Another busy day

There was lots of action in the garden again on Thursday. We used another bag of mulch to finish the greenhouse floor and start mulching around our hawthorn hedges. 

Lots of hands made easy work of weeding between the bushes first. We also pruned some of the hawthorn and stuck the cuttings into any gaps. Hawthorn is difficult to grow from cuttings, but some of them may root. 

We also took cuttings from our blackcurrant bushes which are much more likely to grow into new plants. We learned to tell the blackcurrant bush from other currants from its smell. These cuttings are now in pots in the greenhouse.

We sowed lots of the seeds collected from the garden over the autumn and winter. These included Nasturtiums, Great Mullein, Tree Mallow and the yellow daisy from near the pond. 

The tadpoles have hatched and are still eating some of the jelly from the frogspawn. They are tiny and very cute. 

First and Second Class have been learning about bees and pollination, so we had fun coming up with bee dances, which is how they communicate with each other, where the best flowers and nesting sites are. 

The greenhouse has arrived

Annette from Heritage in Schools was back today for another busy, sunny day in the garden. The new Heptagon House greenhouse has arrived, so we covered the floor with lots of cardboard to keep the grass down. This will eventually rot away and become compost. We have added bark mulch on top to create a path and potting area and will make beds for planting into soon.

Wildflowers are starting to appear in our new orchard/meadow out the front of the school. We added some Comfrey here to help keep the Apple trees happy. 

We also planted some turnips, lettuce, and potatoes and took away lots of last year's dead stems from the perennial plants. The frogspawn in the pond was examined closely, some tadpoles might appear very soon. We spotted pond skaters and diving beetles too. 

Well Being Mandalas

To mark National Tree Week and Well Being Week in An Grianán, Ms Cahalin facilitated creative workshops for all classes in our gorgeous outdoor classroom. The pupils enjoyed identifying the native Irish trees and had great fun doing the scavenger hunt. They then used their finds to create some beautiful nature art. The senior classes learned all about Mandalas and created some beautiful Mandalas themselves using the natural resources around them! What better way to boost your mood and well being than to spend some time in nature. We're so lucky that our outdoor classroom and garden is the perfect spot for such a mini wellness retreat!