Apples

 Autumn has moved in to our orchard.

Last Friday our orchard played host to two special visitors, Mary and Chris, who came to scythe the grasses and wild flowers.

So, this is how you scythe...

 Luckily the rain had stayed away and the area was dry and ready to be cut.  They started at 8.30 am and by 9.15 were well in the swing of it all.  By then there were also large swathes of grass which needed lifting and stacking - and this is where Y6 came in.  For the whole day the Y6 children came down in turns to rake, lift and stack the grass into a huge haystack. 

We've made a haystack...hooray!

This proved to be lots of fun, especially when the grass in the haystack needed trampling on to press it down and make it stable.

Mary had also brought along a child sized scythe, and everyone had a go.  It was much more difficult than it looked and the girls proved more adept at it than the boys, who generally thought it was going to be easy and then gave up after a couple of swings!  Harlie (6M) and Emily (6N) proved to be expert mowers and quickly cut their way through a large area.

Harlie in full swing - nearly

Jolene in full swing - definitely!

Lots of wildlife was seen, with a grasshopper and a wasp spider caught for a short time and studied.  A frog was seen hopping away into the long grass left for wildlife cover, and many butterflies were out collecting nectar including the Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria).

By 4.30 the orchard was looking clear and tidy ready for a really good raking before more wildflower seed goes down. 

Teachers can scythe too you know

Raking and preparing the meadow for seeding

Now that's a great day at school

A plant family

Plant families is not an easy subject to teach children especially when more children are becoming less familiar with the natural world around them. They do not see so much flora and can most definitely not always name it...

'Alliums' are a fantastic resource for teaching the concept of a plant family. There is much excitement involved with planting a seed or a bulb and watching it grow into an edible or ornamental plant.


There are many child friendly alliums visible in the summer months most notably chives, spring onions, onions (red and white) shallots and garlic - and let's not forget wild garlic which have planted at Wicor.  The flowers can be prolific and demonstrate seed dispersal on an awesome scale particularly when allowing elephant garlic to run to seed.

Alliums allow a children to experience touch, taste, smell and can be quick to grow.  Harvesting can be rewarding and at Wicor there is nothing better for the children than to dig up an edible bulb in the allotment.

Tell me again about this Dracula guy...

 

Yum

A favourite recipe to make is garlic bread and each stage is completed by the children; the simplicity of mixing butter, crushing garlic, snipping home grown parsley and spreading spoonfuls into sliced crusty baguettes. I think the enjoyable part of the lesson for the children is the eating and inevitably someone always seems to raise the subject of vampires!

Louise Bryant

Rich Pickings

Wow, that's a lot of blackcurrants

Last term our grounds held an abundance of flavour, scent and were most certainly a feast for the eyes.

Our Year 2 pupils were delighted to explore the edge of our allotment and find blackcurrants bursting on branches. Only seven weeks ago we had plenty of sunshine and our bumper crop bumper weighed in at over 3 pounds.

 

The heady mix

                                                                             At Wicor, children provide ideas on what to make and with the summer fair taking place cordial won the day. Weighing fruit, sugar and measuring water was taken very seriously and the mixture was sent to the kitchen for a good boil and returned when cool. The children enjoyed squishing the mixture through the sieve, releasing yet more colour and an intoxicating, sugary smell.




Recycled jars and straws showed off the cordial well for the visitors to the school fair. Children sold the cordial to parents, grandparents and our local community for 20p a cup - all advertised by hand painted signs. Comments were extremely positive from all and our cordial was a complete sell out!

Louise Bryant

@MiniHorts. Potatoes - from seed to plate.

A busy afternoon at Gardening Club last week, where the Minihorts showed in one hour why we grow the things we eat!  One group spent half an hour or so on a late sowing of maincrop potatoes (Desiree), which we expect to harvest in the autumn; while another group were busy harvesting some of the early potatoes (Rocket) that we sowed in March ...

... but that isn't all - some of these potatoes will go into veg boxes, but some were put to a more immediate and tasty use - they were sliced very thinly to make crisps, which were delicious and far better for us than the crisps that come in a packet.  We now know the whole life-cycle of these potatoes from seed to plate, and they never once left the school grounds.

That's one of the reasons why we do it - well done to the Minihorts!

David Harrison
Volunteer

Elderflower 'Pop' Update

Following the recent foraging inspired by the likes of Riverford Organic, nature has taken a path of its own...

We will sadly not be allowing the Elderflower Cordial to be sampled by Year R to get an overall vote on its taste. The test has gone over to adults as the cordial has begun to fizz and ferment, producing alcohol.  How this could happen after following a reliable recipe is mysterious to the enthusiastic first time producers!

The conversation in staffroom has been lively and requests for further production suggests it tastes good. If we are fortunate to forage more flowers then speed is of the essence to ensure Year R can sample the fruits of their labour.

Elderflower 'cordial' !

Elderflower Foraging Year R

Picking the elderflowers

The joys of foraging are practised by enthusiastic adults and the riches appreciated. How many children are allowed, encouraged or know how to forage?

With the right knowledge passed on, future generations will be able to enjoy seasonal delights from our hedgerows and orchards.

Year R have experienced how fun it can be to harvest elderflowers from our orchard this week connecting with where flavours come from. Many were surprised to learn how a flower could flavour food or drinks. While harvesting the children noted the pungent smell and visiting pollinators in the beautiful setting of our orchard.

Taking armfuls of the white flowers into the kitchen we decided to make our own elderflower cordial. After washing, slices of lemon were added into a large pan, bags of sugar were measured and boiling water added to dissolve. This was the most magical part of the experience for the children, a solid and liquid combining. The liquid was added to the flowers and lemon and left for the boring part to steep over the weekend. Next week this will be filtered and the exciting tasting will take part with the whole of the year group, votes on taste will take place deciding if elderflower flavouring is a hit or miss!

Elderflowers and lemons

Foragers - job done!