George came in this morning skipping full of the joys of spring, telling us how sunny it was outside. He asked if we could all go out to play in the sunshine
We decided to get out buckets and trowels to do a little weeding in the front garden because as George put it “tis a mess!”
George was so eager he went full bull in a china shop and pulled out the first flower he found, shoving it in my face. “Tracie, Tracie is this a weed?” “No George thats not a weed thats my tulip!”
“ I will take it home for my mummy she loves red roses!”
Elsie found a wiggly worm and called us over to have a look. Elsie moved on and found a snail which she described as “sticky, yuk” so I had to pick it up.
We just kept finding bugs so decided to ditch the weeding (probably safer if we want our flowers to survive George!) and turn the activity into a bug hunt.
We ended up finding, an ants nest with loads of ants marching around, a lily Beatle, lots of wood louse, a ladybird and a carrot! A carrot!! Guess who found that!!!
Yes George, found the carrot!
We went over nearer the house and found a lovely red Crocosmia, a hidden pansy, a blue Felicia and a fly on a leaf. This time it wasn’t George who found it, ‘twas Elsie’
CrocosmiaPansyFeliciaA fly on a leaf
What a lovely day out in the garden, lets hope the sun is shining tomorrow.
Today we walked around the garden to look at all the changes we made last year and to make notes on what we want to plan for this year.
Spring In The Garden
The winding footpath we made last year is ideal for walking and running about avoiding the messy mud. The children love how they can run around and peep through the planting bug hunting, plant spotting and watching everything grow. They love the bug pile and saw some worms and ants.
Cold FrameOur Seeds Are Now Young PlantsGeorgia PlantingPetunia
We have sown all our bedding plants this year to save money, we also used peat free compost to help save our planet. The seeds have now grown into healthy young plants so we potted them on, ( put into bigger pots) and put them into the cold frame to wait for the last frost, we will then put them in our living wall.
This years project is to make the decking area into a nicer living ‘Outdoor Classroom’ We have chosen
Petunia, Lobelia and Fuchsia’s to have trailing, ground cover in the vertical wall garden. We will add the Herbs (growing in our greenhouse) for tasting and smelling into the wall as soon as they have matured.
We have Roses, Honeysuckle, Jasmine and Passiflora for climbing up the trelliss and giving off a floral fragrance. Our aim is to make the ‘Outdoor Classroom stimulate all our five senses. To make the decking more accessible for the babies we are going to add Astro turf so it’s safer for them to crawl and play on.
We were so excited to see our frogs while out and about, they were keeping an eye on their spawn, this will soon turn into tadpoles and frogs. Tracie taught us how to carefully remove some of the water weeds and she added some bunches of watercress to freshen up the pond to make the water less Murky so we can see the pond life without disturbing them.
Clear Water Small PondApple Tree PondMr Croak Mrs CroakSpawn
Our Big Plans For This Year 2023:
We have decided in our living classroom we are going to:
Lay artificial grass to make the decking completely baby friendly.
Make a toy box storage area for outdoor equipment
Pot up the Herbs and make labels.
Make a water feature for relaxing sound and to have water play
In the Greenhouse we are going to grow:
Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Loofa , Chilli and start off our Cabbage, Cauliflower, and Broccoli
Sow winter flowering plants to give out Garden all year color and edibles.
In the front garden:
We want to encourage more wildlife in, so we are thinking about making a new pond, putting in more hedging, and adding some hidden bird feeders.
So we have BIG plans, so keep watching our blogs to see how we go….
In our ‘Oddbox’ our weekly wonky vegetable box we had three garlic bulbs. We decided we didn’t need all three so we cut the top off to see if it would grow.
Grace placed it on a saucer of water and this it what happened!
We are going to have an abundance of home grown garlic to last us all year!!
Back in January the Wonderers and Rangers started a Hydroponic experiment to see how we could grow our fruit and vegetables without using soil.
Drip From Top Using PumpLeft PumpAnd Lights Right Just Lights
We started with three main units, 2 small table top appliances one which had built in lights and a pump system and another, a still water system with lights built in. Tracie was then very lucky to have had a third brought for a present, a vertical pump system which needed grow lights added.
First seeds
The built in pump systems work by pumping water constantly around the root system moving nutrients (added to the water) and providing air flow. We found these seeds germinated quickest out of the 3 systems used. We kept a constant eye on the water levels and nutrient PH.
Pump and Built in Lights
We found once the plants had grown their second true leaves they started to look like they were wilting. The children came to the conclusion that the lights were scorching them so we raised the lights to see if there would be any improvement.
The root system was amazing, Alfie (one of our seedlings) described them as white wiggly worms. The problem was we they were filling up the units so we decided to trim them back a little to give them room to grow. We found this made the plants less stable and they toppled over.
Chloe and Mason researched using the ipad about hydroponics and found yet another system. it was much bigger and they thought it would provide the roots more space.
3 Story system
We had fun building the unit together, we had to buy even more lights to go around the systems which was a bit pricey. This is essential as they provide the artificial daylight to enhance photosynthesis that plants need to enable them with added nutrients to grow big and strong.
Pump Systems
I asked the children if they had thought about ways we can store all the crops once grow. We discussed having to stagger growing, freezing and giving their parents some to take home.
Pepper
Our plant are thriving better in the bigger system. However they are getting so big again they are starting to topple over. Tracie moved one tomato plant into its own ‘homemade’ system where we add tomato feed and we are waiting to see if it helps.
Tomato PlantChilli Beans Cherry Tomato
We will keep you up to dates later in the year to see how it all works.
The children were amazed watching the snow falling.
It settled very quickly and started to pile up on the outside door frame. George thought it looked cold, Elsie wanted to build a snowman and we think Elliott wanted to eat it because he kept licking the window!! Yucky!!
The children are loving the bright Daffodils in the park and our garden at the moment.
Our Daffodils
We have been reading the Poem by William Wordsworth about the lively dancing Daffodils, we decided to make beautiful pictures of them for a display to brighten up out playroom.
William Wordsworth Poem
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
The poem is about being one who is close to nature and enjoys in its company and never feel sad or lonely. Nature is the greatest gift or blessing to mankind. It has the power to heal our miseries, learn and make us lively again.
We’ll finally after wanting one for years we have a Green house! Whoop Whoop
However it was not easy to put together. Gemma came around to help, it took us three days of total frustration to get it together.
We had to start with the base, we soon found out we needed a wooden base for the metal one to sit on!
We tried hard to follow the instructions but they didn’t make sense! we finally got the sides up then found the window fixers wouldn’t fit!
We had to take everything apart and start again making sure the ridge was on the outside for the glass.
When we finally got it up (Chloe helped too!) we realised it wasn’t suitable for the area we had erected it, so had to take it down and then put it up AGAIN!
Finally its in place and is full of growing plants.
Today with the Wonderers, we set up our Hydroponic System to start growing our Fruit and vegetables using air and water rather than soil.
First of all we discussed how we grow our plants. Mason said he remembers sowing the seeds last year in modular trays and soil. Chloe explained her mum uses coco coir at home to grow house plants.
Alfie said he grows his in the garden using the dirt and wiggly worms.
Unpacking The System Working Out How To Put It Together Slotting In Place The Pump And Light Stick
I explained to the group all about hydroponics and how it actually works. We started by opening the box to see what was inside. As soon as Alfie saw all the bits he was off to play, Mason said he wanted to plant the seeds but not read the instructions with us, so he went off to play too! Chloe was a superstar and read out the instructions, we then started to build the system so it was ready to sow the seeds.
Placing The Module TrayThe Lights NextMain Set Up DoneLights and Pump Working
We followed the instructions very carefully and managed to attach the pump, light arm, lights and base together.
Electric PlugSetting The Timer
Next steps where to fit the electric cable and plug it in. Chloe carefully pressed the switch and the lights and pump turned on. Wow it was very bright and I told the children not to look at them, guess what they did, looked at them.
There were a few instructions to read to explain the buttons on the top of the unit. The buttons turned on the lights and enables you to adjust the brightness, set the time for 16hrs a day and off for rest periods.
The Domes Fertiliser’s
We were now ready to fill the system, we started by mixing the two types of fertiliser A and B together to make up a litre of solution. We then carefully poured the solution into the unit and the pump kicked in making a bubbling noise.
Because Chloe had helped to set the system up I let her choose the first two seeds to sow, she chose Chilli Peppers and Water Lily seeds. She carefully put them into the hole which was already in the centre of the Medium provided with the system.
Mason Chose Peppers and Tomatoes Chloe Sowing Her SeedsMason Helping AlfieChloe Looking At It All Set UpAll Finished And Lets Hope It Works!
Mason chose Sweet Peppers and Hanging Tomatoes, Alfie wanted to grow herbs and lettuce. We also added Cabbages, Broccoli, Onion and Cauliflower.
Chloe put the little domes onto each seed box, this will keep the moisture and heat inside which will help germinate the seeds quicker.
Now we need to check them everyday and make notes on what grows first, how long it takes to grow, how big it grows and any other useful information we want to document.
We will be adding to the blog and letting you know how it works, so watch this space….
This week the Chloe from Rangers wanted to make a window display in honour of all the soldiers who gave their life and courage to protect out country. She has been learning about Remembrance day in school and wears her Poppy with pride.
Chloe
First, Chloe helped to design a Poppy on the iPad, we then photocopied it for everyone to be able to decorate it. Sophie and Chloe made theirs first. Chloe wanted to colour hers in and paint the middle black. Sophie copied Chloe’s design.
SophieColouring In Sophie
Sophie loved her poppy so much she wanted to take it home for mummy. She also wanted to have it displayed on the window so she ended up painting one too! Isn’t it pretty!
IzzyElsieCharlie MartieAll The Seedlings Having a goGeorgeEdie
All the seedlings took it in turns to make their own Poppy. We used Paint, pens, pencils and lots and lots of red glitter!
Everyone had fun for Halloween this year, Emma and her family looked amazing. They were very scary and got up to lots of mischief.
EmmaLeoEmma’s Family
Poppy chose not to be scary but join in by wearing her favourite Anime costume. Her jacket stands out on a dark night, which keeps her safe when out and about trick or treating.
Poppy
Alfie from the seedlings was such a cute bat. He even tried to sleep upside down on the soft play!
AlfiePumpkin Carving Working togetherSpooky
The Rangers all helped each other to carve the pumpkins. They were very careful while using the vegetable knives. I am so glad they carved them outside, the mess was phenomenal!
Kinetic Sand Spider DipBonfire Night Role-play Hunt the spiders
The Rangers and Wanderers enjoyed the carving and apple bobbing the best. The Seedlings enjoyed the hunting for buried spiders, Tracie put a few treats in the sand for them to find for a surprise.
Tracie's Treasures 