On Tuesday, three primary schools attended our Summer Garden Party and enjoyed a busy day of activities. They were Strathpeffer, Ben Wyvis and St. Clements.
DiGGers were in charge of catering...
...and generally looking after everyone.
They also ran several activities namely "knotting and building growing frames"...
...and "blind-folded soil texturing!"
We were also pleased to have volunteers who came in to help with more workshops.
Here, Simon from the Evanton Woods Project is showing a group how to light a "Kelly Kettle" to boil water by burning just a few sticks.
Trish from RoWAN (Ross-shire Waste Action Network) helped pupils prick out seedlings, pot them up and also pot on others plants like strawberries and nasturtiums.
Pupils then took their potted up plants to the next activity: watering! They were able to practise their technique and learned that often pots need more water than you expect! They could also try out different types of watering cans and roses...
...and tried to develop an even style of watering. Thanks to Maggie from RHET (Royal Highland Education Trust) for running this workshop.
Meanwhile, other groups were exploring the garden to fill in a Quiz sheet...
...and Mr Houston brought in a Tree Leaf ID quiz to see who could match up the samples with their correct name.
Carrie and Sara help with the Kelly kettle group - everyone got to make a hot chocolate for themselves.
Sofia and Aisha learned a lot themselves about different soil types too!
They also had deeper pots of samples to be able to test with a pH probe.
We were very lucky with the weather. The night before it had rained and our gazebo had collapsed under the weight of the water! So that was our first job of the morning!!
Potted on strawberries waiting to be watered.
Danielle and Elly relax before things get busy at lunch time!
Connorhan and Kyle keep the "knotters" challenged!
Trying to light the BBQ (thanks to Mrs Cormack for lending it to us!)
Then things got busy serving up hot Potato and Leek soup (thank you to Mrs McNab!)
There were also LOADs of cakes!! A huge thank you to all the volunteers who contributed to the lunch table.
Everyone tucked in and enjoyed the selection...
...most had "seconds" too!
Connorhan steps in to rescue the trellis table after the hinge broke away from one of the legs! Luckily it was caught in time before everything slid off!!
Folks relaxed in the sun for the lunch break.
We rounded the day off with the "Talking Pumpkin" (like an American Indian talking stick - only the person holding the pumpkin plant can talk!). Each person told us what activity they had enjoyed the most and what new friends they had made. Interesting every activity came up at least twice as a favourite!
The kelly kettle groups had also been to cut some willow sticks which they sharpened with vegetable peelers...
...they were then used to roast marsh-mallows over the BBQ.
After this, we had a group photo and everyone headed back to their various schools. Thanks to everyone for coming and we are really pleased that you had a good day. Remember to include your activities in your Growing Hub Award check-list - they will help you to achieve your certificate!
Sofia and Aisha tidied up the shed...
...this lot relax after packing away the catering tables (electronic teenagers!) - notice Sara's extra long "willow" stylus lol!
The next day, DiGGers enjoyed finishing the left over cakes (thanks Dale!)...
...then got cracking with some planting. It's Wimbledon just now - they have "Henman Hill" and "Murray Mound" - well, we have "Pumpkin Pile!"
Our pile contains lots of rotted compost that should feed the pumpkins. We also mulched them with leaf mould to try and keep the moisture in.
On Thursday, Danielle gave them an extra watering.
Dale and Carrie raking freshly strimmed grass.
It was nice and dry, so we used it to put round our strawberries to keep them off the soil as they ripen.
Growing frames made at the garden party and planted up with runner beans, peas and nasturtiums.
Our wild-flower hedgerow is looking great too.
We tasted some fresh strawberries on Thursday - "deeelicious!"
