Growing Schools in Whitley

2008-11-08T18:42:00.002Z

Oh sorry seem to have lost some of the photos below.. not sure why. Lots of new stuff on my Permaculture at Chickenshack blog, and updates on Sector39. I have been busy since the Whitley schools project this blog talks about.. But there is lots of interesting archive stuff on here.

2007-06-02T22:52:00.000Z

here is one of the forest garden beds we made last year starting to really settle in, this spring. the deep straw and compost mulch has started to really rot down and feed up the tired soil which is now full of worms and other signs of life. Most of the plants have survived and are growing back strongly, except some of the smaller understory plants, which struggled to get established in the deep mulch beds. Its easy enough to add more now, which we did.
Here is the pond at Geoffrey field Junior school, and a yellow flag Iris that I put in a few months ago. The root development is impressive, and even though the plant was fully floating in the water, it was growing happily. On the whole we were astounded by the sheer amount of pond life in the newly created pond, the water was fresh, and apart from the odd crisp packet, clean and healthy and teaming with water fleas, boatmen, and all sorts of other larvae, fantastic!

View across the forest garden at GF juniors, The idea was to create a bit of a refuge from all the mayhem around, layers of taller and shorter plants, many of which are fruiting and aromatic It will take a couple of years before it really comes into its own, mean while we have added textures and vertical height with tree stups and wood chips.

Here's a view looking down, its still early spring and many of the plants are only just beginning to show them selves

Rustic Furniture, made on the Chickenshack permaculture course, not part of our schools work currently, but I would like to involve more craft work such as this in the projects. It is very satisfying making simple fun furniture for the garden

We have worked with several different sets of volunteers over the project. Doing their bit for the community, on day release from their normal jobs. What struck me was the sheer amount of skills and talents there is out there, in the drivers and delivery people, office workers and personel officers, who don't normally get a chance to be creative with their hands. A joy to work with!

Soak away/Mulch pit for a water tank. The idea here is the where there will be a big water storage tank, it can over flow into a pit, to encourage water to soak into the compacted clay ground. we will plant bamboos around here, which will enjoy the damp conditions

Here is our secret to establishing gardens on tired compacted school grounds. A thick straw mulch, with a rich compost. It blankets out all the weeds/ grass, and the worms really get going and eat everything, leaving the soil clean and fed and ready to go with a new set of plants and a new lease of life, This cross section was 10 months ago a 12" thick layer of straw and compost, on top of brick hard ground. The straw is now well broken down and the soil is moist and full of worms and other signs of life

More of the wonderful volunteer team from John Lewis' who helped out on the Reading Girls School garden. The bed behind them is planted up with fruit trees and climbers that we hope to to eventually cover that stark bare wall behind them

Here are the lads from the same team

Here another typical school landscape. Rather stark bare walls, and well trodden, not particularly cared for ground. The aim is to bring some beauty and life in such corners as thee and turn a bit of dead ground between the gym and laundry and sports ground into a little haven of its own

X marks the spot, the yellow mark denotes the approximate sot for a fruit tree, and the divot a rather literal interpretation of where the hole was dug.. The volunteer crew were endlessly funny, enthusiastic and energetic to work with, thanks guys it was a gas!

2007-01-14T17:31:00.000Z

We have really concentrated on propagating a lot more plants this year, so we have a big selection to plant out around the garden. This way we can take a few more chances on where we put them. Plus having the scythe means we can keep bracken and nettles under control a lot more, come the summer when everything goes mad. We have found sage easy to take cuttings from, and this cutting was taken in October and was ready to plant out in December. It has been mulched with woodchip, cardboard and some bog rushes.

2006-11-22T20:50:00.000Z

Grape vine leaf in autumn colour. Gardens and plants bring all sorts of unexpected beauty to a landscape, and this time of year is rich with autumn colours and textures, I love it!

2006-11-22T20:45:00.000Z

Here is the garden at Geoffry field juniors, its really taking shape now and we are increasingly pleased with it, the pond is still a bit of a probem however. In the picture we are half wasy through covering over the beds, the layers of compast and straw have rotted in well ow and we are closing off with cardboard and woodchip. This mulch layer will trap in the moisture and prevent weeds from getting in there before the plants are well established. Its the key with perennials if you want a low maintenance garden, is to fill up the space with the plants you do want, before the invaders can get in. All that remains now is the last few fruit trees to go in on the outer edges, those will go in over the winter sometime. The problem with the pond is that the drains from the school roofs are a bit blocked and it floods heavily when there is a rainfall - and the flood water over fills the pond and causes a bit of a lake. Now we have seen the problem we will have to try and come up with a solution when we finally finish the pond lining and planting process.

2006-11-22T11:18:00.000Z

Here is the completed courtyard garden at Christchurch road infants school... the plants are hardly visible in this, but by spring it will be a riot of herbs, climbers and fruit trees. (well lets hope !) We have lifted the concrete slabs from the far side of the courtyard and replaced them with a raised bed made from oak sleepers and filled with rotted straw and elephant poo compost (!). This has been left to soak up the autumn rain and them planted into with herbs, climbers and fruiting shrubs. There will be a pear tree in the right hand corner.

The raised beds to the let and right have been treated the same way, with all those surrounding trees the soil was very dried and nutrient poor, so we have built them up and fed them in the same way. Plants include Solomon's seal, chives and perennial onions, climbing Kiwi vines, american potato bean, russian comfrey, lavender, sages and thymes, the chilean ugni bush, plus many more. We really hope the children will explore there now garden and generate an interest in some of the plants themselves.

Dave and I will be going back in the spring to fill out any gaps, and more importantly to run a teacher training session on working with the plants and ideas of how to use them.

2006-10-25T15:06:00.000Z

Pressure grafting. Detail from the willow structure, the willows are finally tied in place with a piece of rubber tubing, holding it tightly in place, in time the three willow rods will graft together and create a single and strong join.

2006-10-24T08:49:00.000Z

Here is a shot of the garden at Whitley park infants and nursery school taken the following morning after the volunteer days. Its a misty dewey autumn morning, with low slanting sunlight (and hence not a great pic) of course for the full effect we will have to wait to spring. Also there are about a dozen fruit trees still to go in, but we have to wait until the plants are fully dormant before we can move them, and with the late warm weather we are having that will be at least another month or two.

2006-10-24T08:46:00.000Z

Here is the finished arch, displayed by its proud creators! It took two of the volunteers pretty much all day to do this, with some help from the others. I think the school is planning to use it in their nursery garden.

2006-10-23T19:54:00.000Z

2006-10-23T19:50:00.000Z

there is something about weaving, as a process or artform that connects us to our earlist ancestors, and earliest forms of creativity.. people regularly enjoy getting involved in these sessions... and can create some beautiful artefacts..

2006-10-23T19:44:00.000Z

This a standard issue aluminium garden arch from a garden centre. The idea was to interweave it with willlows - harvested last year and pre-soaked to soften them for the weaving process.

2006-10-23T19:41:00.000Z

Pupils get a chance to ask Steve a few questions about what he has been building in the playgound.

2006-10-23T19:37:00.000Z

Day two. Ready for more? the team for day 2 arrive. Its another lovely October day.... sunshine after a rainy night, perfect weather for gardening.

2006-10-23T19:34:00.000Z

Dave with the Thames Water team

2006-10-23T19:33:00.000Z

Tunnel detail

2006-10-23T19:32:00.000Z

Taking shape

2006-10-23T19:31:00.000Z

Gloves on; rubber gloves help you grip the willow to twist it into shape.

2006-10-23T19:30:00.000Z

Weaving in the spacers; these will help keep the shape of the willow structure as it grows.

2006-10-23T19:28:00.000Z

now that the mulch pit has been dug the first of the bamboos can be planted

2006-10-23T19:26:00.000Z

willow construction.. thanks Leyla for all your energy and enthusiasm!

2006-10-23T19:24:00.000Z

The willow dome is evolving... the uprights - the part that will root and grow are spaced apart with a ridge-pole

2006-10-23T19:22:00.000Z

the pit is infilled with a mixture of woodchip and straw, and then back filled with soil. The overflow from the rain tank will be directed here, creating a resource to feed the bamboo grove.

2006-10-23T19:19:00.000Z

Digging the mulch pit. This pit will act as a soak away for excess rai water collected from the roof of the school hall. The idea is to encourage water to soak down deep in to the soil to create a resevoir to feed the bamboo grove we are planting around it. The collection of golden, black and variagated bamboo's will form a resource for art matierials for the school for generations to come.

2006-10-23T19:15:00.000Z

Dave consults the plans.... it can get very hectic working with as many as 15 volunteers, we were very grateful for all the work, but keeping on top of it all certainly kept us very busy; there were 4 work teams, hard-landscaping, joining oak sleepers together for raised beds, 2 planting details as well as the willow weaving crew.

2006-10-23T18:29:00.000Z

Planning the dome, its an incredibly precise science, constructing the willow tunnel. Steve has been developing these designs over 15 years and every detail is metriculously planned, in order to get a lasting and regular shape to the structure.

2006-10-23T18:24:00.000Z

Steve P. in action; the first pair of willow rods go in the ground.

2006-10-23T18:23:00.000Z

the planting crew getting going in the morning. There were literally hundreds of plants and bulbs to be planted, but the volunteers got on with it at such a rate that Dave adn I were hard pressed to keep everyone busy all day - don't worry we managed to! Especailly after Mrs Tanner the head had been out and bought loads of herb plants and daffodil and crocus bulbs to add to the collection. I think its going to look amazing in the spring, even if only half of the stuff comes up.

2006-10-23T18:13:00.000Z

Making the living willow structure. Part of the day's activities included making a willow tunnel as a shaded place space for the pupils at Whitley park. Here is Steve Pickup from the Willowbank helped by a volunteer from Thames water makign the first start, the woven plastic fabric will form the base of the tunnel and will mulch out and kill the grass, which in turn will encourage the willow to grow. When the structure is completed it will be edged in and covered over with woodchip

2006-10-23T18:07:00.000Z

Fungi growing out of the straw mulch. We prepared these beds back in the summer, sheet mulching out the grass of the playing field with a thick layer of straw and manure. Now we have finally had some rain it is starting to break down nicely. We will be planting directly into this, with plants well established in pots, planted into plugs of compost in the sheet mulch.

2006-10-23T18:01:00.000Z

This is the start of a two day work session as part of Whitley arts week at Whitley park infants and nursery school. Myself and Dave are working with volunteers from Thames Water, the company has a long standing relationship with the school as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility policy

2006-07-30T17:11:00.000Z

Basket willows, easy to grow and fantastic for arts and crafts materials. We are encouraging schools to look to cultivating natural materials for use in school in all sorts of different ways

2006-07-30T10:41:00.000Z

Here's a living willow arch by sculptor and weaver Steve Pickup. We are currently planning for a 6m tunnel, for Whitley park school in October to a similar design and we will be working with Steve on the project.

2006-07-30T10:15:00.000Z

Here's a view of GF junior's garden, and playing fields. The idea is to create a sensory garden, rich with herbs, fruits and vines. It is a more private space, perhaps to contemplate, to hide away, to reconnect with nature. The sundial and compass make us think about where we are, our place in the world, and where we are going perhaps? The fruiting trees shrubs and vines as well as beds of lavender and sages, to be planted in the autumn, evoking the senses and places both distant and familiar.
We hope to be able to offer an official opening of some of the school gardens in the following spring.

2006-07-30T09:49:00.000Z

We had lots of enthusiastic help from the John Lewis crew, so a big thanks to Wayne and Joanne and the crew for all their hard work. Got rained out on the Saturday afternoon, after a blisteringly hot day, but all credit to them they stayed and finished the archways.

2006-07-30T09:44:00.000Z

The John Lewis Crew

2006-07-29T16:57:00.000Z

The garden at Geoffrey Field Junior school.. the pond - i.e. the hole in the foreground, is not complete yet - we ran out of time to do it this term. Also, in the end it seemed wiser to leave it til September when it is cooler and hopefully there isn't a hose pipe ban any longer! The hexagonal bench will also be a compass point and a sundial. I am wondering at the moment that it might be best to get some of the pupils to calibrate the clock, i have been trying to work it out myself all week, then it struck me what a good exercise it could be potentially.

2006-07-23T15:42:00.000Z

well i am a bit excited as a producer from BBC gardeners world, the prestigeous TV program is coming to see us about one of the gardens we are involved with; the Roof garden in Reading. They seem to be interested in the water efficiency, rainwater harvesting slant and it will be interesting to talk to them. I am convinced there is a really worth while prject to be had, monitoring how much rain water it can absorb, and how much of that we can use in the building. Flood water surges are an increasing problem in built up areas, for precisely that reason, everything is built up so storm water cant soak into the ground. This is an important function for roof gardens. Hopefully it will give us a chance to talk about some of our other work, namely the Aspire schools in Whitley.

2006-07-14T18:10:00.000Z

Here are the completed beds at Blagdon nursery. Once the straw has become fully wet from teh rain (well we had a little anyway) we complete by covering over with cardboard and woodchip, by next sping when teh plants will all shoot up most of the straw and compost will have rotted down, leaving healthy open soils for the new plants. After so many years a school yard the heavy clay soils here are brick hard and mulch will feed it up and blanket out any weeds and grasses that were there before

2006-07-14T18:00:00.000Z

Here is the circluar bed from the same set as below. It is made from recycled bricks that the school a saved from part of their original school building, for re-use in just such a project. It will hold a mulberry bush - round and round.. etc.

2006-07-14T17:58:00.000Z

This pentagonal raised bed will be home to a pear tree and a suitable guild of supporting underplanted plants, like comfrey. It is part of a set of geometric shapes, circles and triangles we have used in the sensory garden at Geoffrey Field nursery

2006-07-14T17:55:00.000Z

Here is apprentice gardener Dawn in action at new Christchurch school. She is drilling into an oak sleeper so it can be fixed into the ground. We love working with chunky bits of green oak, its really durable and gives an elemental feel to the overall garden design.

2006-07-14T17:52:00.000Z

Volunteers in action - more help from Thames Water, wo are keen supporters of Whitley park school. We are planning to work with people from John Lewis next week. We have really enjoyed the work with volunteers so far and I think they have all found it a rewarding experience as well. Thanks guys!

2006-07-14T17:50:00.000Z

This is the slate sundial at the Halo foods factory in Tywyn, it inspired Steve to propose that we build a sundial feature (from oak sleepers) at Geoffrey Field junior school. We are working there later in July so watch this space for progress!

2006-07-14T17:48:00.000Z

Dave's fan club! The children at Whitley park have been fascinated by the whole process of building the garden and there have been all sorts of opportunites to engage with them during its construction. align='absmiddle'>

2006-07-14T17:46:00.000Z

Volunteers from Thames water help build the 'pizza' bed at Whitley park infants. It is shaped like a pizza with a slice cut out and we plan to plant it up with oregano and marjoram as well as perennial onions and other suitable pizza toppings

2006-07-14T17:43:00.000Z

Inspecting an ants nest we discovered underneath the paving slabs at Blagdon nursery school

2006-05-18T14:03:00.000Z

some of the plants waiting to be planted at Blagdon Road school. A selection of tallish clumping grasses, to give it a seaside feel - which is key theme for the garden, as well as lavenders and rosemary and other scented haerbs. These will form the understory beneath the fruit trees

2006-05-18T14:01:00.000Z

root barrier fabric on the new paths, this will be covered in 20mm slate chip pieces. It should make a lovely textured new footpath

2006-05-18T13:59:00.000Z

establishing the beds and new paths, it is slowly taking shape

2006-05-18T13:58:00.000Z

the nursary school is directly behind

2006-05-18T13:57:00.000Z

there is an apple tree and blackcurrent bush in the courtyard already, so we will make a feaature of them, adding some good companion plants as well as a pear and cherry tree

2006-05-18T13:55:00.000Z

Sheet Mulch and raised beds. This is a classic permaculture technique for establishing a forest garden and revitalising the soil. The school yard is clay and very hard packed by many years of trampling by little feet. The sheet mulch will suppress the grtass and any weeds and give us a chance to feed up the soil and boost its mini bugs and beast content. A healthy open soil is of course the key to a healthy garden. Many of the plants we are choosing to use are especially good at helping this process. Deep rooted plants like comfrey complementing the shallower rooted fruit trees for example. A thivk layer of straw and Zoo Poo compst will be allowed to saok up some moisture and when the planting is complete we will close over with a layer of card and wood chip.

2006-05-18T13:51:00.000Z

Here is my Day one picture, we have already lifted the concrete paving slabs that were there. They had become uneven and were dangerous and unsightly and were the first things that had to go.

2006-05-18T13:49:00.000Z

Blagdon School Garden: Zoo Poo, great stuff this. lovely to use, its composted animal manure from Paignton Zoo - herbivores only, and composted commercially by a specialist company for 9 months and pathogen free I hasten to add. There were some concerns at the school that a trailer full of steeaming elephant dung would appear in their yard

2006-05-09T18:26:00.000Z

Story telling chair.

2006-04-25T13:33:00.000Z

A pic of the vistor centre at Ynys Las again, a wonderful floor mosaic of pebbles and sea shells, mirrored in the tiles on the wall behind. I like the use of natural materials like that

2006-04-25T13:31:00.000Z

Sea shell path. This was photographed at Ynys Las visitor centre in Wales yesterday. The sea shells make a lovely top dressing for the path, practical and wonderful effect

2006-04-17T18:43:00.000Z

This is a willow dome design by Steve Pickup, who has to be one the leading willow sculpture designers in the country, adapted from the living fedge idea - i.e. half fence/ half hedge basic design he has created a whole range of intersting shapes and structures. See Willow Bank Steve is a good freind of ours and we hope to be introducing several of the partner schools to these kind of designs. Low maintenance fences and structures that add loads of new wildlife and people habitat opportunities, are a great source of materials for arts classes as well as making excellent screens and hedges.

2006-04-13T19:03:00.000Z

this slightly forgotten and trampled corner of whitley park infants is an ideal opportunity for a raised bed, with some interesting climbers up the railings and an understory of herbs and perennials. The idea being to use the available space as creatively as possible, whilst not taking anything away from the play space, and keeping access open

2006-04-13T18:57:00.000Z

Planning the Blagdon garden in the strong spring sunshine. The shcool seems busier than ever in the Easter break, as workman rip down old windows and replaced worn out doors and teachers scurry around trying to get a terms worth of planning done in a few days of 'quiet'. Its a hive of activity and lovely to be there planning the garden, the school is bursting with ideas, we will have to work to fit hem all in!

2006-04-13T18:54:00.000Z

Solomon's seal, Polyganatum Multiflora, growing on teh roof garden at RISC. One the plants i would like to use in the Blagdon school garden, I think it would love hte moist condition sin teh corner of their yard there. These young shoots are delicious, we tried them for lunch this week, you are supposed to steam them and serve them like asparagus, but this fresh, they were delicious raw and ones we picked never made it as far as the kitchen

2006-03-31T15:05:00.000Z

Here is an idea for a solar fountain, this is at Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales. They have made a man from old copper pipe and a couple of old halogen spots and he is holding the panel up to the sun, when the sun shines of the course fountain issues forth. Nice idea, maybe it is adaptable for the schools garden project, dave and I are vboth keen to get a solar energy feature into at least one or two of the project gardens

2006-03-31T12:32:00.000Z

We can see the daffodils are out at Geoffrey Field junior school, Dave visited the site yesterday for a preliminary survey, cant wait to hear more ideas about what the school is planning for this space

2006-03-31T12:30:00.000Z

Here is the area covered by the map of Blagdon nursery school (see previous posting)

2006-03-31T12:29:00.000Z

Planning the garden. Pupils and teachers at Blagdon nursery school have already started planning their garden and have chosen a nautical theme, utilising the old boat in the plan as part of the design. All good gardens start with a decent map, it is obviously important to get in all the existing features first and get it to some kind of scale. I want to congratulate the those concerend for this lovely map, they have obviously worked very hard on it. Fantastic!

2006-03-27T10:18:00.000Z

Flowform. Rather than just flowing straight through, the swirling motion of the water passing through the flowform creates a pulse and the water swishes from left to right between the two sides of the structure. This is an elegant piece of natural design, illustrating how water has shape and form as well as motion, and it creates a beautiful babbling brook like sound as water flows through a series of the forms. This is one of the many ideas we are assembling for the growing schools project in Whitely.

2006-03-22T20:02:00.000Z

Rainbow garden; the theme for the first garden project is Rainbow garden, celebrating the amazing diversity of the community it represents. Here is a plant we will be using the garden, the edible and colourful Day Lilly, or Hemeracallis, i think this one's a Stafford. Not only are these delicate flowers edible, filling your senses with their delicately fragrant scent, but as we discovered on the roof garden project, the leaves can be woven to make a strong rope from its fibres, apparently that is the material espadrilles; those French rope soled shoes are made from .

2006-03-21T12:42:00.000Z

There are some great opportunities for the garden, all this fence work to grow things up and maybe weave things into. The theme is going to be a Rainbow garden, so any ideas out there? send them in wont you?

2006-03-21T12:41:00.000Z

Here is the yard of New Christchurch school, the first one that we have visited to start building a design for

2006-03-21T12:33:00.000Z

Hi, this is a new blog that will chart the development of a cluster of schools gardens in Whitley Reading Berkshire, UK. A groups of 10 schools have come together to raise some money so they can develop their landscapes, making them attractive and productive but more importantly to help build a relationship between the pupils and the environment.

We are only really interested in low maintenance resource efficeint forest type gardens, as pioneered by Robert Hart in Wenlock Shropshire and embraced by the permaculture and sustainable design community around the world.

So look out for rainwater harvesting features, solar fountains, all sorts of interesting plants; herbs, fruiting trees and bushes from UK and around the world.