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Jo planted two different types of potatoes with us. We are planting them side by side to investigate which will be more successful in our soil. One variety we planted is the Lumper potato. The Lumper is a potato variety upon which millions of Irish people depended on until it was destroyed by blight during the famine from 1845 onwards. Planting these is a way of commemorating those who died during the Famine.
Thank you Jo! The planting season has begun! Thank you to Jo who came into school before the Easter holidays to do some planting with us. She did lots of weeding in our school garden and has set up the beds for different families of vegetables. We are planting broccoli in the photos above.
We are also looking forward to planting some potatoes and flowers in May. The children have worked so well together on the school garden this year, and the fruits of their labours are clear for all to see. Seeds sown in pots in school grew into plants which were then planted out. Not all of the seeds germinated, but nothing is guaranteed in gardening! Potatoes and baby onions were planted direct into the soil.  The garden is now filled with different coloured lettuces, kale, rainbow chard, potatoes, beans, peas, cabbages, sunflowers (not yet flowering), pumpkins, courgettes, onions, celery and herbs. The children were keen to get involved, and really enjoyed digging and weeding, sowing and planting, and finding an assortment of bugs. Apologies to parents for a few muddy knees!  Our welly planters are now hanging along the fence at the front of the school, and either side of the gate leading into the school garden.  There will be a tree planting on Thursday morning at around 10.45am, after the duathlon, and afterwards all parents are welcome to come and see what the children have achieved in the garden. If you’d like to take some lettuce home with you, let Jo or Nicole know and we’ll bag some up for you. During the summer holidays we will continue our regular weekly gardening slot on Mondays from 2pm – 3pm. Please feel free to come along – there is a huge picnic table available if you’d like to come a little earlier and bring your lunch. You may even see some birds coming to have their lunch at our new bird table.  Jobs for the summer:
Potatoes will be harvested when the children return to school. We plan to organise a Harvest Day in the autumn - a chance to get together and taste some of our lovely organic produce.  The school garden team is currently very small, but we are passionate about creating a beautiful environment where the children can relax, play, and learn about nature and where their food comes from. If you would like to help by joining in with sowing, planting, weeding or watering, you would be made very welcome. Get in touch, or just come along one Monday from 2-3pm. Wishing you all a warm, dry, enjoyable summer, The School Garden Team. ‘I was just sittin’ here enjoyin’ the company.
Plants got a lot to say, if you take the time to listen.’ Eeyore Last week the Junior Infants, Senior Infants and First Class children sowed some marigold seeds in the old wellies we had collected. The seedlings have now started to come up and we hope that they will become strong, healthy plants full of flowers to brighten up the fence of our garden!  The children from the remaining classes sowed their choice of sunflower seeds, peas and beans in large yoghurt pots, and these are also starting to sprout. The beds have now been cleared of weeds and are ready for planting thanks to the lads from the Rural Social Scheme, who turned up, as promised, one wet and windy morning last week. Our regular weekly gardening slot will begin Monday 16th May from 2pm – 3pm. We will meet every Monday at the same time (excluding Bank Holidays). All parents and children who want to get involved are welcome to come along. Projects for this coming week:
We always welcome ideas for brightening up the school garden, or getting your children involved in growing their own food, so please do get in touch. The school garden team is currently very small, but we are passionate about creating a beautiful environment where the children can relax, play, and learn about nature and where their food comes from. If you’d like to help by joining in with sowing, planting, weeding or watering, you would be made very welcome. ‘’To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.’’
Audrey Hepburn |
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