Friday 30th September 2022

This Thursday, nature club were all hands to the deck, as we got on top of the nature area.  Teams of children worked clearing some of the duckweed from the pond with nets.  We just need to keep on top of the amount of duckweed, without getting rid of it altogether, as it does oxygenate the water.  We are also aiming to be as sustainable as possible, so the children put the duckweed around our fruit trees as a mulch.  The duckweed is rich in nitrogen and will help the trees grow.  Another team watered the orchard and another team collected the nettles that I cut back.  As happened last year, we only cut one third of nettles as they are such a valuable food source and nesting site for some species.  The nettles were placed in a bucket with water and in two weeks they will have turned into a green fertilizer, which we can use in the orchard.  Mr Norman’s gift of gardening gloves were put to good use and it was nice to see the children in Year 3 and 4 working together.  Our next jobs are to put some more plants around the pond and weed before the end of the autumn.