7th April 2004

And they're off...

The Gardeners in the school have been busy sowing seeds. They have planted them in biodegradable pots (the plants don't have to be taken out of these when they are planted as the roots can grow through the sides og the pots) and cells (like lots of plastic pots stuck together - the plants will have to be taken out of these. We used these as you can start the plants off in a glasshouse, they don't take up lots of space and the plants won't be disturbed too much when they are planted out.)

The Glasshouse

A glasshouse is great to have in the garden.The wind may be blowing outside, the rain may be falling in shivery showers and the weather can be chilly, but inside the glasshouse, plants (and people!) can stay safe and warm. Plants can start growing in here before they can outside, so by the time the sunny, warm weather comes, the plants inside the glasshouse will have already grown quire large. They will have a head start when they are planted outside, so we should get our harvests earlier.

Who's been in our garden?

It may look as though someone has just driven over the garden, but don't worry. We have just made some paths for us to keep to when walking on the garden. The spaces between the paths are where we have sown carrots, onions (red and white), radishes and rocket. And we've only just started!

The seeds were sown so that there should be more than enough. This is because we want to thin out (take out) the weakest ones when they have grown, to let the strongest ones grow even stronger.

The Garden so far

Now a lot of the seeds have been sown, we will now have to wait (making sure that we keep on watering the seeds and seedlings, otherwise they will not grow very well) until they start growing. Some scarlet flax and forget-me-nots have been scattered around the edges of the garden to create a flower border. We will be sowing some more at the beginning of the summer term. Of course, the seeds in the ground from last year will be coming up too. The canes have been put in the garden already for the runner beans.

We're back!

Even though we have sown some calendula, there are loads of seeds in the ground from last year's plants that will come up. Here, some seedlings have already germinated (sprouted). We may end up with so many of these that we will have to take some out otherwise they will take over.

A visit

After working in the garden for some time, the mini-garden hippo decided to come along to see what was going on. He had a look at what we had sown and seemed quite happy with what we had done. He likes the garden to grow just as much as we do, and is quite excited at what is going to happen.

The Garden Bells

It's not just in the vegetable garden that things are happening. The warm weather is a signal for many plants in the garden to get a move on, and move they do. New seedlings are sprouting, the tree buds are fattening and the bursting into green and plants that have been hidden in the ground for most of the year are now letting us know they are there. Here, the bluebells are beginning to flower. There are a number of them in the garden 'woods' (at the bottom of teh garden, near the compost heap). Although unseen for much of the year, they can take over forest floors as a spectacular natural carpet. Watch out for the pink and white ones.

The exploding buds

Nature moves quickly when it knows the time is right. This horse chestnut bud remained throughout winter as a large, sticky bud. The brown scales around the bud protected it from the cold, wind, snow and rain as it waited. Yet inside inside the bud were tiny leaves and flowers, waiting to get out. The photo above on the left was what it looked like on the 19th February. The photo on the right was taken on the 7th April - yet at the end of March it still looked similar to the photo on the left.

Another visit

As well as the plants getting a move on, the animals and insects are also moving quickly. These ladybirds suddenly moved so quickly that I was lucky to get this photo of them. They had been warming themselves in the sun, but then decided to go for a stroll when I arrived.

Ladybirds are a good sign. Firstly, it means that Spring is here. Secondly, they and their young will be valuable allies against the aphids, which have already begun to appear and attack our plants. More on that as it happens...