Sorting out the tomatoes

Well, this week I finally got the children out into the garden all week! 

On Wednesday, we started to pick all the green tomatoes off the vines.  They just don't want to turn red, so we put them into trays and  decided to put them in a nice warm classroom to see if that works!  We also put the old plants onto the compost, but by the end of the afternoon, there were still loads of plants!

On Thursday, another group came up and we planted up all our little daffodils ready to sell at Christmas (hopefully).  I manage to get 4 boxes of 15 bulbs from our local Asda's which cost £10 in total.  A bargain I thought!  The kids couldn't believe that they had just potted 60 bulbs.  We then covered them up to force them.  Mr Maldonado and his class came up too - they weeded a bed and helped to clear the tomatoes for about 15 minutes - this is going to be a regular slot which is just fantastic!

Today, this little gang of helpers (below) worked in the garden and seriously tackled those tomatoes!  The polytunnel is now clear, though there seems to be hundreds of fallen tomatoes on the ground, quite a few crushed underfoot by enthusiastic young gardeners!

Sarah, one of our parents, joined the team too and spent an hour weeding. Another mum, Fearne has also offered to help out too.  I am really grateful to these two ladies to offer their spare time in our garden - it will make such a difference.  Hope it's the start of a trend!

Another teacher with the help of Key Stage One are going to grow hyacinths in class ready for Christmas so that's another little job off the list.  It's supposed to be the quieter end of the year, but I seem to have a rather long list to get through.  With all these helpers, big and small, hopefully we'll get through most of it!

Cameron working hard while Leon supervises



Edie the Singing Gardener



Cameron and Reece - gardening buddies



Getting rid of the tomatoes

There seems to be tons of tomatoes!




Tomato Harvest

Well, we've got more green tomatoes in our polytunnel than you can imagine and they refuse to go red!

Yes, we had a few red ones, but either they've been eaten by us or some unknown creature has taken a chunk out of them.

So today, I gathered a few children and we collected a whole wicker basket of green tomatoes from just one tiny little corner.  It looks like we've not touched it!  Anyway we had great fun filling our basket and putting the old plants in the compost on a lovely sunny autumn afternoon.

At 3pm, we went onto the playground and sold them to the parents for chutney.  Sam managed to convince his mum that she needed two bags of green tomatoes!  The children sold about 5/6 bags which was great, though we've still got half a basket and more in the polytunnel!



Nada and Ali  picking tomatoes



Sam and his tomato



Busy picking



Ali with our rather full basket!



Where do these old plants go?




on the compost heap, Nada!



More Photos of the Prize Winning Veg

Our prize winning herb basket

First prize was awarded to our veg



The children designed this box



Again, this is all the children's handiwork

Cookridge Horticultural Society Show - What a Day!

On Saturday, I entered a few of our veggies in the local Cookridge and District Hortcultural Society Show at the Methodist Church and didn't I get a surprise!

As I walked in, the first thing I spotted was our basket of herbs which had come FIRST! I was chuffed to bits as the children had put it together (I had resisted to re-arrange it) and never expected it to win!  Bursting with pride and itching to tell someone, I wandered into another room to find our veg box had also come first and the children had won a series of first, second and thirds with their handwriting!  It was quite unbelieveable.

The icing on the cake came when they were announcing the winners and I heard "Cookridge Primary School".  The next thing I knew, I was climbing up steps onto the stage to receive a small silver plate from our local MP Greg Mulholland! Now that was a surprise!

It was just an incredible afternoon and I was proud to see our school's name everywhere - I had also taken our big displays up to showcase our garden for the past year and to show the local people our work here.

More photos later!

WE'RE BACK!!!!!!!

Yes, it's the start of another brand new year and already the children have been in the garden!

We all started school on Wednesday where I spent the afternoon digging up potatoes and doing a lot of weeding.  Mr Maldonaldo came up with Class 7  to have a look at the new pond (see below) and have a good look around.  They even adopted a vegetable patch to care for over the year and the other classes are also signing up to "Adopt a Veg Patch".  It will make my job a lot easier and the children will get more garden time too.

The tomatoes are doing well, but remain stubbornly green.

Thursday saw me patiently sorting out seemingly hundreds of photos of our past year in the garden and arranging them in a display ready for the Cookridge Horticultural Show tomorrow (Saturday) and making signs.  That seem to take ages but it was worth the effort.

Today, I took 6 children up to the garden and asked them to create a vegetable box and a display of herbs for the Show.  They were like children in a sweetshop, not knowing where to go first - the pond, the tomatoes, everywhere!  They helped water the tomatoes, and then picked quite a few for the box.  Cobie and Shazanna filled a school tray with straw while the others arranged the tomatoes, potatoes and rhubarb in the middle.  We then suddenly realised that the vine in the polytunnel had grapes, so we plucked a few bunches and then headed to the blackberry bushes and picked blackberry, blue berries and blackcurrants. I was rather pleased with what we managed to muster considering our abysmal summer and our failure to really grow anything due to the rain and the various anthropods that consider our garden a rather desirable residence! Then for a decorative flourish, they decorated the edges with herbs. 

After they were happy with the Veg Box, they set about the herb display where they made posies of various herbs and arranged them in a small wicker basket, before heading into school and gave our creations an impromptu tour of the school including Mrs Bailey's office!  Then they made a couple of labels for the Veg Box and Herb Basket announcing themselves as the artists and which school they attended.

So now the veg box, herb display and photos are sitting on my kitchen counter awaiting delivery to the Church tonight (2pm at the Cookridge Methodist Church, Tinshill Road, Cookridge) and tomorrow I will go up and see if we've won anything.  Last year, we got 2nd for our Veg Box and a couple of the children won prizes for their handwriting, so fingers crossed. Watch this space on Tuesday when I'll have photos of the (award winning?) Veg Box and herb display.  

Look at our new pond!

Well, what can I say except have a look at our brand new pond!

The pond a few weeks ago

The new dipping pond and wildlife area!

It is absolutely wonderful and I cannot thank Interserve enough for all their hard work making a long awaited wish come true.  It's better than I ever imagined and the children are delighted at the new look pond.  We just can't wait to use it!  

More on Mrs B's blog too!