Now you see it : now you don't !

Holly Bush in place- 3:45pm Friday

It may be half-term, but that hasn't stopped us working on the garden.  There was, until this afternoon, a rather ugly, unsightly (and very prickly) holly hedge outside the Dining Hall and immediately next to the raised beds in the Centenary Vegetable Garden.  No good to man nor beast : it's only purpose appeared to be to regularly scratch unsuspecting youngsters who leant too close.  This afternoon it was removed - leaving space for Phase 2 of the Centenary Garden project.  As they say - now you see it : now you don't.   All shall be revealed shortly.

Ready for Phase 2 - 5:45pm Friday

If you look at the photographs : the first was taken at 3.45pm, the second at 5.45pm.  The roots have been removed too - which leaves a clear, flat area for the next stage of the project.  Any guesses?  

Before half-term Casper set up the PlantCam to watch the fall of the autumn leaves from one of the large trees behind the Science Lab.  Hopefully he'll return to school to find a series of time-lapse images of the tree shedding its leaves.  This he will then edit, and post on next week's blog update.

Nearly ready for the Salad Bar!

And what of the four raised beds themselves?  Again, the weather has been kind : sunlight, rain and warm temperatures mean that everything has grown fantastically over the last seven days.

Take a look at this image photographed this afternoon.  A very healthy crop awaits our return. In fact, it shouldn't be too long before we can again enjoy a Friday lunchtime 'Salad Bar' at school.

In particular, the runner beans, carrots and herb baskets have made fantastic progress. 

All the hard work and preparation the pupils put in during the early part of the term has been worth it.   The weather is so good at present that we have opened the 'windows' on the poly covers to allow the plants to breathe over the weekend.

 

Garsons Farm, Esher

And finally a mention for our friends at Garsons Farm in Esher, who have been so supportive of our project.  They have just launched their new website - which now includes a Community Section and  features our Centenary Garden blog. Visit their website  www.garsons.co.uk and follow the links to the Milbourne Lodge project.