Today the pupils measured their hands and feet to be able to use them for planting seeds in the future! They then used these measurements to practice spacing out different seeds!
Friday 20 September 2019: Measuring!
13 September 2019: Elective class continues
Today was a glorious Glasgow day. Lots of sun! Victoria and I split the class into two and then rotated – half would help weed the front of the school, the other half came with me to sketch out their ideal school garden designs. Lots of creative blueprints! Bug hotels and ponds definitely came out on top of the wish-lists. Nice to use the benches I built, too – sturdy so far!
6th September, 2019: First garden elective class
Today I visited Boclair to help out on the 10-week garden elective that Victoria is running. I had lots of volunteers for digging, and other pupils helped weed and maintain the site. The rain just about held off!
4 September 2019: Presentation to other teachers
Julie and Victoria discuss the Arizona trip to other staff at Boclair Academy, and conduct a school garden “audit” to assess how the garden can be used for teaching beyond geography. Some amazing suggestions!
Friday 30th August and 2 September, 2019: Harvest and Working on the shed foundations
A wet and miserable day – but vital work on measuring out the shed foundations was done! Thanks Louise! On the Friday, the first gardening elective class harvested the garden for an epic amount of potatoes and onions!
29th August, 2019: RGS presentation in London
I presented in this amazing session, “Urban Agriculture: Offering Hope and Health through Horticulture”: http://conference.rgs.org/AC2019/172
I discussed the amazing journey I’d made with colleagues, teachers, and pupils as part of the International Green Academy.
21st August 2019 – outdoor learning back in Glasgow!
While part of the team is out into the desert, Ruth leads a class out into the Glasgow garden for some hands-on learning! – photos courtesy of Boclair
17-24 August, 2019: The Team Visit to Arizona!
Cheryl, Julie, Victoria, and myself spent a week in Tucson, AZ, shadowing members of the Community and School Garden Program – which is run out of the University of Arizona. It’s difficult to put into words how inspiring and uplifting this experience was for all of us–and how many wonderful ideas it gave us to take back to our own wee slice of the planet. We visited 3 elementary schools, 2 high schools, a University-run urban farm, and a community-run urban farm. We also spent many hours shadowing various meetings at the University of Arizona. Finally, we tried our best to understand the flora and fauna of the Sonoran desert to help integrate into international science experiments back in Scotland.
19th July and 24 July, 2019 – Arizona preamble
On the 19th, Cheryl and I meet with Julie and Victoria to discuss our upcoming visit to Arizona. We also harvest loads of peas. They are so sweet! On the 24th, I come with Louise to do another harvest–and build a compost bin!
11 July, 2019: reclaimed-wood raised bed finished, and first harvest!
