Tuesday
31st January 2017
Winter
Wonderland
After a winter of business
preparation sessions with Siobhan…it was time to start the hard work again!
On a cold, January day we set off
for a walk along the fields to our allotment plot. We are so lucky to be able
to live and work here with stunning views of the Blyth Valley to accompany us
along the way. With a little impromptu geography, the pupils were able to
pinpoint both Blythburgh water tower and Southwold lighthouse from the ridge. Wonderful exercise to be out in the fresh air too...we estimated 3000 steps to the allotment and back!
On arrival it became clear just
how close the new houses were to our plot. The shadow cast be the nearest house
covered one half of our allotment…and this half was still frozen solid so we
decided to focus our efforts on removing the weeds from the half of the plot
that was still in sunlight. With a little further geography we worked out that
the sun would be overhead by the time the planting season was in full swing so
we weren’t too worried about the present shadow.
So using our knowledge of weeds…we
set to work! The weeds with shallow roots we decided to pull out and compost. The
weeds with tap roots or runners we decided to dig out, collect, bag and destroy in the
school bin. With all of our hard work the last thing we needed were weeds growing
back through our perfect soil!
By the end of the session one half
of the allotment was complete. We could now cover that section in weed
suppressant…another calculation/area job for the year 5/6 class to have an
opportunity to apply their learning!
Our next challenge w as to dig over the remaining half of the plot...we would then be ready to construct and fit our six raised beds into place.
