Today in the school garden.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.