The Sun Has Come Out!

It has been a pleasure to be in the garden this week.  Summer is here at last!  There has been a lot happening too.  On Wednesday, we sowed runner beans - four varieties: White Lady, Streamline, Scarlet Emperor and Celebration.

We sowed as many as we could because they are 'out of date' (donated by Simpson's Garden Centre) so they might not all germinate.

 Lewis and Catriona were also in school for their Biology exam, so they came up and planted our Dahlia bulbs (they've been in the box for some time now!) in amongst the wild flowers.

 There are a few dock plants that need weeding out, but the wild flower bed has really filled out this year...

 Lots of pansies too.

 Even thought the dandelions are considered weeds, they attract the insects, give lovely colour when in flower and look pretty when in seed!  So long as they are not in all our raised beds, they are welcome in the garden!

 Not sure what this plant is, but it's huge!  Has very spiky spines and sharp edges on the leaves.  We'll keep and eye on any flowers that may emerge.

 On Thursday, we sold four raised beds to a member of staff.  That will help us buy more compost for our seedlings.

 Connorhan and Grigor helped carry them down and load her car.

 They then enjoyed a "tasting session" eating some of the Jersey Kale flowers - mmm!  They have a very mild flavour a little like a radish.

 "I'm getting a hint of pepperiness, and the warmth of the sun!"

 During the week, Miss Swallow also put up some signs around the garden.  Here are two with postcards of World War II designs on, to encourage folk to grow and eat their own produce.

 Meanwhile in the Betty MacKenzie greenhouse, our peas are coming on well

 Some of the sunflowers died in the heat but we potted on the remainder - these are the strongest ones so far.  We are running a sunflower growing competition amongst our primary schools - there is another blog for this at dagardenparty.blogspot.com where you can see how they are getting on.

 The Jersey Kale (Walking stick cabbages) are looking fabulous.  They have been attracting insects, and we will collect the seeds later for sowing again.

 Another momentous event is that the second greenhouse is now complete!  A large plastic sheet needed to be bought, then cut into two, to replace one missing roof piece and one damaged wall sheet.  We now need to think of a name as there will be an official opening on 18th June with dignitaries attending!  Maybe the "OJ Greenhouse" short for "Olympic Jubilee" as 2012 is a special year for Britain!  What do you think - please leave comments or suggestions!

The elective class used it for the first time this week to sow seeds - pumpkins (donated by our American friend "MacWanders"), peas, more sunflowers and broad beans.

 They also planted up a barrel with winter pansies that are in full flower.

 Another sign explains how the syphon system works on our water butts.  They are so much better than taps as they don't leak!!  The butt with the tap on is empty as we need to try and tighten the tap to stop it leaking.

 On Friday, Miss Swallow collected more raised beds from the Greenhouse Community Shop.  We have sold 7 so far, and now have 7 more in stock.

 Luckily Connorhan appeared to help transport them up to the garden.  Well done Connorhan, you do not shy away from hard work!

 Another important job this week - John, our CDT (Craft Design and Technology) technician did a fantastic "fix" on the Betty MacKenzie greenhouse window.

It is now very sturdy with a heavy piece of tough plastic secured into place.  Thank you John - scones could be coming to the CDT department next week!

Competition Potatoes Finally Planted!

 Despite another cold, wet and windy week, we FINALLY managed to plant the potatoes for our competition!

 Grigor adds compost to cover the tuber.

Mr MacFarlane adopted one more potato, so that makes 23 now!  Each one in its own bag with a scientifically weighed-out amount of compost to give them all an equal chance!  We turned the compost bags inside out, so when (if!) the sun shines, the black outer will absorb the rays and warm up the compost more quickly to help the plants grow.  It's important that we don't mix them up until the bags are clearly labelled!

We also had a visitor on Friday - Alison Hammerton from Education Scotland.  She recorded some video of Grigor and Miss Swallow talking about how the garden has developed, what we have learned and what things are most fun.

Despite the wind and rain, the grass was strimmed this week too which helps make the garden feel tidy.  Also, DiGGers would like to wish Grigor's grandmother a Happy Birthday!  Hope you are enjoying following us on the blog.

Second Greenhouse Secured

 Another cold week with sun, wind, rain, snow and sleet!  On Wednesday, Miss Swallow continued weighing out soil ready for the potato competition.  It's getting late now so we really must get them planted next week!

 On Thursday, Lewis's grand-dad Alistair came in to help assemble the second greenhouse.  We washed all the panels and securing strips before putting them into place.

 Miss Swallow's drill battery died on the first screw, so we had to use a small screw driver set instead!!

 We made a timber frame to attach the base to, then drove some pieces of wood into the ground and secured the frame to it.

Meanwhile at lunchtime, Connorhan and Grigor weighed out more soil for the potato competition.  We need 22 bags in all as 22 potatoes have been adopted!!

Visitors to the Garden and Lots of Jobs to do!

 Last week, there was a Royal Horticultural Society course for teachers run at the Academy.  The weather was very wet and windy so they were indoors most of the day.  They did however have a quick tour round the garden and were very impressed with what we have achieved.  On Monday this week, the Highland Outdoor Learning Group (above) had a meeting here. They also had a tour of the garden and thought that a lot of hard work had been done - we can agree with that!  Other schools are interested to learn from our experience and create gardens (and courses) of their own.

 On Wednesday, we started getting bags of compost ready for planting out the potatoes for our competition.

 Connorhan weighs a bag - each one has 2kg of soil in for planting one potato.  As the plants grow, we will add more soil.  It has to be fair so each potato must have the same amount!

 Also, Miss Swallow bought some weed barrier for the base of the greenhouse.

 On Thursday, it was a lovely sunny day.  Grigor helped to weed a raised bed...

 ...and planted out our blue potatoes ("salad blue" variety)

 Meanwhile (behind), Connorhan gets busy weaving branches back into the willow seat.

 He then raked up some grass as contractors had been in cutting it.

 He added the cuttings to the compost.  Next week, if it's dry, we'll use some as mulch between the leeks (once we've weeded them).

On Friday, Connorhan helped transport gravel up the path and onto the base for the new greenhouse.  Still lots to do, but we are progressing steadily.

Also, Lewis and Catriona came in from study leave.  They planted potatoes into their own raised beds ("Catriona" variety of course!  And "Highland Burgundy Red" which is red all the way through.  We still have "Charlotte" and "Witchhill" varieties to plant out.

 The potatoes have chitted well and are ready to plant out.

This week, Miss Swallow also collected some new raised beds - we are going to sell these to raise money for the club.

Pupils in the Elective Gardening class have put gravel into the bottom of the barrels.  They have started adding upturned turf and will put soil to plant into on top next week (weather permitting).

 Meanwhile, the leeks continue to grow well.

Our Rhubarb has started to flower!  We but the stalks back, to encourage the leaves to grow for cropping.

The foxgloves are filling half a raised bed too!  Looking very healthy.