:00

The greenhouse, which is in fact too small greenhouses joined together was offered to us by a neighbour of Samantha's Mr ???? as he was selling his house before moving into a home and wanted to know that the greenhouse would go on being used.
Insert photo

Pete and Steve took charge of dismantling the greenhouse and it was transported in many bits to the garden in June(?)

Greenhouse minus most of the glass

It was rebuilt at the top of the garden by the wall and has been a great asset allowing the children to see the different rates of grown for things grown in doors. So far in the greenhouse, there have been tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers and this year Steve has planted gourds, rice and papyrus. We are not certain, but this may be the first time rice has been grown in Dorset. The papyrus if it reaches maturity will be interesting for those children in year 5 who are studying the Egyptians who made paper from papyrus.

May 2011

These are the new rice plants, May 2011

Papyrus

Back In The Garden

2011-05-30T11:20:00.000-07:00

This is a neglected blog. Life gets in the way and stuff gets busy, and then you forget the login and the password and put off for another day, and then another. However, the garden has moved on so much since the last post I feel it it high time there was a run through of all that has taken place and what is still planned.
The willow classroom is filling out really well. The new pond is no longer new and has been the nursery for lots of dragonfly lavae. More on that later.
The raised bed area is well established with an addition last year of a special raised bed for the pupil how is in a wheel chair.
The memory corner was officially finished and opened last summer but for those of us working on the garden regularly there is still room for improvement. Most recently a sort of boundary fence between the raised bed area and the actual memory area.
Last summer a double length second hand green house was erected and this has helped us to start a lot of things off early this year.
As a result of a competition held last year to find a design for yet another part of the garden, we now have a World War II garden complete with Anderson Shelter.
To Try and deal with all that has taken place I will work through chronologically.

Firstly the creation of the Memory Corner. This is a quiet area of the garden. A place to sit and simple contemplate and listen to the sounds of nature and take in the peace and quiet. We were helped along the way by a donation of £1500 from Holy Trinity Church in Weymouth and with some of the money provided in a lottery grant.

This is the area before we started.

We got quotes from serveral local landscaping/gardening people and decided on Dorset craftsperson Roger Lanigan from Mayfield Rural Products to do the work as he seemed to understand what we wanted to achieve.

The Work in Progress

The Finished Memory Corner

Riased bed

Grasses, lavender and rosemary with carved oak pieces


Piece of stone donated by Albion Quarries on Portland and carved by a school parent

Toadstool seating for the children

2011-05-30T10:50:00.000-07:00

Hi guys, we are still here and loving it.

The Dorset Gardens Trust Donates to our Garden

2010-07-20T09:22:00.000-07:00

We were so happy recently to accept a cheque for £300 from the Dorset Gardens Trust. They are a registered charity that has over 500 members. Each year they organise lectures and visits within Dorset and beyond for members who wish to widen their knowledge of the history of gardens and designed landscapes. They also provide funding for important garden restoration works and promote awareness of gardening in schools. It is their involvement in schools that has led to their generous donation to the Holy Trinity Environmental Garden fund.

The delightful Rosemary Agg visited our school garden for the first time back in 2009 before we had installed our pond and we had asked the Dorset Gardens Trust if they might be able to help us fund the marginal planting. Since that time though, we were successful in our bid for some lottery money and this funded both our pond and planting so instead we decided that it would be great if the Dorset Gardens Trust could help us to provide a raised bed high enough for wheelchair users. We currently have one pupil in a wheelchair and we felt that we had not yet provided them with a suitable area in the garden for them to be able to do some planting themselves. Thankfully the Dorset Gardens Trust has enabled us to remedy this situation and as a result of their generous contribution we have been able to install the raised bed, fill it with soil, plant it up and also put some money toward educational signs around the environmental garden.

Thank you to Rosemary and the Dorset Gardens Trust. To join the trust only cost £10.00 annually for a single membership or £15.00 for a joint one. Please visit their website by following the link above for more details.

Frog spawn

2010-04-14T02:39:00.000-07:00

Our new frog house bought almost instant rewards. Within a fortnight, we had frog spawn. Right next to the frog house by the plants there it was for all to see. We haven't seen the frog yet but it must be about somewhere. It's amazing really to think that it found us. I had many comments from some people about how nothing would come unless we actually bought it their ourselves but the wildlife experts proved correct in this instance and the animals have hunted us down of their own accord.

We currently also have pond skaters and water beetles. If I can afford it, I shall invest in a better zoom lens for my camera and get you some good shots.

Watch this space.....

Our School Garden Today – a snapshot on March 2nd 2010

2010-03-02T12:51:00.001-08:00

I had to go to the school garden today and take some shots for an upcoming project and so I thought I would pop them on the blog too so that you could see how it is looking right now.

There are many jobs that need doing but it is such a joy to feel the weather thawing out a bit and I can feel spring within me so I am very happy.

Can you see the frog house in the pond? More on that later.

Next Garden Open Day

2010-02-25T04:10:00.000-08:00

The date has been set for our next Garden Open Day - it will be on Sunday May 16th, 2-5pm. Pop a note in your diaries and be sure to come along. More details to follow.........

2009-10-31T02:18:00.000-07:00

Some of our year 4 children have been writing about their likes and dislikes of the school garden. Here is a selec tion:

Bennetts Water Gardens Donate plants for our school pond.

2009-09-28T08:12:00.001-07:00

Here is a list of the plants that Bennetts Water Gardens have donated to our school pond this autumn:

Caltha palustris (marsh marigold, Kingcup)

Carex pendula (pendulud sedge)

Ceratophyllum demersum (hornwort)

Cyperus longus (sweet galingale)

Juncus inflexus (hard rush)

Lychnis flos-cuculi (Ragged Robin)

Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife)

Myosotis scorpiodes (water forget-me0not)

Nymphoides peltata (water fringe)

Stratiotes aloides (water soldier)

Thank you very much to Bennetts Water Gardens.

The Building of the Pond

2009-09-02T09:45:00.001-07:00

There was only really one place in the school garden area that was suitable for the pond that the children had asked for, and that was to the right of the main path before the Gardening Club bed and the Dorset Cereals Garden.
Many months of planning and scouring the internet took place before the final decision on the size and type of pond was reached. Lots of photos of other school ponds were looked at and many considered not good enough for our school.
What we wanted had to be, not so small, that it became choked with vegetation. Not too shallow, so it dries out too easily in a hot summer. Not too deep, that a child can't be easily reached and yanked out. Deep enough for good pond dipping, with a reasonable sized platform to accommodate several children safely at once. With a bank to use up the spoil from the pond, that can be planted with wild flowers. Also a bog garden so that a wide selection of pond wildlife will be encouraged to colonise the area. And for the wildlife, a shallow beach so that if they fall in by accident, they can climb out.

And finally, we needed a good pond contractor who knew what he was doing and who would construct a pond to last for a long time without maintenance. And here it is...

This was the plot that was picked for the pond. It was marked out with a yellow hose to start with, extended in size over time and finally marked out with paint by Goddards the landscaper whilst consulting with Samantha and Helen, on the day before commencement.

The first day of work mid August

A hole in the ground, a bog garden and a bank... really!

Tall posts for the pergola that will cover the main path. Short posts for the safety fence. Nice, smooth, soft sand to line the pond. Well it was smooth when they left that evening, but...

Overnight the resident school fox and by the look of it some of her pals, had a sand bunker party and trampled all over the smooth sand!

Nothing that couldn't be put right.

A soft blanket layer went over the sand, then the really thick liner and finally some water.

The pebble edging goes down. Larger pebbles mixed with small ones.

The framework for the dipping platform is laid.

Pond nearly full of water and the platform nearly finished.

A sturdy all weather platform that will feature information and safety boards on the back wall.

Finished!

The garden over the summer

2009-09-01T10:52:00.000-07:00

Amazing to think that just 14 months ago we were faced with a wilderness and an unassembled show garden stacked in heaps. What a busy time we've had - I defy anyone not to be impressed.

1. We manually cleared the site
2. Got the show garden rebuilt and tended to all the plants in pots whilst building took place
3. We replanted all of the show plants and even harvested the apples.
4. We assessed the remaining space and made plans
5. We cleared and levelled an area for raised beds which we assembled and installed in time for Easter
6. We sourced local willow from Abbotsbury Swannery, made new friends and planted Dorset's first living willow classroom and furnished it with logs donated by the Forestry Commission.
7. We bid for and got £10,000 lottery money and made more plans
8. The school community raised another £10,000

9. We bought and put up a shed

10. We researched, and planned and got quotes for a pond - then we got the pond built by Goddards Landscapes Ltd who did a first class job. (See Separate blog on Pond Building)
11. We were donated £2,000 from Holy Trinity Church for a memory garden
12. We researched, and planned and got quotes for the memory corner - then we got it designed and built by Roger Lanigan of Mayfield Rustics, who prodoced a lovely, unique, quiet area for us.

Well done to everyone who contributed!

Enjoy the fruits of our labours in these photos.....

The show garden

Still a mess but getting there

January snow (rare in Weymouth)

Raised bed area under way

Marking out the willow classroom

Willow entrance tunnel

Our new shed

Raised beds ready for use

Raised beds used

Memory corner started

Pond started

The Garden Open day

2009-08-22T06:40:00.001-07:00

What a great day! (photos to follow)

I know it's been a while now since our open day but so much seems to go on in the summer term that it's hard to find a time to write. I'm here now though so let's try and give you a run down of how things went.
The day started off very gloomy and overcast and at 1.55pm the heavens opened and we all got drenched. The garden opened at 2pm and it was still raining. Oh No!!! Hold on though, don't despair, I can see the sun. 10 minutes later the rainclouds had gone, the sun was shining and the rest of the afternoon remained sunny and dry. Hallelujah

We were so pleased with how the afternoon went. We had approx 15 scarecrow entries from local schools and individuals. The scarecrows were judged in 2 categories by Nick Williams-Ellis. The Brownies won the group category and their prize was a Dorset Cereals Garden Starter Kit, kindly donated by Dorset Cereals. The individual prize was won by Jacob Newport and his prize was a childrens garden kindly donated by Rocket Gardens.

We had a number of plant stalls. We sold plants that we had grown ourselves and that the school community had donated to us. Other schools came along with their plants. Visiting plants stalls included Peppers By Post (or Seaspring Seeds) from West Bexington, famed for producing the hottest chillies ever and also Post Office Plants from Martinstown.

We also had a number of craft stalls: a wood turner Mr Muncaster who was a surprise neighbour just 5 minutes away who made beautiful bowls. David from Hundred Aker Wood Pottery came along with his pottery wheels and sold pottery as well as letting the children have a go at making their own pots for a small fee. Local stone sculptor Sarah Gilpin who teaches sculpting on Portland brought blocks of stone and allowed people to try their hand at sculpting. Mary Mayer is a local crafts person who makes lovely dressed dolls which were very popular with the children. Lastly we had a stand by Green Beginnings who offer a local Ecover refilling service around the Weymouth area.

Displays of country dancing and Maypole dancing were performed by some of our year 1 and year 6 children. Our MayPole has been made by hand by a very talented and special friend of the garden and was funded by a local business: Tristan Murless of TGM Electrical.

Fresh scones were baked in the school kitchen by Sandy and Gill and were served in our cream teas with Craigs Dairies clotted cream and local jam. They were as delicious as they sound and were served with Fairtrade teas, coffee and sugar.

We had storey telling on our new willow classroom. This was such a magical part of the whole afternoon. The stories were read by one of the school governors who had all the children enthralled with his storey telling about a butterfly searching the garden for food and a little boy who grew vegetables with his Grandad. To see all those children gathered around in the willow classroom was such a treat.

We had such a great turnout from friends and neighbours. The local community attended in their droves and we were able to raise just short of £1000 which we will be using to help us maintain and develop the garden in the future.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for all their help on the day, for the lovely prizes donated, for bringing their stalls to the event and for coming as members of the public to view the garden and support this new school initiative.

The Garden in June

2009-07-09T02:22:00.000-07:00


Welcome to Holy Trinity School Garden in June. To think that less than a year ago this was an overgrown wilderness, long grass, brambles and ragwort. The Dorset Cereals Garden is now well established. The vines are growing healthily and not a single perennial plant has been lost.
	The herb bed has been a great success needing little attention as most of the plants are derived from hardy natives that are used to fending for themselves.
	The raised bed area has been just right for new growing talents.
	This is not an uncultivated bed, but one where the crop of potatoes has been harvested, cooked and sampled by the class! Well done Mrs Palmer!
	The bare tree has succumbed to disease but the corner beyond will become the 'Garden of Memories' in the next 6 months.

Raised Bed area, dark plants along the edging are thyme which we hope will establish itself.

Yellow hosepipe, always a necessity in the garden, especially as the tap is 100 metres plus away.

I hope you enjoyed your visit to the garden please keep an eye on us as we continue our development of the area to include a wildlife pond with dipping platform, hopefully to be installed in the summer holidays.

Wow, what a busy Friday

2009-05-09T13:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a lovely sunny day. The Eco Warriors finished their Eco suggestion boxes at lunch time and then it was time for me to move on to the garden. I had seen classes going up to and back from the garden through the art room windows. Now it was our turn.

We had had a delivery from Rocket Gardens the day before, courtesy of Dorset Cereals - Thanks Guys. These plug plants needed placing in the garden and so we had 6 helpers, 3 from year 1 and three from year 2.

When we arrived in the garden it was already full of a year 2 class, sowing seeds, planting up their beds and enjoying the willow classroom:

and some of year 5 were up there tending to their bed also. They had sown some purple sprouting broccoli seeds that they now wanted to transplant into their bed:

Here's my helpers planting some lettuces, spinach and tomato plug plants and then watering them. We are all going to be enjoying our cut and come again in no time at all.

Wow, what a busy day in the garden!!

Planting courgettes

2009-05-08T02:05:00.000-07:00

Last Friday we took a small group of year 1 children up to the garden to clear the old cabbages and plant some courgettes that had been donated to the school. The children love to get out into the open, breathe in the fresh air and get their hands dirty. We sprinkled on some organic chicken manure first which they all found rather funny - being aged 5/6!! and then popped in the plants. Finally we gave them a good water and then returned to class.

Then the fox made her(?) daily trek across the garden. She is getting more and more tame as time goes by. Soon she'll be sitting in on story time in the willow classroom!!

Plant identification help please

2009-05-05T06:22:00.000-07:00

We spent the afternoon in the garden yesterday. It was a rather dull and cold Bank Holiday unfortunately but we still all had a great time and a lovely BBQ - thanks Jo.

Katherine will update you all on how it went hopefully but I was wondering if any of you would be able to tell us what this plant is please? It has self seeded from last year but unfortunately we cannot remember what was there last year as it all came down from the show.

I took a large Rosemary bush from my back garden and took it to the school garden to go next to the compost bin.

Here's a view of everyone pottering away at their various tasks.

opinions please

2009-05-01T02:08:00.001-07:00

I am wondering if any of our readers can help us.
As you know, we are holding a garden open day on Sunday May 17th. This will be an opportunity for the public and local communities to visit this award winning garden and see how we have been using it and to also see our willow classroom. We had decided to charge an entrance fee of £1.50. I have started though to receive some feedback from school parents saying that they felt this entrance charge would keep people away. As gardeners I would be very interested to hear your opinions on this matter. Our team is meeting again on Monday where we will discuss this issue for the final time so I would be ever so grateful for any opinions you can share with us.

The aim of the day is to bring people in, the more, the merrier, for them to have a fun afternoon and to raise awareness about the value of gardening in schools.
We will have a local potter, stone mason and wood turner demonstrating their craft on the day, we will be selling locally sourced cream teas, selling plants, May Pole dancing, country dancing, guess the weight of the cake, make paper pots and plant seeds and much much more.

So please, if you read this post, do leave a comment about what you think would be best.
Thank you, thank you.

2009-04-28T03:06:00.001-07:00

We are very excited to be able to tell you that we have been awarded a lottery grant to help us in our quest to provide a superb garden and wildlife area for our school and local community. The Echo were up at the garden yesterday to take some photos which I will post when they become available. More information will be posted in a short while.
This is great news.
Yippeeeee

2009-04-24T13:30:00.000-07:00

We have recently been mentioned on the edible playgrounds newsletter. Please read the article here: http://www.edibleplaygrounds.co.uk/how-to-get-started/news-on-schools

Today in the school garden.

2009-04-16T13:02:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos that my daughters and I took today whilst at the school garden. The first is a shot along one of the boundaries where we have very recently planted a new hedgerow to fill up the gaps that you can't actually see in this photo.

Here is a lovely shot of some of the flowers from bulbs that parents donated and planted last autumn. The hose pipe is in the background as it is all set up to water the willow classroom and tunnel.
I was trying to get a photo of a bumble bee feeding from these nettle flowers but alas couldn't get close enough. If you squint you might just see it in the centre.
We set to work transplanting some leeks, nasturtium and sowing some carrot seeds. Team work.

The path is still holding up. Great photo girls.

The wind turbine is up and running. Excellent job Parent Pete.

Yummy rhubarb.

Technology at the garden. Laptop taken up so that the planting plan could be followed.

The oats are growing nicely.

Garden Open Day Sunday 17th May

2009-04-14T05:01:00.000-07:00

We hope to have a Garden Open Day on 17th May, which is a Sunday, I can’t remember why we decided on that date back in January, it seemed like a good idea at the time. At the moment we are just past the half way mark for the Easter break and when we get back to school we will have three weeks until the opening day.

If you are visitor to this blog please come visit in person we are open from 2.00pm – 5.00pm. We will be having the lovely Nick Williams-Ellis who designed the Dorset Cereals Edible Garden visiting us to open the event and judge the entries from local schools in the scarecrow competition.

You will also be able to see the progress with the willow classroom which by then should have some of the larger branches pulled in to start forming the roof of the classroom. There will also be real Dorset cream teas and plants to buy as well as various craft stalls and activities for younger people including making and planting a paper pot and listening to story readings in the willow classroom.

Holy Trinity Environmental Garden is at Cross Road, Weymouth, Dorset.

Work starts on the Totem Pole

2009-04-12T12:53:00.000-07:00

Parent Pat has begun the task of creating a totem pole from a tree trunk that came from the top of the school driveway.
The tree unfortunately had a fungal infection and so had to be chopped down. We were considering turning the trunk into seating when one of our parents came forward and offered to create a totem pole from it. What a wonderful idea. Year 5 classes were invited to come up with some designs that Pat could carve into the trunk and off they went to research totem poles and the meanings behind them.
The trunk was so big that we had to call the army in to help us move it into the school garden.

You can see from these pictures that the tree was moved last year. In the last few weeks though Pat has managed to make a start on the trunk and has begun carving a bear and elephant.
Watch this space for more progress.

Toddler Time in the Garden at Easter.

2009-04-04T16:33:00.000-07:00

It is really important to us that the whole school community gets involved in the garden and reaps the benefits from such a wonderful resource.
With this in mind, the Holy Trinity Toddler Group used the school garden for their Easter egg hunt last Wednesday. The Easter bunny had been up to the garden and hidden some pictures of eggs and the toddlers had to try and find them. They were hidden amongst the flowers, grasses, beds and in the willow structures. It was a gorgeous day and everyone had so much fun. each toddler was rewarded for their efforts by receiving an Easter basket with some mini eggs inside.
Oh happy days.

2009-03-28T08:18:00.000-07:00

The willow classroom - March 2009

Holy Trinity School has started to grow a classroom – a living willow classroom. Other schools have grown igloo sized willow rooms but we decided to make it big enough for a whole class and teacher to sit and listen to stories, poems or just discuss the wonder of sitting in a living space.

The idea began even before the first garden meeting with a visit to the Eden Project in Cornwall where they have a mature willow room as well as many examples of willow tunnels and willow used as live edging to beds.

It was one of those things that you see and you want - but where to put such a structure, Soon after that the discussion began about what can we do in our environmental space, and the suggestion was made. It was hard for people who had never seen it to grasp the idea but photos helped.

Willow is a magical plant, you just cut a twig or even small branch, stick it in the ground, water it well and it will form new roots and grow. There are companies supplying willow in bundles and enough to make a small dome would cost around £90. We wanted a big dome and a long winding tunnel entrance. It may cost a bit more.

Then like so much that has happened in the garden it all came together… Judith Baker one of the garden group parents mentioned that she helped out as a volunteer at the Swannery at Abbotsbury and every spring they cut their willow back and she’d ask them if we could have the willow.

The reply can back as a yes, and not only that but would some of the gardening group like to visit the Swannery, feed the swans, view the willow maze that they had had built last year, see the willow that was to be cut and meet the man (swineherd) who would be doing the cutting.

The visit took place in the February half term and several car loads of parents and children had a lovely time visiting the ‘not open to the public yet’ Swannery and feeding the swans.

In preparation for the classroom whilst the garden group were working on the raised bed area, during February half term, a shallow circular trench had been dug for the classroom and a winding snake trench for the entrance tunnel.
At the begging of March the message came via Judith that the coppicing had started and that will willow would be delivered to the school the next week. The swineherd came with his willow and helped plant the main supports of the classroom, it was then up to Judith, Samantha and Helen to plant the fillings for the walls. They were positioned at an angle and woven together to form an interesting crisscross effect. It was a very pleasing process, not too strenuous apart from digging out a few obstructions. During the first couple of days many of the children were brought up to the garden to learn what was going on and to plant a few twigs for themselves.

A watering rota has been put in place as the willow will need to be watered every day for several months to ensure it puts out roots but even after being in for a week it has started to produce little leaves, a wonderful sight.

March update

2009-03-25T15:21:00.000-07:00

This week we have been fortunate enough to receive some gifts from both Value House and B&Q. Goods up to the value of £250 were donated by each store. This is great news for us. We have been able to get good quality, organic compost to enrich our growing soil and we have been able to provide classes with propagators and seeds with which to begin their growing.

This month we have spent many hours creating growing beds for all of the classes from year 2 to year 6. This has taken longer than we expected as we undertook the task of 'double digging' at the advice of our local horticultural society. Definitely a good idea but lots of hard work - especially when you dig down a spades depth only to find a hidden stash of builders rubble!!!!

These beds are made from recycled plastic and should hopefully last 'forever'. We soldiered on and now have all 15 beds in place. Now, we just have to finish putting down the weed-proof membrane and woodchip around these beds and put in an edging around the growing site.

To be continued........

Come on classes, get those green fingers to work.

Brasica Disaster

2009-03-07T02:43:00.000-08:00

We were given lots of lovely winter growing veg to plant out in the garden and were so excited about what we could harvest over the winter months. We were however poor experienced novices on a steep learning curve and lost the lot. They were obliterated.
We initially thought it might be slugs though looking back this was daft as they were all brand new raised beds on what had previously been a concrete bed and so where the slugs would have come from so quickly is questionable. We then thought it could be pigeons as we can often see them perched in the nearby trees. We set about putting up the shiny CD's and scarecrows but the damage was getting worse. It apears that it was actually the white butterflies. We hadn't covered our crop and unfortunatley we couldn't keep up with the number of caterpillars produced. We went on regular caterpillar watches but alas the war was lost and the brasicas had to go.
If we reattempt this crop next year, we will hopefully be in a much stronger position and can begin the battle from a much stronger stand point. Watch out butterflies, here we come.

New Years Day

2009-02-19T15:18:00.000-08:00

I popped up to the school garden on New Years Day 2009 to prune back the grape vines. We hard pruned some and were less brutal with the others. Whilst there we planted some left over bulbs but I think that it was probably too late as they don't appear to have come to anything yet.

Compost Bins Oh Rats!

2009-02-19T10:04:00.000-08:00

We had a great compost bin provided with our garden. It had removable wooden slats at the front and parent Pete spent a lot of time working out a way to fix a clear perspex cover to the front with access door so that the children could look and see the various stages of decomposition of all the schools fruit waste over the following months.

BUT

we got visitors.... unwelcome visitors!!!!!

So we had to shut up shop and stop using the compost bin for food waste. These visitors also burrowed underneath the raised beds, displaces lots of soil and then the beds collapsed. Pests, pests, pests. We were learning fast.

New compost bins were ordered from the council. Pest free ones. we take the health and safety of our children very seriously and so we are going to do all that we can to encourage these visitors to stay away and visit elsewhere. All tips will be warmly appreciated.

The Grand Opening

2009-01-15T12:11:00.000-08:00

Midway through the installation of the Dorset Cereals Edible Garden a message was received from the School Secretary informing us that a special visitor was coming to the school at the beginning of the September term to look around the new building. Someone had decided that it would be nice idea to get the special visitor to officially open the new garden!

Nothing like a bit of pressure… not only did we have to get the garden built but we had to get it finished to a standard to do justice to the designer Nick Williams-Ellis and also Dorset Cereals who would be also invited to the opening.

It was all very mysterious to start with. Lots of whispered speculation about the special visitor, then a little more information, ‘special royal visitor’, more whispered speculation. Finally, as we were putting the finishing touches to the garden, scrounging and pleading to get the last bit of paving laid we found out that our visitor was to be the Duke of Gloucester.

The Duke trained as an architect and was very interested in the new school and the various green initiatives that had been incorporated into the build.

The whole visit was planned with military precision; the police, Dorset County Council, and W&P B.C. were all involved. A rogue red car in the school car park had to be towed away, this was serious stuff.

The big day arrived, Wednesday 17th September, mild and dry. The Duke arrived on time and met lots of local dignitaries, the architect and Mr Cheesley and other members of staff. The whole school assembled out in the playground whilst the Duke was shown around the school. He was so impressed and asked so many questions that the timetable began to go astray and organisers could be seen worriedly checking their watches. Finally the Duke emerged and was introduced to the ‘Walking Bus’ and after donning a hi-vis jacked accompanied them up to the new garden.

The Duke was taken round the garden by Samantha and was introduced to Patrick Horton. the marketing director of Dorset Cereals and to Nick Williams-Ellis the garden designer. Still wearing the ‘Walking Bus’ waistcoat the Duke formally opened the new garden and then went on to look at the display showing the progress that had been made to turn a wilderness into a workable space.

Following the Dukes departure Nick Williams-Ellis helped with a more informal celebration of the garden by helping some of the pupils to plant two standard bay trees.

Mark Cheesley with Kate Gosling hands a thank you letter to the marketing director of Dorset Cereals, Patrick Horton.

The Duke Officially Opens the New Garden

The lucky pupils allowed up to the garden to witness the big event were our 'Walking bus', our School Council and our 'Eco Warriers'.

Helen Toft, Danyel Cornick, Serena Hayre and Samantha Lucken

Jack Wiston, Joselyn Savill and Tom Wood help Nick plant a bay tree.

Samantha, Harry Hutchinson and Peggy Forden with the second bay tree

Mark Cheesley, Samantha Lucken, Nick Williams-Ellis and Patrick Horton.

Samantha Lucken, Nick Williams Ellis, Allan Goddard, Patrick Horton and the children Sarena and Danyel.

A summer of sweat

2009-01-13T14:07:00.000-08:00

Right, let's get up to speed. The rest of the summer was spent watering the plants that we had been lucky enough to receive from the flower show. These included many herbs, one apple and 2 pear trees, a thornless blackberry, grape vines and kiwi vines, runner beans, tomatoes and a passion fruit. A rota was set up of neighbours and school families. It is such a lovely area that people were more than happy to wander up of an evening to enjoy the setting summer sun and the peace and tranquility of a summers evening.
This gives me a chance to thank the watering team:
Helen, Emma, Moira, Pete and James, Sian, Fiona and of course my family for putting up with my long abscences.

We had 2 more major work days in the summer holidays where we continued putting the garden together but also doing a massive clear up of the whole environmental area. Boy had it become overgrown in only 12 months. We joined up many many extension leads to get electrical equipment into the garden (namely for brew time!!) and begged and borrowed petrol mowers and strimmers. Everyone worked really hard and totally transformed the area. We rewarded ourselves with a great little BBQ.

Here follows some shots of the summer garden team working really hard to get the garden ready for the start of school in Spetmenber:

Up goes the sedum roof

2008-12-11T13:02:00.000-08:00

Allan and Zoe Goddard from Goddards Landscapes had been looking after the sedum roof for us until we were ready to have it placed back on top of the shed. They very kindly came to the garden and put it on in the pouring rain. Thank you Allan and Zoe.

Here come the boys

2008-12-02T12:00:00.001-08:00

All that was left now was for the planting, the sedum roof and the PATH.

Jason, Michael and Nigel came to the rescue and gave up many many weekends to get the brick path relayed for which we are all eternaly grateful.

Here come the girls

2008-12-02T11:53:00.000-08:00

During the sunny summer (!?!?!?) we managed to get a group of mothers and children to come in and help fill our beds with 15 tons of top soil from Eco-soil. It took all day but the children loved it. Washing machines were on full pelt that night!!!

Sponsored by Green Beginnings

Dorset Works get to work!!!

2008-11-20T13:25:00.000-08:00

During the first couple of weeks of the school summer holiday 2008, Dorset Works set about putting together the pencil fence and the raised beds and Poulton Portables came to re-erect the garden classroom.

Sponsered by Green Beginnings

Where is it going to go?

2008-11-19T12:34:00.001-08:00

The old nursery site had been left empty for over a year and had grown somewhat wild:

The council (Dorset Works) came in and did a degree of clearance work for us.
The last remaining portacabin was removed:

Then .......... the garden arrived on the back of an artic lorry supplied and paid for by Goddard Landscapes of Okeford Fitzpaine in Dorset (www.goddardlandscapes.co.uk). This is the company who had done such a magnificent job of constructing the garden for the show.

Sponsored by Green Beginnings, organic and natural products for the whole family.

A summer of garden construction fun

2008-11-19T12:17:00.000-08:00

Myself and my Mum, Helen Toft and her friend and Miss Bennett and her friend all went up to Hampton Court Palace and saw the garden in situ at the RHS flower Show 2008.
We met Nick Williams Ellis and had a private tour from Mandy Cooper of Positive PR who works on the edible gardens project and who has also been of so much help to us with the garden and beyond. By this time the garden had won the Tudor Rose award for Best in Show and a Gold Medal award. Everyone had a great day out and the crowds were buzzing about the garden. Everyone knew it was going to a primary school in Dorset and thought it was a great idea.

Sponsored by Green Beginnings

Introduction

2008-11-12T12:34:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

My name is Samantha and I am starting this blog with the help of some friends and colleagues (hopefully) in order to share our experiences of starting up a school garden at our local primary school. We are a brand new school - just over 1 year old, created by the amalgamation of an infants and a juniors to create a primary school.

Holy Trinity Primary School in Weymouth, Dorset has just under 700 pupils and is indeed the largest primary school in the county.

At the end of the summer term in 2008, the school was contacted and made a once in a life time offer that we couldn't refuse. Dorset Cereals were offering us their edible playground garden, designed by Nick Williams-Ellis especially for the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 2008. The garden formed part of the edible playgrounds initiative, a campaign to try and get an edible playground in all schools in the country. Initiated by Screen Bites in Dorset, this project has now been taken up by Dorset Cereals.

The garden had not yet been built but we were shown a pencil plan of it and we, of course, jumped at the chance. We had a perfect piece of land within our school grounds that would be ideal for this project and could be developed even further.

We said "yes please".

Sponsored by Green Beginnings