Daylesford Infants’ Eco Group!
Over the last five years we have cultivated several gardens here at Daylesford. 10 children from our Years 1 and 2 make up our Thursday Eco Group. With help from their parents and teachers have been the guiding force in deciding how the gardens were laid out and developed. We also had help from the local Melbick Nurseries.
Here is a summary of the 4 gardens accompanied by a photo gallery charting the work done to build them over the last few years:
- The Eco-Garden - this is an area featuring a natural pond that attracts local wildlife such as amphibians, insects and birds for the children to observe and learn about.
- The Storytellers’ Garden - this is an area populated by a variety of scented pot plants - it is a lovely area to spend time in.
- The Vegetable Garden - here we have been growing peas, carrots, courgettes, runner beans, beetroot, lettuce and potatoes, which were especially successful and the children were thrilled to be able to take these home with them!
- The Fairy Garden - This is a natural play area with bark chippings and other natural materials only - no tarmac here!
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- The volunteers.
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- The very start of the environmental club with staff, parents and volunteers making the environmental garden.
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- Erecting the fence so we can have a pond in the environmental garden.
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- Finding worms in our new garden.
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- Pond donated by Melbicks Nursery - May 2007
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- Growing plants for our garden.
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- An indoor display to highlight the importance of saving water.
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- Planting hedge-rows - Spring 2008
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- Saturday working party helping to maintain environmental area.
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- Working Party - June 2007
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- After the working party - June 2007
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- Eco-club 2008 - this photo was published in the Birmingham Evening Mail as PerTemps donated £400 to develop our vegetable garden.
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- Working party making the vegetable garden - Spring 2009
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- Vegetable garden nearly finished.
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- Building work finished - Spring 2009
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- Courgettes - 2009
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- Our lettuces - Summer 2009
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- Eating the produce - 2009
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- Watering our runner beans - 2009
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- Watering the carrots - 2009
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- The Fairy Garden before 2009
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- After a parent got his work colleagues to volunteer there time and skills - May 2009
A woodland trail connects the gardens and next year we hope to install a new vegetable garden which can host a plot for each year to tend. The other children are already eager to get started and love getting involved with watering duties and any other attention the gardens need. Because the children have had a big hand in making the decisions about what the gardens include and how they are laid out, they are very proud of what a success they have been. In 2007 we even won a Be Smart Award!
We couldn’t have acheived all of this without a lot of help from the parents and staff that have helped out, and would like to say a big thankyou to them for all their efforts, but they are very much the children’s gardens and their input has made all the difference!
Posted on July 24th, 2009 by Agent Chatterley
Hi
I am so happy to read about your work in eco-programmes. For me it’s a learning lesson because i am also working on eco-schools in the Makoni District with eco-rangers Rusape and we have seven schools. I am willing to learn a lot from you.
Keep it up,
Andrew
Comment posted on July 25th, 2009 at 5:39 pmCongratulations on the formation of your Eco Group and the creation of 4 such interesting gardens! We at Roots & Shoots would love to see any photos as they may inspire other schools to try something similar.
Comment posted on September 1st, 2009 at 12:52 pmGood luck with your new vegetable garden, we look forward to hearing how it progresses!