School Garden - St Patricks BNS

The School Garden... The Story so Far
Once upon a time in a school in Cork there was a lovely patch of land where the sun shone and the soil was rich and dark. One day some teachers thought "wouldn't it be great if we could grow vegetables in our school?". The teachers knew that they would need lots of help to set it up so they put out a call. Lo and behold- parents responded.
We thought it best to start small so we built three flower beds from timber. We also planted two trees- an a pear and a plum tree. We asked other schools what they were doing and they advised us to put in a path. This would help the gardeners not to bring in muck on their muddy shoes. Four classes were very interested. The two fifth classes and the two first classes of last year.
We needed to get more soil for the beds so we had four tonnes delivered to the school! We worked hard using the wheelbarrows to bring it up the path and into the beds.
The first task for the students was to dig some manure into the beds to make them very fertile. We really enjoyed that and it didn't smell too bad! Just before Easter last year the classes got their seeds and seed trays. We planted lots of different vegetables including carrots, parsnips, turnips and lettuce.
The seeds were tiny and they were kept inside but with careful watering and plenty of sun they began to shoot up. They even survived a two week Easter vacation at the teachers' houses! Soon they were ready to be transferred outside to the beds.
Once in the beds the plants needed to be watered and weeded. The two first classes (now seconds) decided to try growing potatoes and were amazed when the plants were bigger than them!
The two first classes harvested their vegetables in June. They had a potato party and feasted on their yummy produce. In September the other two classes (now sixth) harvested their vegetables. They were amazed to find an enormous turnip! They paraded them around the school yard. It was great to see such pride in the school. The boys enjoyed using their vegetables to make a  delicious salad and some roasted veggies.The beds have now been cleared and we have planted a very clever plant that will fertilized the soil for us. So, what next for the school garden?
Please keep an eye on our noticeboard. It's opposite the courtyard around the corner from the secretary's office. We're hoping to allow other classes a chance this year. We will also be running a scarecrow competition as well as adding a wormery to help with our compost. We also decided that our school grounds could do with a little bit more colour ,so we've been out and about planting Spring bulbs. Watch out for lots of daffodils and crocuses this Spring!
A huge thank you to everyone involved and the Cork City Partnership who donated money to fund the set-up of the garden. Please get in touch if you'd like to help out. No experience necessary!