Spring is in the air!

Signs of spring at Kings Copse already!

Enjoying the rain and shine!

Gardening club have been working really hard over the last few terms planting, weeding and watering and this is the time of year when we really start to see all our hard work pay off.

Of course we still need to take care of the plants and chickens over the half term and I was delighted to see how well everything was doing when I popped in yesterday. The plants have obviously enjoyed the mixture of rain and sun and everything is looking really good.

  

All the fruits in the fruit cage are doing really well and there have already been lots of strawberries ready for picking.

Delicious fresh strawberries!

Lots more strawberries will be ready to pick over the next few weeks.

  

The raspberries are doing really well but not ready to pick at the moment.

Blueberry bushes can only be watered with rainwater.

These blueberries should be ready to pick soon!

The vegetables in the raised beds are also growing fast. One of our main jobs last term was to protect them from being eaten by birds.

Our herb garden is doing really well too and smells lovely.

Of course everything needed a good watering.

The chickens have been enjoying the sunshine too!

Enjoying a stroll on the grass (and a nibble!)

The chickens need to be kept off the vegetables too!

One of our projects for next term is to replace these tired looking pots that are outside the KS2 classrooms. 

 Gardening club voted to replace them with some wooden pots which have now been ordered and are hopefully on their way. The club will then get busy replanting the flowers as well as adding some new plants so they can look beautiful once more. 

We will post photos of the new pots once they have been finished.

Rocket Seed Experiment - Update

Earlier this year Kings Copse Primary were lucky enough to take part in an 'out of this world' science experiment!

When Tim Peake blasted off to work on the International Space Station he took with him a number of rocket seeds. The experiment was to find out if being in space would affect the way the plants grow, leading to hopes that, in the future, astronauts would be able to grow their own food in space.

The seeds were sent back to Earth and, along with seeds that had not been in space, were given out to a number of schools and clubs to be planted. The growth of the seeds was carefully monitored and all the results were sent back to the RHS who used them to compile a report.

The results from Kings Copse Primary School will be included in this report, and the RHS were so impressed with the work from us that they asked to include the following picture in their report.

Year 3 compiling graphs to compare the growth of the seeds.

The RHS are meeting Tim Peake in the next few weeks to discuss the experiment. As a thank you, the RHS are compiling a photo book to be presented to Tim Peake to show him all the fantastic work that took place on Earth while he was in space. Kings Copse Primary were invited to submit up to three photos so, as well as the photo above, the following photos will be included.

Checking up on the seedlings in the greenhouse.

Gardening club did a great job planting the seeds and looking after them as they began to grow.

It is really exciting to think that Tim Peake will get to see how much we enjoyed being part of the experiment and all the hard work that all the children put in!

Gardening Club commenced again at the beginning of March.  We started by thinking about crop rotation and which borders our; alliums, roots, brassicas and legumes were to be grown. 

And then we .......

cleared last years leeks before planting peas in the legume border,  

Tidied the shed and working areas,

planted shallots, red and white onion sets in the allium border and then hung CD's to protect them from birds! 

We sowed lettuce, broad beans, sweet peas .... (but to name a few)

Moved compost ...

 cleaned out the chicken coop and had hugs!

which everyone had helped make, by composting your left over fruit, grass cutting and chicken straw.   

But we have bigger and bolder plans......

over the coming months we plan to  .........                     

1.  plant a herb garden on the strip of ground in front of years 6, 5 and 4.

2.  build a fruit cage alongside the raised borders by the chicken coop.

3.  and take part in the Rocket Science experiment.  This involves schools across the UK growing rocket seeds.  These seeds have been in space, with Tim Peake at the International Space Station.  And by us growing, watching and recording how they grow we will help inform scientists about growing food in space.  

To see Tim Peake's message to schools copy and paste the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OgSJKqDRFk