A small number of nurseries and schools who visit my allotment on Journeys of Discovery have asked us to work with their outdoor spaces, running gardening/forest school type workshops. This has ranged from running occasional planting sessions with small groups of pre schoolers during the growing season, to designing a brand new outdoor teaching environment/ garden..Our biggest project has been to help create a beautiful garden in Acton (Melrose nursery school), where we run weekly gardening/forest school workshops for ten children (usually two groups of 5 for 25mns each).
Since 2015, during the Summer and Autumn terms, we have been very busy! Below are a few pictures of what we have got up to. Some of the activities include:
-Growing potatoes, herbs, strawberries, green beans, edible flowers, wild flowers, spinach, pumpkin, sunflowers, broad beans, elephant garlic and wild garlic, onions, swede, kale, blackcurrants, an apple tree and sweet peas
-Creating a bug hotel, pond, edible wigwam, weather station, sun catcher, superhero scarecrow, bird feeders, xmas decorations, fir cone display, frog hibernation area, compost heaps
-Decorating stepping stones, harvesting produce, making wildflower bookmarks, stroking slow worms, going on bug treasure hunts, finding wriggly worms, cooking veg crisps, brewing herb tea and weeding the horseradish!
“I just LOVE LOVE LOVE what you do with the kids Tash, that garden is YOUR classroom forever now, you do realise that?!” Rose, owner of Melrose nursery school, Acton W3.
If you would like advice about how to make the most of your outside space, or would like to check our availability or enquire about prices for us to run gardening sessions, please contact us by email. Please be aware we have very limited availability to run these workshops so please book early to avoid disappointment. (We advise several months before you would like us to come in.)