social studies – Page 18 – Hecklegirth Nursery

Thank You To Our Gardeners

Planting is now complete in the garden and there are promising signs that everything is starting to grow which is exciting for the children. Eileen would like to say a big thank-you to all the adults who came to help and to the families who grew courgettes and beans at home – these have now been planted in the beds. We would like to say special thanks to Shay’s Grandad for the hints and tips and the lovely book on vegetable and herbs that he has donated to the Nursery. All we need to do now is wait for harvest time. We hope that everyone can keep an eye on the plants to see how they are doing.

Up the Muddy Hill on Ollie’s Adventure

Everyone is learning so much about growing this term and the latest venture for the morning children was to visit Ollie’s allotment. We donned our wellies and went on an adventure up the muddy hill and through the secret path to the little corner of Annan where Ollie’s family grows their vegetables.
Ollie’s Mum, his auntie and his cousins were there to meet us but really Ollie was the main guide of our tour. He showed us how to dig the soil (good teamwork there with Reilly to use that tricky tool) and where he likes to climb trees. We saw lots of different vegetables that they have planted and Ollie showed that he knew what he was doing when he pulled out two leeks which his Mum was going to use to make soup.
Ollie’s Mum had very kindly brought several different types of potatoes so that everyone could plant their own and we all put them in their own little hole and covered them up. Let’s hope we did a good job and that Ollie and his family have a big crop this year. We all had such a lovely time on our Ollie adventure that we didn’t think it could get any better. However, when we got back to Nursery, he even had a tasty little cake waiting for us all which he’d made at home. Thank you so much to Ollie and his family for your kind invitation. We had a brilliant time and I think some of us might pop back to your sunny little corner in a week or two to see if our potatoes have started to grow.

Our Growing Project

The next stage of our growing project organised by Eileen Johnstone, our Family Learning Co-ordinator, is now underway and the sun came out in celebration as we planted seeds in our raised beds in the garden.
The children talked about the tiny seeds and what they would have to do to help them grow to look like the ones in Eileen’s pictures.They then very carefully prepared the compost and planted their seeds. Each Nursery room has a bed of their own to tend and our kind parent volunteers will take turns each week to help the children look after their vegetables. Today the Sunshine Room planted carrot seeds and the Rainbow Room planted beetroot. I wonder which bed will show signs of growth first?
Thank you very much to Eileen and to those parents who have offered to be part of our work. This project provides opportunities to develop several areas of the curriculum and is a fantastic learning experience. The children are excited about it and we look forward to watching progress in the garden for the rest of this term.