January 2009

Yes, it is cold, but the seed packets are appearing back in shops and our thoughts turn to lush plots of nutritious food grown in great soil.

We have been sending of funding applications but it appears that recent financial turmoil has hit the funding bodies too so not so much cash to go around this year. We are still very hopeful that some of the applications will be successful and we will be able to continue and EXPAND the Sowing the Seed project this year.

We received some wonderful feedback from Minsterworth, where we spent many happy hours last year with the children. "The activities were very well organised and set at the children's level. They really enjoyed it, as did the teachers." The project gave childrne the experience of investigateion, it also allowed them to see things grown from beginning to end. We would like to be part of research prject in the future if you would like to work with us again."
(Mrs Ritchie, Headteacher)

Next Steps

After the successful completion of two projects, the question is - "What next for Sowing the Seed?" Well, we would of course like to continue. And we have already had three requests to run projects next year. We have been busy making funding applications to various organisations. The idea is that we recruit and train volunteers so that the project can be disseminated with minimal cost. Also we are preparing all the resources so that teachers can run the experiments themselves, with some guidance and support from Good Gardeners where necessary.

Keep you fingers crossed, and watch this space!

Horton, Finale 17th July

Well, the big day came at last to Horton. With lots of enthusiam the children dug and weighed the potatoes, at some points digging the potatoes out with their hands!

We cooked the potatoes while the pupils explained to Matt Adams (Director of the Good Gardeners) what exactly they had been doing over the past few months.

The potatoes were taken all around the school and every pupil and member of staff tried them! The results of the blind taste test were conclusive: most people preferred the flavour of the no-dig potatoes.

Well done to all the children.

Felting

The children at Horton spent one session creating some soil creatures out of felt.


The first stage - laying out the background.








Next stage - adding the detail.









Rolling to harden the felt









The finished creatures.









The finished wallhanging!

Minsterworth - Taste Test! 16th July 2008

Finally the big day came! After 14 weeks of measuring, weeding, drawing, writing and singing it was time to harvest the crops. We were joined by Director of the Good Gardeners Association, Matt Adams, and Rob Rees "The Cotswold Chef".















The potatoes were dug with much enthusiasm and excitement. The children showed Rob, Matt and Mrs Ritchie (the Head at Minsterworth) what they had been working on.

Then we all tasted the cooked potatoes and made our decisions as to our favourite. The "Dig" bed came out narrowly as favourite with the children, the adults preferring the (earthier?) flavour of the no-dig bed.

Thank you Minsterworth for the fun Fridays and hope to see you for more growing adventures in the future!

Horton, 1st July 2008

We have now done enough measurements to plot the data. We are also getting ready for the great taste testing which should be happening in two weeks time. Barny Houghton from the sustainable restaurant "Bordeaux Quay" in Bristol is coming to visit us for this!





We spent a while this week weeding and tending the plants, as the bindweed is enjoying the nourishing soil too.








Couldn't resist including this to give a hint of the glorious setting of Horton - lucky children!

Minsterworth 27th June "We are what we eat"

Last time the children had fun eating apricots and seaweed as we found out more about how "we are what we eat"... This time they made pictures of themselves out of good things to eat - rice and beans, noodles and lentils. They also made some lovely little pictures to makes signs for the two growing beds: better late than never!