Getting Back into the Garden in May

We have finally been able to get back into the garden this month! Unfortunately, we didn’t get time to plant our seedlings before lockdown so many of them didn’t make it – not to worry though, we planted more seeds today so that they will be ready in time to plant for Matariki. 

We had many jobs that needed doing so we split into teams to get things going. Team work was needed as we had two massive new garden beds that needed filling. Look at this enormous pile of soil! Well done to the children who worked so hard, filling wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow for most of the day! You worked as a strong team helping each other tip the heavy barrows of soil into the garden beds. 

The lockdown worked perfectly for our green mulching. We planted it just before lockdown and look at how much it had grown! We then learnt about the “Chop and Drop” method where you cut the stalks at the base of the soil and then cut up the organic matter (the rest of the plant). The roots stay in the soil to help feed the microorganisms (those teeny tiny bugs) and the plant that stays on top acts as a mulch to suppress weeds and also breaks down over time and becomes food for all the beautiful creatures that live in the soil. Green mulching is a great way to help build strong, organic soil!

We also weeded any invasive weeds that popped up, planted more Winter seedlings and used up the rest of our mulch on the garden beds. The mulch had started breaking down and was starting to turn into compost! Next month we will work on getting some more mulch in our gardens to make sure none of those invasive weeds come back.

Now most of the structural work that we wanted to get done is finished, we can focus on growing food and growing soil! We look forward to what the next month brings in our garden.