Miss Wynne's Cherry tree in full flower.

Miss Wynne's cherry tree has come into bloom.  It is a Japanese Cherry tree. Earlier on this year we looked at the tulips in bloom underneath it. 

Poached egg plant.

Poached egg plant.

In a previous blog, I spoke about companion planting.  The plant which encourages hover flies has begun to flower.  You can see where it gets its name.

Germination

The potatoes and seeds planted during the incredible edibles week have started to grow. here we can see the potatoes in the pot peeping above ground. The germinated seeds will be planted out over the next few weeks.

Miss Caroll's sunflowers germinate!

Miss Carolls class planted sunflower seeds before the Easter break.  And Look! they have germinated.  I have been carefully watering them to help them grow.

Horse chestnut Flowers

The Horse Chestnut has come into full flower.  The flower spike is called a "candle".  The flowers will be pollinated by insects and the familiar green spiky seeds will start to develop.

Companion planting

Companion planting means planting a combination of plants which serve a purpose.  I have planted a border of poached egg plant which has white flowers with a yellow centre.  These flowers attract hover flies, hover flies eat aphids (green fly).  Birds eat green fly and hover flies. So by planting, rather than spraying insecticide, we encourage nature to control pest species and provide food for the birds.

The plants should be in full flower in a week or so, When you come back from Easter Holidays, look for the hover flies.

Herbs for cooking in the school

I have made a small herb bed for the Cookery Class.  There is rosemary, mint, parsley planted and corriander seeds sown.

The other bed the long narrow one, has thyme, parsley, oregano, and chives.

Happy Cooking