..and a month even longer

Where did May go?  Can hardly believe we are at the end of the month already.  The weather is still very changeable, making it difficult to get growing, plant outside and the seeds sulk, leave in pots in the tunnel and they wither during the occasional hot day.  However, these are typical gardening challenges and the pupils and plants rise to them.

So far the tomatoes and chillis are doing well inside, and we hope to have lots of plants to sell at the next Farmers Market on 12 July.  We have 4 different types of tomatoes, so far they all look  the same so they have all been labelled, lets hope the right labels have gone in each pot!

The chillis are growing fast, how soon before they catch the tomatoes?

Most of the producers who came to our first Farmers market in March have agreed to return and we are hoping to attract some new local food businesses too.  Watch this space for more details.

Outside the polytunnel there are carrots, beetroot and salads in the raised beds all growing, the beetroot and carrots took a while to germinate, but are getting going now.  The onions and garlic planted last autumn are looking good, and hopefully this latest spell of rain will help the bulbs to swell.

Whatever the weather where you are when you read this – Happy Gardening!

A week is a long time in gardening..

A week ago I was writing about the cold, now the sun has come out and all seems so much better with the world and the garden in particular.  Suddenly Spring is here and it’s a busy time to get all the veg planted to be ready for the next Farmers Market in July.

In the poly tunnel the warmer weather has bought a new challenge, keeping the plants watered.  We have only one water butt in the garden,  fed from a very small piece of guttering, so it takes a long time to fill.  In the run up to the last  farmers market the children enthusiastically watered the salad crops and emptied the butt in the process. We have not had enough rain to refill it so we have a water shortage.  The only outside tap is the other side of the playground, we are waiting for an other tap to be installed closer to the garden so in the meantime it’s lots of trips with watering cans.

However with the warmer weather we can get on with planting more outside, where the veg can fend for itself, taking up moisture from the soil  and not relying on us all the time.

I am hoping that this week we can get salads planted out, and that will reduce the watering needed in the poly tunnel.

The strawberries in pots are coming on, I saw the first flower buds this morning, so maybe we will get a crop in a couple of months.

Last week the children from 4/5 class planted some tomatoes. 7 days on no sign yet, but that really is a bit soon for germination.  They have planted a selection of varieties including cherry tomatoes, a cascading variety suitable for hanging baskets and a striped tomato.  I’m looking forward to seeing that one fruit.

This week 2/3 will be planting.  They will be concentrating on root crops, carrots and beetroot in particular, so it is good that the weather has warmed the soil ready for them to plant.  However, before planting the root crops they are in an experiment with schools in France and Estonia to compare growing sunflowers, and today is planting day.

Happy gardening!

Brrr it’s Spring time!

It is hard to believe we are well into April when the weather remains so cold. Easter is over and the daffodils are still in bud, snowdrops still flowering and the soil is so cold.  Usually it’s a bonus if there are still daffodils left in bloom for Easter Sunday, I think this year they may still be flowering in May.

Luckily with the poly tunnel we are able to carry on planting, but with everything growing well it will be a challenge to harden off the more mature plants enough so they can be planted and thrive outside in the next couple of weeks.

The children are back at school a thoughts are turning towards our next Farmers Market, scheduled for Friday 12 July.  After the runaway success of our first attempt we have a standard to live up to, and customers will be expecting lots of plants !

The first class to get started were the youngest class who planted a number of potato sacks with ‘first early’ varieties, planting them in March should mean they are ready for July.  Yum, the idea of freshly harvested new potatoes is mouthwatering.  We will move the sacks to outside their class room so the children can keep a daily watch for the first shoots as they germinate, and will let you know in this blog.  Thanks to Sita and WCC for the compost used for planting.

The other classes except the year 5/6 group will get started this week. The oldest children have some tests to prepare for and will get planting at the end of May.  It will be interesting to see if delaying planting will have much effect.  While it remains so cold seeds are struggling to germinate outside.

Our friends at Keder Greenhouses came in during the Easter break to repair the tunnel, a seam had come away from the frame, it’s nice and cosy in the tunnel now.  Many thanks

One new development is our link with Radio Abbey at Kenilworth.  We will be creating a series of Pea-Podcasts, an audio diary of our growing year at Ferncumbe school.  I’ll post links as they are broadcast, it all started with an interview at the recent Kenilworth Retail Fair .

Pupil Power!

The farmers market was a roaring success on Friday 8 March.  The school was packed from start to finish with many of the producers running out of supplies before the end of the day.

Everyone had a great time and we raised a staggering £600!  There was a real buzz in the playground that has continued since the market, with all the children keen to get growing for the next event and all the producers keen to participate next time.

So many thanks required to the school, to all the staff particularly all those who helped clear up afterwards to the parents and customers for coming and spending money… Then of course there are all the producers

•Bird boxes, sweet peas and biscuits by Northleigh

•Beef by Lynne and David Williams

•Bread by Crustum

•Cakes and crafts by Hatton Park WI

•Cheeses by Fowlers of Earlswood

•Cordials by Carolyn Reilly

•Honey and beeswax products by Retro Bee

•Sausages and pork by Haseley Mill Pigs

•Teas and cakes by The Friends of Ferncumbe

There were the generous raffle prizes donated by

Garden Organic

Barnclose nurseries

Monsoon estates

And it all resulted in good local press coverage in the

Stratford Herald

Warwick Courier

Big thanks to Faye Walters at Soil association for all her help, particularly with the press releases

It was a fabulous day!

Hear about it on Abbey Radio, Kenilworths community radio station

The Final Countdown…

.. to the Farmers Market. Less than 48 hours away!

We are looking forward to welcoming 7 local producers to our market which will feature 5 stalls from the school and 1 from our local school partner, Northleigh.

The children have been working very hard to grow crocus, herbs, daffodils, lettuce, peas and strawberry plants.  They are looking forward to selling them to you all on Friday between 2.30 and 4pm.

More next week when I’ll tell you how it went

Keep it Cold!

What! A gardener wanting it to stay cold?   There is a reason…

The bulbs planted before Christmas to be in flower for the Farmers Market in 4 weeks’ time, have been too keen, some of the daffodils and crocus are in bud, so we are relying on the weather to slow them down.  They have to hang on another month.

Our customers will not want to buy foliage, they want the buds!  We moved all the bulbs out of the poly-tunnel last week to try to slow them down.  So we are hoping for the cold weather to continue to stop them flowering yet.

The remaining plans for the market are going well.  The other classes have sown salad and herb crops and they are all germinating nicely.  The top class are planning their sunflower competition and there is a team at school designing posters for the local notice boards.

Our friends at Northleigh are building bird boxes and planting sweet peas, and Faye at the Soil Association has been finding local producers to come and sell their products, including

• Beeswax products and honey
• Beef
• Breads
• Cheese and chutneys
• Cordials
• Sausages

The WI is running a stall and the PTA will be selling teas and cupcakes.

Various stalls will have eggs, biscuits and sweets to sell.  All in all plenty of reasons for you to come and see us on 8 March at 2.30 and to buy your Mother’s Day treats.

There will be more about the Farmers Market and the garden next time.  In the meantime, keep warm and Happy Planting!

And the rain came down…

…And the flood came up.  Bit distracted from this blog by the torrential rain we had over the weekend which resulted in some neighbours getting flooded.  It makes you feel very small and helpless when you watch the water rise even though you are bailing as fast as you can.

At school its carry on regardless, the polytunnel is keeping us dry as we plant more strawberries and daffodils.  As it was dry on Friday the gardening club planted onion sets and peas.  The soil was pretty claggy, but the great advantage of the raised beds is that the soil remains uncompacted and reasonably easy to work what ever the conditions.  Here is hoping these seeds germinate.

Preparation for the Farmers Market continues.  We had a good planning meeting with Faye and Will from the Soil Association and Andrea from Northleigh.  The school is getting behind the project with the Reception class planting pots of crocus, so 2 of the 5 classes are on their way with the project.  The daffodils planted by class 2/3 a couple of weeks ago are starting to show tiny green shoots.  Very exciting!

Hatton Park WI  and the school PTA (Friends of Ferncumbe) have pledged their support to the market too. We just need a few more local producers and we’ll have a full house.  Can’t wait to see how this all comes together over the next months

Keep dry; try to keep off veg growing areas as much as possible and Happy Gardening!