Summer time!

We've had amazing weather for the last few weeks and the garden is thriving and buzzing with life. Yesterday was another really productive day with Annette from Heritage in Schools and we even found some time for storytelling.

We finished off some weeding and added more compost to the rest of the garden beds. Lots of new plants were added to any gaps including annuals like Cosmos and Calendula and perennials such as Ragged Robin and Geum. We included more edible flowers like Borage and Nasturtium too.

The vegetable beds also had any gaps filled with new additions like Kohl Rabi, Kale and Leeks as well as a variety of Lettuce. There are pods on the Broadbeans and the Onions and Garlic are nearly ready. We're still harvesting the Purple Sprouting Broccoli too.

In the Greenhouse Senior Infants planted a Fig Tree and Junior Infants added a Grape Vine. We hope to have lots of fruit before they leave the school in a few years! We also planted Lettuce, Calendula and Strawberries in here. 

We spotted lots of butterflies and bees on all the plants. The bees especially like the Comfrey. A special butterfly that we saw is the Holly Blue, which is very rare in this part of the country.

We added lots more bark mulch around the garden as well, especially in areas where it's hard to mow like between the vegetable beds and between the pond and the sensory bed. This should keep the weeds down too. 

Bealtaine in the garden

 

Today is the first day of summer and the garden is really springing back to life. We talked about the Ancient Fire festivals at the changing of the seasons and noticed all the signs of summer around us already.

Junior and Senior Infants heard the story of Sionnan and how the Shannon got it's name and we added lots of sounds and movement. 

Many flowers are starting to reappear. We spotted an Orange-tip butterfly and were delighted to see its food plant, the Cuckoo Flower, has appeared in our wildflower meadow at the front of the school.

The tadpoles have also grown a lot in the last few weeks and the pond plants have reappeared and are doing their job well, keeping the water clean.

A year after sowing the seeds the Purple Sprouting Broccoli is finally ready to harvest. Radishes, Chives and Fennel were also ready for tasting. The Broadbeans are flowering and the Garlic, Onions and Potatoes are growing well too. Some of the seeds we sowed recently in the greenhouse have also sprouted and the beds are now ready for planting up. The water harvesting system has been set up and we will soon have rainwater for watering our plants.

We also got lots more mulch and compost spread on the spiral beds and around the sensory plants and fruit bushes near the pond. We are all looking forward to seeing how everything continues to grow for the rest of the summer.