The arrival of Summer after what was a cold and wet Spring has seen something growing in the school garden – students’ enthusiasm for planting, sowing, weeding and seeing the results of their efforts emerge from the ground.
Over recent weeks, under the leadership of Mr Dalgleish and Mrs Capron, the school has trialled a lunchtime gardening club which is producing positive results.
Already this term the students have:
- made sure that the raised beds were watered and weeded; and that the raspberry bush was watered too.
- sown carrots, French beans, peas, and some flowers (Calendula, Forget-me-nots, and Nasturtiums).
- planted on French beans, tomatoes, peas, and sweetcorn.
- nurtured the plants in the greenhouse – aubergine, chillies, ginger, peppers, potatoes and tomatoes.
Some students have also sown the seeds of an Arabian coffee plant (coffea arabica) with a view to the plant flowering next season (around April or May).
As the summer term comes to an end, the pond has been refilled after some small repairs were completed. We can now expect more wildlife to join the dragonflies, bees, ladybirds, robber flies, and newts that have already graced the garden this year.
During this trial period the school garden has been open at lunchtimes on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, and has enabled students from all year groups to get involved – digging out weeds, keeping paths clear, planting and watering.
When we return after the summer there are plans to visit Northern Roots, the incredible new urban farm taking shape alongside Alexandra Park in Oldham, and also to the Royal Horticultural Society’s Bridgewater garden in Salford, benefiting from our membership of the RHS School Garden Scheme.
The benefits associated with gardening are becoming increasingly well known, and not just for the physical exercise. Gardening gives a boost to people’s social and mental health, and teaches the young people about the natural world and where their food comes from. The garden club will take positive steps to enhance the local environment, which students can be fully involved with.
