Horton start planting outside 01/04/08

Today we discovered that the seeds we left in water have swelled and began to sprout. Quite exciting. Also looked at some seed potato which were sending forth some quite spectacular sprouts. We actually got into the garden and planted potatoes and peas in the three beds. not quite as scientifically as I would have hoped as it is quite hard to keep eyes on 7 enthusiastic children, but we shall see...

Minsterworth sow some seed at last! 28/3/08

Friday came and so did gales and rain. Unfortunately I had loaded the car with horse manure and compost Thursday night, and didn't fancy unpacking it again. So it got taken to Minsterworth despite the weather and duly deposited beside the new beds. The children were talking about "Sowing the Seed" in their School Council meeting.

As the weather was so lousy we spend some time looking at runner bean seeds, drawing them, singing about them and finally planting them (lots of floor sweeping necessary.) Oh yes, and we decided it would be a good idea to glue some soil on to the pictures for added realism...

Really hoping to get the beds finished next Friday and actually get some seeds in!

Horton - the beds are ready 26/3/08

Class 5 showed their muscle power! They took to the garden like ducks to water. We now have three fairly large trial plots. One was composted two months ago and dug. We have left that to its own devices. The next was also composted and dug two months ago but we have redug that. The third has not been dug since this time last year. So we covered it with 4 cm horse manure, and then 2 cm of municipal compost. This will be our "no-dig" bed.

We then tackled the compost heap. An explosive activity as a rotten orange exploded all over my head. Very funny. The compost was very slimy and not well rotted at all! Maybe the children can prepare a fact sheet about composting for Horton!

Minsterworth mud bath!

Friday the 14th March 2008


We decided to make the most of the beautiful sunny morning and began to dig the "Dig" plot. Some of the children got a bit carried away and also dug the molehills and playing field...We found lots of interesting life in the soil - big juicy worms, ants and eggs, larvae. Also lots of other bits and bobs including pottery, coal, old crushed glass etc leading us to think that we had stumbled across an old rubbish heap belonging to one of the houses nearby.

Next time we hope to bring wood and compost and get the "no dig" bed up and running.

Watch this space!

Worm-fest at Horton

Today was our first session with the children at Horton. Years 4 and 5 were fearless when it came to holding the (very wriggly) worms! We set up a wormery to explore how important worms are in mixing and aereating soils.

We also took a look at a teaspoon of soil and had some guesses at the amount of micro-organisms present (something like 6 billion!)

The children are all keen to start digging, and not digging, and growing! Their favourite veg are carrots, tomatoes, runner beans, cucumbers amd peas so hopefully we'll have some of these for them to taste in June.

Next week we'll be setting up the plots and taking a closer look at soils.

National Science and Engineering Week

This runs from 7 - 16 March 2008. Whilst we are not arranging any formal event for this, we are starting the project in both schools during NSEW. We are hoping that next year we will be able to deliver a more formal event open to more people.
Find out more about NSEW week here.

Schools Confirmed

For now we have two schools taking part in the project. We are working on funding so that next year those others that have expressed interest will be able to be involved.

Horton CE VA Primary, South Gloucestershire, already embraces many health-driven initiatives, including walking to school, composting, walking clubs. Its small garden is already established, but the head teacher is happy for us to rearrange the garden to allow for our experiments! We have a weekly timetabled slot with about 8 pupils.

Minsterworth Primary, Gloucestershire, also has an existing garden and lots of parental support. We hope to fit into the Science curriculum there, with lots of opportunities for learning about the soil through nature art!