A home-grown Christmas Dinner

On Thursday this week, we ate our Chrismas Dinner. All the ingredients (except bacon, walnuts and gravy) had been grown by us!

We had potato carrot and parsnip mash served with a fried up dish of bacon, walnuts, garlic, onions, curly kale, brussel sprouts, purple sprouting broccoli and even a walking stick cabbage leaf!

Grigor's mother also very kindly cooked us a delicious carrot cake for our dessert - thank you!

On Wednesday, Miss Swallow was out on a school trip. Catriona Charlotte Danielle Annie and Lewis did a sterling job decorating the shed.

A little outdoor touch to spread the festivities!

Extreme Weather - snow and wind!

On Wednesday this week, just Lewis attended. There was deep snow so we didn't do any gardening! Instead, we made a snowman!

There was a late start all week due to inclement weather and difficult road conditions.

The walking stick cabbages are still standing against the weight of some snow,

and the water butt has a snowy hat - having slid off the greenhouse roof!

The curly Kale is still looking good - we'll be cooking some next week for our Christmas dinner.

We may add some purple sprouting broccoli into the recipe too!

The leeks too should feature, though they are still quite thin - we'll leave some to keep growing slowly.

Lewis took this moody shot of the garden,

and caught the stormy sky well here!

On Thursday, a big windy storm hit - with torrential rain too. Danielle took this shot of Connorhan putting the compost into the bin, then we hot-footed it to Miss Swallow's computer room as there are big branches overhanging the shed, and we didn't want one to fall on us!

Re-potting and Weeding

It has been a cold week, but we continue to work in the garden! Well, in the shelter of the shed actually! The school was closed on Wednesday due to industrial action. On Thursday, we potted up some winter pansies. We hope to grow them on a little in the greenhouse before planting them into the barrels outside the front of the school.

Also, at the end of last week Isabela was back to help with more weeding! Here is a before...

...and after picture - great work!The leeks are still quite small but will continue to grow through the winter months.

The curly Kale is also recovering well - the leaves are no longer being eaten by caterpillars! Maybe some will be ready for our Christmas dinner in a couple of weeks!

Winter approaches

This week has been a mix of cold and sunny then wet and very windy by the end! On Wednesday, Lewis Catriona, Charlotte and Danielle raked leaves for the new leaf pile store made last week. On Thursday, we were joined by Grigor Annie and Susan and started planting out some bare root perennials that had arrived in the post. We have more to do, as the flower border still needs weeding to make space for them! We need to pull out creeping buttercup, dandelions and grass to stop them taking over!

Tasting Potatoes!

This week we we got to taste five different varieties of potato! Thanks to all those in room 1 who prepared, boiled and mashed the potatoes during period 4 on Friday.
If you look carefully, you can see Danielle has drawn a small symbol on each plate to identify the variety - above is "King Edwards" hence the crown!
Here, a large pile of "Pink Fir Apple". Other varieties were Smile, Peach Bloom and Blue Belle. We tasted the same ones together at the same time to try and describe their flavours and then voted for our favourite three. It was surprising how different they tasted!

The most popular (with 4 votes of "number 1 favourite") was "Smile - they just made you smile with their taste! Next was "Blue Belle" (with 3 "number 1" votes) - their texture was fine, smooth and buttery, mmmm! Third was "Peach Bloom" (with 2 "best" votes) - these were actually quite tangy - unusual but we loved them!

Pink Fir Apple also deserves a mention as it scored 5 "number 2" votes, so was liked second best by most of us! That only leaves the King Edwards which we actually found a bit dry and powdery - maybe they would make better chips or crisps! We also had beansprouts (Mung, Adikis and Chick Peas) along with lettuce and radish grown by Miss Swallow's gardening class. The lettuce and radish were nice and peppery. Above, you can see most of the produce was polished off!

On Thursday Danielle got artistic again - both with the greenhouse window and the camera:
Lettuce leafs are still looking fresh despite a few frosty mornings.
Lewis, Charlotte and Catriona created a new leaf mold pile using posts and chicken wire. Meanwhile Miss Swallow finished weeding behind the greenhouse so......Danielle and Catriona could throw down a selection of daffodil and crocus bulbs.We straightened them up then Lewis helped Catriona throw soil over the top of them.

Weeding and more weeding!

This week, we kept weeding! Clearing the patch behind the greenhouse ready to spread spring bulbs (Monty Don style as mentioned in the last post) and weeding the wild flower border. We also dug up the last of the geraniums and put them into pots to keep over the winter.
On Thursday we had a couple of visitors - Catriona's mum and little brother - it was good to see them and they could see we had made progress in the garden since their last visit!

This weekend is going to be DiGGers second birthday (!) so we have decided to have a cake and munchies in the shed tomorrow to celebrate (yes, we love any excuse for a cake). This cake promises to be a special one as our newest member Annie (unofficial at present so no photos yet) has offered to bake it tonight!

Also, this week, we sent our cheque off to Mary's Meal Malawi appeal. On checking the web site, it costs just £6.15 to feed one child for a whole year! Mr MacFarlane (who won £10 for planting the tallest cabbage) donated his prize too which means we have now raised £70. This will feed eleven children for one year!

Giant Cabbage Patch!

This week, we planted out the walking stick cabbages from the garden centre.

You can see Mr MacFarlane's "no 2" winner here on the left! We gave them all a good feed and watered them in well. They should continue to grow happily through the winter - taller and taller!

Danielle watered all the flowers in the greenhouse.

She also started potting up some geraniums from the garden as they would not survive the cold winter here. We shall keep some in the science greenhouse and plant them out again next year.
Notice the pressed flower picture next to it - arranged by Connorhan, with club members' names in the middle.

On Thursday, we also did some major weeding behind the greenhouse. We want to clear the ground between the trees and then scatter spring flowering bulbs and cover them with soil. This should be easier than digging in each one as the soil is very stony. (Monty Don did this on gardener's world, so we thought we'd give it a try too)

Pulling up thistles and dock plants!

At the end of last week Isabela came in again too and finished weeding the raised bed (this is where the cabbages are now!)

Meanwhile Miss Swallow tidied the greenhouse and weeded in front of it as it was

in a right state! It now feels like a potential growing area again.

A Gate at last!

During the half term break, our gate was fitted at last! We can now access the garden via the path instead of scrambling up the steep bank! This will be good in the winter when it's raining or snowy.

Miss Swallow and Isabela visited during the holidays to see the gate and do a few jobs. The first was attaching the sign to welcome guests into the garden.

Here you can see the siphon system that Rob set up for us.

The second job was weeding!! Here is before...

...and after! Just a little more left to do.