Wednesday 12 August 2020

Back To School


The children return to school today and here is what will greet them in the school garden:








Now it is time for a spot the difference quiz:

A

A



B


Aside from the net to keep the pigeons off the kohlrabi, the difference is that a mature bulb of Florence fennel along with its feathery plumage has been removed by an agency unknown (middle left square foot) leaving a much weaker bulb.  I hope this remaining specimen will grow on now its competition has been removed.

These are in the "Autumn" square foot bed. The neighbouring "Winter" bed is already full to brimming.  It is the Swede that has been ravaged by the pigeons here (and now has a net over it)


You would have thought a tomato in a bucket in  a greenhouse would be safe?
 

Well you would be wrong.  Somebody selected a specimen from the back of this greenhouse .  Curious because - as you can see the fence is higher than the greenhouse (7 or 8ft high)


Now before the bell rings don't forget the neighbouring wildflower meadow.  I think it is high time for a haircut!








7 comments:

  1. Oh! so interesting. I love this style of gardening, so much excitement, so many things growing together. What lucky children.

    The first pix is very attractive but the second with the two colors of lobelia in boxes is absolutely stunning. Is it really autumn there or is it late summer. Winter has come early if you talk to the plant?

    What are the coronavirus restrictions at this school?

    Here it has finally become summer as usual, 91F at 4 o'clock, nights not getting below 70F. Ugh. The worst weather of the year. Remains of the hurricane to the southwest. Some monsoonal cumulus clouds to the east. School used to start now and there was no air conditioning. I'm glad that is past me now.

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    1. Hi Jane, hope you are keeping your spirits up despite the continued restrictions. Thanks for your generous comments.

      I half jokingly say that the School Garden has to be all things to all people.

      We are hoping for an "Indian Summer" after a rather disappointing year. (But not disappointing for vegetable growers)

      The schools in Scotland are back in a full month before the neighbouring schools in England. The hygiene arrangements have been designed to reassure but one detects that the driving imperative is to get the schools open. The teachers are social distancing but the pupils are not. They are handwashing, eating packed lunches in the classrooms, having staggered starts and staggered outdoor breaks. It is undeniably a leap of faith.

      Temperatures here have only threatened 80F on one or two days. We had a slow moving electric storm pass over 24 hours ago with a month's rain in two hours. Sadly the allotment site got flooded and I spent the day cleaning up. All the same we don't have to contend with hurricanes.

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    2. Oh. How terrible. All that work for naught. Can you salvage anything?

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    3. It is the end of any salads. Everything needs to be cooked from here on. We have been here before but not for a few years. I had a load of seedlings to plant out which will now go to the school garden.

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  2. The garden looks lovely, Mal. Don’t you wish you could spray tempting crops with something nasty that would give them a dicky stomach for a while.

    To be honest. I’m glad we are retired and don’t need to go back to,work. When I was teaching after the summer break all sorts of snivel were passed on. Small children especially don’t care where they sneeze. I once estimated that each pupil in my class had a couple of floor tiles of space including space taken by their table and chair.

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    1. I share your theory. Children used to return from all corners of the world and share whatever they had picked up. Two weeks into the term and it would be mayhem. Ironically this aspect may be avoided this year with the lack of international travel(?)

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    2. I have to comment on this too. It is the same here in California. My own kids and the schoolkids all got sick the first two weeks of September and missed a day or two of school, but it was mild and they were all immune to many viruses and cold for the remainder of the year. I'm glad to be retired from teaching. Yes, ma'am.

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