We were prepared for a very rainy and stormy day on the allotment so we packed up our suits, wellington boots and our hot chocolate in preparation however throughout the day the weather became warmer and warmer until the time had come for sun cream and sun hats. We were pleasantly surprised but then realised the plants would all need a very big drink of water.
Our first job of the day was to write down all of the jobs on our 'to do' board. There were lots of jobs to do that day but we were optimistic we could get them done. We walked around our allotment to see what was growing and we were amazed by the size of our pumpkins (the children thought they were watermelons as they are still green), our potatoes which are almost ready and our strawberries which were looking delicious! It was going to be a tricky job picking strawberries and eating them but we knew it had to done.
Lisa and Kirsten began weeding some of our vegetable beds and Tara began to remove weeds and soil ready for our new greenhouse area. The children all enjoyed getting involved and weeding, moving the wheelbarrows back and forth to the compost bin and spotting minibeasts! Joseph and Lewis found a caterpillar whilst Beatrice spotted a snail. We also spotted lots of woodlice, millipedes and spiders of every different shape and size. There were lots harvestman spiders to dodge as we cut back the weeds. After a hard morning of weeding we stopped for lunch in our fire pit. We all sat together around the table chatting about our morning and what we would be doing that afternoon. The sun was getting very hot so we talked about our bodies and what we needed to give us energy for the rest of the afternoon. We then got back to work. We needed volunteers to knock down the old fence between the beds and the greenhouse. Luckily, there were lots of willing volunteers who used the hammers and the fence was down in no time. We stacked the wood ready for another project and cleared out the rest of the weeds behind the fruit cage. Some of the weeds had damaged our netting so that will be priority on our 'to do' board next week.
Soon the clouds rolled in and we knew we were running out of the glorious sunshine. We packed up our tools and tidied up. We headed back to our shed for a drink and some yummy strawberries. As we relaxed in the shed, the rain came down but we didn't mind, we were all safe and dry in 'the big shed'. The rain stopped for a short while giving us just enough time to get back to the minibus. What a busy day we had had. The muddy faces told the story of a productive day on our alloment!
