Unfortunately over the hoilday period we have been unable to get access to the site when we wished to do so and have not been able to maintain the strong early progress. As a result the site has once again taken on a slightly unkempt appearance. Not what we wanted to present as the first impressions of the new term.

With the start of the new term we hope to recommence work on the process of getting a horticultural / educational space established.

A rather brief session today.

We cleared out the overgrown raised beds, finding a few, light starved, strawberry plants in the process - a welcome suprise on a hot day. We also did some general maintenance with regard to the compost and lots of watering of our limited crops.

We rescued some more of the standard beds and planted some spare seedlings in them that we had available (kale, runner beans, spinach and sweetcorn). We wanted to provide an immediate element of progress to the project that could be seen by the staff/pupils.

We also relocated and divided some comfrey plants that were already on site to make way for a new shed which is being made available to us.

We redefined and weeded out some of the existing standard beds. The compost bins were concentrated in a common location away from the growing areas and the contents remixed with some fresh additions. All the acumulated rubbish and debris was removed from the site.

Also much talk about our vision for the future!

When we arrive to take a look over the site it seems to be in an essentially abandoned state.

Though the grass is still cut, the raised beds are rampant with weeds, and the standard beds have almost merged into the grass. The site has little organisation with several odd shaped beds and compost bins scattered haphazardly across the plot.

Additionaly various debris has been dumped on the site while it has been out of use. There are some immature fruit trees (apples/pears) but these have not been pruned correctly and several have been damaged – presumably by too close mowing.

The first tasks will centre around getting the site to a more organized state.