We have come to accept that sunny spells will be few and far between this summer, therefore we have chosen to embrace the rain.
Our Year 2 gardeners donned their new Garden Team waterproofs and headed out into the school garden. We are looking ahead for the Bradford Schools Flower and Vegetable Show by collecting flowers to dry over the summer. The children were set the task of identifying the lavender bushes around school and taking some cuttings to dry. They quickly realised that the easiest way to identify lavender was by its wonderfully soothing aroma. Before long, we had managed to collect an impressive bunch.
Next, we inspected the kitchen garden. We noticed that over the weekend, pea pods had begun to form on the pea plants. We also found that our courgette, carrot and lettuce plants seemed to have been enjoying the wet weather.
No visit to the kitchen garden is complete without a spot of strawberry picking. One of the children discovered a huge snail chomping on a strawberry and this set off a chain reaction of snail hunting.
The children found a whole host of snails of different colours and sizes hiding beneath the lid of the cold frame.
The obvious next step was to hold a snail race, so the children duly selected and named their competitors (snail Olympic hopefuls included Dave, Ellie and Tom) and placed them on the starting line on the playground. I am not sure who won and there was definitely more than a little enticement of snails by way of strawberries and carrot tops, but a great deal of fun was had by all.
After popping round to show the rest of the class their snaily sidekicks, the children returned the munching molluscs to the school field. There was just enough time for some obligatory puddle stomping, before returning to class (to wash off the snail poo!)
Our Year 2 gardeners donned their new Garden Team waterproofs and headed out into the school garden. We are looking ahead for the Bradford Schools Flower and Vegetable Show by collecting flowers to dry over the summer. The children were set the task of identifying the lavender bushes around school and taking some cuttings to dry. They quickly realised that the easiest way to identify lavender was by its wonderfully soothing aroma. Before long, we had managed to collect an impressive bunch.
Next, we inspected the kitchen garden. We noticed that over the weekend, pea pods had begun to form on the pea plants. We also found that our courgette, carrot and lettuce plants seemed to have been enjoying the wet weather.
No visit to the kitchen garden is complete without a spot of strawberry picking. One of the children discovered a huge snail chomping on a strawberry and this set off a chain reaction of snail hunting.
The children found a whole host of snails of different colours and sizes hiding beneath the lid of the cold frame.
The obvious next step was to hold a snail race, so the children duly selected and named their competitors (snail Olympic hopefuls included Dave, Ellie and Tom) and placed them on the starting line on the playground. I am not sure who won and there was definitely more than a little enticement of snails by way of strawberries and carrot tops, but a great deal of fun was had by all.
After popping round to show the rest of the class their snaily sidekicks, the children returned the munching molluscs to the school field. There was just enough time for some obligatory puddle stomping, before returning to class (to wash off the snail poo!)
