The Garden Share Collective: December 2013

December 1, 2013 by Elaine 8 Comments

November seems to have passed in a flash and in the school garden, not much has changed really. With the advent of colder, wetter weather gardening club has more or less been placed on hold, although some of the older children have helped with a few of the winter jobs.

There is nothing really left to harvest, although the spinach and some of the kale are holding on for dear life and even the weeds are sitting huddled where they are, having decided, evidently, to keep their roots curled up tight in a warm bundle rather than spread them into the colder, less welcoming surroundings.

The beans which we plan to use for seed saving have been gathered in by the year 5s and 6s and are drying out in the polytunnel and the onion sets are still waiting to be planted which will probably be later this week (it is the 25^th November as I type). As for the poly tunnel, the tomato and chilli plants have now been added to the compost bins and only the strawberry runners are left to enjoy its’ protective shelter and relative warmth. The children have also started to clear the beds and tubs but there is still plenty more work that needs to be done, including:

• Finishing off the bed clearing;
• Tidying up the poly tunnel;
• Clearing the Courtyard Garden out and revitalising the planters and raised bed in that area;
• Enriching the raised beds and half barrels;
• Planting the onion sets out; and
• Labelling the jars of plum chutney ready for sale at the school fair.

So all in all not much to report but please do go and check out the other blog postings in this months’ Garden Share Collective. Some of these are from Australia and New Zealand and so they are actually enjoying the spring and their gardens are very productive at the moment. There are also other UK gardens which may well have got a lot more done this last month than we have but do check back this time next month when, hopefully, there will be a little bit more to report and maybe even some pictures of our nice tidy but slumbering garden.