Insect hotels

Thanks to Lily Wilson's Dad, Scott, we now have two very impressive insect hotels in our edible gardens. Scott very kindly built these out of pallets and he even went the extra mile by adding a roof and some signage for the hotels. We had a great morning filling the hotels with a variety of natural materials, including cardboard, pine cones, twigs, bricks and leaves. We have already seen insects moving into their flash new accommodation and our Room 16 students have been enjoying looking at the insect hotel through the classroom window. Here's some photos for you to enjoy.

Friday afternoon help

Weather permitting I am usually out in the garden on Friday's, and in the afternoon Shannyn Oakes often comes and gives me a hand. She works really hard in the garden, and although she might not be our tallest student, she certainly pulls her weight and is not afraid to get stuck in. I am always grateful of the help Shannyn gives me and she is becoming a very knowledgeable gardener. Recently Shannyn and I were interviewed by two of her classmates, Josh and Ryan. Here is the short video the boys made about or time in the garden.

Here's Shannyn taking a mighty barrow load of weeds to the bin

And relaxing in the wheelbarrow after a hard afternoon's work. Way to go Shannyn! 

The shortest day is fast approaching.....

Winter has sprung, and things have slowed down in the garden. We had a mixed bag of weather in May, having more than one, 'in a hundred year' rain event, soaking our gardens. Things seems to have calmed down a bit now, with cold sunny days and plenty of decent frosts.

The plants might have slowed down but we sure haven't! Ron and his whanau have finished off the pallet planters and put the planks in place on the front of the compost bins, so our super deluxe composting system is all ready to go. Room 16 and I have set up a new worm farm, and Reuben Hill has put the plastic in the greenhouse. Room 8 and Room 16 have filled the pallet planters with pea straw and good growing soil, all ready for the spring. Last week they made carrot, orange and ginger soup and herb scones, which they enjoyed making and sharing. Whilst the scones were baking the Room 8 senior students helped our newest students, from Room 16, do some writing about our time in the garden. Great team work!

The Seniors helping the New Entrant students fill the pallet planters with pea straw and soil 

Chopping the herbs from the garden for the scones

The herb scones were delicious. 

Reuben putting the finishing touches to the greenhouse 

We're in the process of setting up the wiring systems for our espalier fruit trees, and thanks to Mrs McInnes, we now have blackcurrants planted in our edible garden. Yum! The fruit trees should be arriving next month, so now's a good time to get the wiring in place. We'll have two types of plums, two pears and three different varieties of apple out in the garden. Plenty of options for those that have forgotten their fruit break. 

The shortest day is fast approaching, so we'll be out in the garden again next week planting garlic. We'll also be building an insect hotel and making bird feeders. Fingers crossed for a dry day. In a couple of weeks we're putting on an afternoon tea as a thanks for our volunteers. The boys class have offered to help out with the baking and organising the event - Thanks boys! Oh and did I mention that the New Entrant students will be setting up a stall selling worm tea and some produce from the garden?