Getting back into gardening jobs!

We had some lovely weather this Wednesday and Thursday, after mornings of rain, the sun came out for us.

 Who are these gents you might ask?  Mr MacFarlane and Connorhan are off to investigate a spot to dig (the ground is very hard and stony)...

 ...we need to find a home for these flag iris plants that Mr MacFarlane has brought in for us.

 Behind the tool store, there is a wasp's nest - we investigated when there seemed to be more wasps than usual near the compost heaps.

 Not sure at the moment what to do with it, as it is good to have insects for pollination (and wasps also can eat caterpillars and other pests).  We want biodiversity, but don't want pupils and visitors to get stung!

 Grigor enjoying some fresh gooseberries - they are the sweetest I've ever tasted!

 He then did some tidying of the OJ Greenhouse.  We have lots of tidying and weeding after six weeks of neglect through the holidays!

 Catriona was off with a bad cold on Thursday - hope you feel better soon!  Her mum Margaret came in to help and stayed for period 6 too, to help Miss Swallow combat some of the biggest weeds - mostly thistles and dock.  I forgot to take a "before" photo (you couldn't see any bare earth), but this is the "after"!

Weeding around the Betty MacKenzie greenhouse too...

...it's getting better!

A new year begins!

Our "new year" started on August 14th when school opened after the summer holidays.  The garden has survived surprisingly well without any attention for six weeks.  Of course, there are plenty of weeds for us to tackle and the first day back, the grass was really ready to be strimmed - gladly the contractors came in the next day.

Last week, we just spent time checking out what was growing.  

We also enjoyed picking and eating lots of peas.

 There are many seeds for us to collect for sowing next year - these are on the leeks.

 The willow seat is ready for another hair cut!

 We found a few strawberries ready to eat.

 On of the teaching class's raised beds has lots of wild flowers and peas in it!

 There was a "summer camp" during the holidays - children made us some scare-crows and garden art, did weeding and planted some hedge plants.  Thanks to them for all their hard work!

 Some lettuce ready for harvesting

 The hedge plants have taken well, and here you can see the wild flowers next to them.  We are expecting a delivery of more hedgerow trees in November.

 Gooseberries and red-currents ready for picking.

 The red currents are destined to be served up in a dessert dish at a charity dinner!  Connorhan's dad is buying them from us at the end of the week.

 On Wednesday this week, we started collecting seeds.  Connorhan started with the Jersey Kale (we literally have thousands of seeds to collect!)

 Meanwhile, Danielle was collecting foxglove seeds.  They are much smaller!

 Lupin seeds too are bigger and easier to handle.

 On Thursday, we raked some grass and put it on the compost in order to make the place look tidier!

Garden Party - A great day had by all!

 On Thursday, pupils from three primary schools: Marybank, Dingwall and Tarradale came for a day of activities.  Pupils from the "How does your garden grow?" elective class were in charge of the activities and did a great job.  DiGGers were in charge of catering and generally looking after everyone!

Above you can see leek seedlings being planted out.

Activities involved exploring the garden!

...completing a quiz.

Also, learning knots ...

... this one is a "clove hitch"...

... they could then be used to build structures for beans to grow up.

Grigor demonstrates how to plant a runner bean plant.

Doing a "feel test" to see if they can tell the difference between different types of soil!

Garlic bread warming on the BBQ for lunch

Each school brought produce from their own gardens to share!

An orderly queue for soup at the BBQ (homemade from our very own leeks and potatoes)

There was not much left over after this lot had finished!

 After lunch, Danielle, Catriona, Charlotte and Lewis announce the winners of the sunflower competition - Dingwall Primary - with a height of 92 cm.  Tarradale came second with 67 cm and Marybank third with 33 cm.

 Lewis presented the winners with the trophy.  They were very proud to win it.

 Last year's "smile" potatoes were discovered in the soil.

 The "team" looked after all the catering and set up the table - covering the cakes to protect them from drizzly rain.

 Lewis's amazing cup cakes!  Pupils were collecting the cocktail sticks after eating their cakes!

 Lewis's grand-dad joined in and did a good lot of weeding.  He also showed lots of pupils different grubs and invertebrates.

 Charlotte making a hot chocolate.  DiGGers did themselves proud looking after all the children.

 Various bugs and grubs.

The day ended with toasted marshmallows

We also passed a "talking pumpkin" plant round - you can only talk when holding the pumpkin plant!  People then said what they enjoyed most from the day.

I think this face says it all!  Thank you to everyone who came to the garden party - maybe some of you will join the DiGGers next term?!  And thank you to both my Gardening class volunteers and the DiGGers for doing such a great job of looking after everyone.  Have a lovely holiday and see you next term!!