Pigeon defences!

Yesterday the pea-asparus plants, which were brought on in the greenhouse and recently hardened off, were planted out in one of the Gardening Club beds. Whilst planting them there were two pigeons sat in the tree above watching. After planting them  serious anti-pigeon  measures were taken

Pea-asparagus on the left and purple sprouting on the right

The Mange Tout which the Gardening Club planted two weeks ago has also sprouted and again measures have been taken to keep the birds off them

The Mange-tout

In the greenhouse things are going well and the new papyrus seedlings have responded to a few warm days.  One of the the cactus plants has some stunning flowers

On a more interesting note over the past few weeks we have seen False Black Widow spiders in the sheds and also about the school garden.  These spiders can bite and it can be very painful but generally nobody will come up against these spiders.  However if you should see a black spider in the school garden with a large black hump shaped body give it a bit of respect and do not approach it

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The pale crescent shape on the abdomen is a clue to the identification of this spider.

A recent bee survey has identified six species of bees in the garden in recent weeks. More later.....

IF.........(part two)

"If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two imposters just the same"

Apologies for delving back into Kipling but sadly the pair of nesting Blue Tits met these two imposters.  'Triumph' that the eight chicks in the nest box were doing well but then' Disaster' when recent extreme weather caused the poor chicks to perish as the adults could not get out and about to get food for them

Moving on though to more exciting things. The Gardening Club had a successful session yesterday and encompassed several jobs around the garden. This included mainly weeding and planting onions and other vegetable seeds. Some potting on of smaller plants was also undertaken.


Just before the children gathered the first dragonfly of the year on our pond put in a brief appearance - a delightful male Broad-bodied Chaser

Whilst collecting some pots to transplant some flowers a slow worm was spotted

The Red Mason bees were very active as they are now hatching out of the bamboo canes which are places around the garden. These are delightful bees to watch and very much the gardeners friend

Red Mason Bee

Red Mason Bee leaving bamboo home

Other garden news include the erection of a new shed kindly donated by our friends at B and Q. This will be our machinery shed and used to store heavier items which will leave more space in our other shed for tools.

Over the half term it is hoped to arrange a working party to have a general tidy up and also to make a start on the eco-loo building

The class plots are starting to look good with a lot of effort and thought having been put in by both teachers and pupils alike. Hopefully on our Open day - June 23rd - many people will turn up and enjoy the garden

An ornithological slant...

This morning the pair of Blue Tits which had nested in the green nest box were very busy feeding their chicks.  The chicks hatched on Saturday morning and for the next two weeks the adults will be very busy making hundreds of trips around the garden looking for caterpillars to feed the eight youngsters.

Mum off on another caterpillar hunt

Not singing just very hungry!

The new bird hide is almost complete and just needs a few finishing touches to it.  Just ten minutes this morning spent watching produced some good close views of our school garden birds.  The first birds seen this morning were a pair of House Sparrows feeding on the seed. Then a Woodpigeon dropped in..........

The bird watching hide

House Sparrows feeding at close range

If the Pigeon is here it is not eating anything else

Over the weekend the class beds were also numbered. There are a few more to do but most of them are now numbered

Class Plot 3

Close up detail Plot 3

The Wheat, Barley and Oats are surviving and have now germinated successfully and growing well and it seems that the third effort to exclude the pigeons has worked.  They are however still pulling up the onions but the Blackbirds may be culprits here. More netting over the weekend!

An interesting Digger Wasp was discovered this morning and hopefully the next blog will name the insect.

New arrivals

This morning the pitcher plants arrived and after carefully unwrapping them they have been positioned in the greenhouse.  Many are found in Carolina in the United States of America but they do occur elsewhere in the world.  They are carnivorous plants and eat flies mainly but anything which lands on the pitcher and takes a peep inside will be welcomed for lunch! The inside of the pitcher holds no grip for the insect and it slides down into the base and becomes the next meal.

As the last picture shows RAIN WATER only for these plants.  There are two white buckets in the greenhouse with rain water in them. Please only use this for these plants and not anything else in the greenhouse.  They do not like salts and minerals.  Sitting on a bed of wet moss they should survive.

Recent insects in the garden include the Bee-fly which occurs at this time of the year and an unusual mining bee Colletes daviesanus which lives underground often in large colonies. Pictures of these next time

IF.................

"If you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds' worth of distance run...."

Rudyard Kipling

New pigeon defences

Can we forgive the pigeons? They are testing us considerably at the moment.  The second sowing of wheat, barley and oats was doing well until the pigeons again swooped in!  Trampling down the net they have grazed the tender young shoots for the second time.  A new metal cage  has been constructed which hopefully will save the third sowing from destruction.


In the greenhouse that cactus plant continues to flower in profusion.

Also in the greenhouse you may have noticed many small plants pricked out and laid out in trays on the tables.  These plants will provide the Gardening Club with one of their secret floral displays for this year

The Gardening Club secret project

Last weekend during a working party our young naturalist was delighted with this find. The first one for the year

Our first Slow-worm record for 2012

Finally the Living Stones have just about finished  growing their new leaves and the old shrivelled ones can easily be seen on the edges of the plant.  Today they received their first drink since October last year. They must be kept dry during the winter months but a small "shower" of water was applied this afternoon to refresh the plants

The Living Stones with their new leaves

The Day The Engineers Came to Help

It has been a particularly seasonal week in the garden with the weather being very Aprilish as it used to be before the last few years when summer seemed to arrive in April and depart by June. However, there was rather too rain on Monday when the Royal Engineers and US Air Force National Guard Engineers turned up to install the Natsol Composting Toilet tank that was delivered the previous Friday.

The unloading of the 1 tonne tank

Army JCB Digger (backhoe loader said the Americans)

15 personnel arrived at 8.00  and within half an hour had unloaded tents and supplies. The rain at this time was torrential but not perturbed the team donned hard hats and the ubiquitous hi vis waistcoats and set to work clearing barrow loads of rubble, broken bricks and slabs before the serious work of digging the hole began. I missed the hole digging as I had to attend a meeting but came back at 11.00 to find the hole dug and everyone looking very wet and muddy.

A very damp US Engineer in a bit of a hole

Once the hole was dug concrete was shoveled in and levelled and then the task of swinging the tank into place commenced.

And after much manoeuvring it was in.

Next a smaller hole was dug to the side to accommodate the soak-a-way which will take the urine.

Finally the lid of the tank was lifted into place.

The whole job was carried out under the supervision of Pete who made sure everything was carried out according to instructions.

It all met with the approval of the Commanding Officers.

And finally a group photo

The Pigeons are back......

The pigeons have recently carried out a daring daylight raid on the garden.  The wheat, barley and oat seeds which had successfully germinated have been pulled up and eaten by these ever hungry birds

The uprooted oat plants

Yesterday the area was re-seeded with new sowings of wheat, barley and oats.  This time a net was set over the seeds which will hopefully deter the pigeons.  Two birds sat in the tree watching so we will have to await events

The resown wheat, barley and oats-  and the net!

In the greenhouse one of the cactii is in flower. It seems to produce just one small pink flower a day and the flower only lasts for a day. Plenty of flowers yet to appear so some should be still showing on the return of the new term. Visit when the sun is out

The flowering cactus plant

Also in the greenhouse Class 3P is having success with the sunflower seeds. They have germinated over the Easter holiday and are  looking good.  Outside Class 2P is having success with their potato plants.  The pigeons do not like these!

Class 3P sunflower plants

The potato patch of Class 2P

Flowers on the Cherry tree

A sure sign of summer and better things to come.  The Cherry trees are bursting into flower. Already the bees have found them.  Several large bumble bees were busy pollen gathering

Finally one of the nest boxes has new tenants. A pair of Blue Tits are bulding a nest in the green nest box near the archway into the bird feeding area.  The pair were busy yesterday.  We will have to hope that things go well for them.

The Blue Tit nest