What I was up to, today....

Today I went to a bare field and created this...with several other people and a really great tutor!

spent the day making this...on the school field....

making more of them with the children next week................

Thursday

Dizzy spells abating somewhat I am glad to report. They seem linked to ear ache so I am really hoping it is just that as I have SO MUCH work to do here, it is untrue. Both "work" work AND garden/hen/volunteer/compost/house etc work.

Am very glad I am feeling less giddy as it is going to be a Manic Day here, I have Eco club this afternoon for a paper casting and paper fabric making session, then when we finish at 5 pm and I help to clean up the mess I am off to the other side of Hereford to do a Risk Assessment seminar until late.

Tomorrow morning I am the attraction at a toddler and pre school session, lots of messy play, den building and bird related stuff will be happening. I have a story to tell them, with all sorts of embellishments and puppets and stuff..

I am having to load up the car for that session NOW, as I won't get time tonight.

All this is, if course, dependent on my dizzy spells staying away so fingers crossed etc

Later on after lunch.
Well have everything ready for this afternoon, notes prepped for this evening...and all the stuff ready to load for tomorrow.

See you all later!

Been out all day, Went to Compostgirl's school for her class assembly, all about Planets, it was very very good and then we had coffee after and a look at their work...

then I went to spend rest of morning walking around Bromyard in company of amazing local history expert, doing another Trail ( similar to the one I was doing in Ledbury last week)

I took some photos and have written some clues, but need to get on with the rest of it and hand it over and get paid!
Then I went back home for a quick lunch and off out to a paper casting and paper fabric making session at Eco Club. The childen had a huge amount of fun doing this as it is not something they have done before. We talked about where paper comes from, it's history and how and why we recycle it.

I got back home about 6.30!

I then ate a meal, and read a book and watched "Only Connect" which we had recorded from the other day, both of us love this quiz and last night I got all the answers correct...perhaps I should go on the show? :-)

I have a busy day tomorrow, doing yet more training...should be much fun!

Spike goes a visiting....

Spike went a-visiting yesterday !

I am rather unwell with a sore throat and cough so Compostman stepped in for me and helped at Eco club yesterday. As Spike is now recovered and eating well, Compostman took him into school as the plan was to make some hibernation houses for insects and things...

and Spike was an absolute star! He uncurled and trotted around the inside of the circle of children sat on the floor, stopping to sniff at them and generally be very friendly. The children adored him!

Compostman talked about hibernation and how/why hedgehogs hibernate. He also discussed with the children about what happens to the late summer baby hedgehogs and why "autumn orphan" hedgehogs are unlikely to survive the winter and hibernation without human help. (For those who don't know, a hoggie needs to be at least 500g to survive hibernation and waking up in spring, and the late babies often don't have time to get to this weight before the food runs out)

Compostman mentioned that Spike wasn't really ill, as such, when he was found on the school field (although he looked it) but was just cold and hungry and thirsty. When Compostman added that Spike had probably got separated from his mum, several of the children had to be stopped from running up the field to look for her....ah bless!

Spike is now back in his cage, in the warm, tucking into yet more cat meat and has gained 10% of his body weight in 1 day... !

Sunday catch up

Well I thought a catch up post was in order, as I have been doing lots here but haven't posted much lately (apart from about the chickens )

I was up early again this morning (couldn't sleep due to brain whirr), so have done lots and feel very content BUT am now flagging ( as you do...)

I was woken by Treacle the beautiful Black Star



laying her very first egg!



So 2 of the POL pullets are now laying :) Ginger started a few days ago and is very vocal about it! Good job someone is laying as the "old girls" all seem to have gone off in a huff and decided to moult and/or just stop laying

It has been a beautiful day here today, I got 3 loads of washing out and dry before lunch! I have mowed all the grass and it is all piled up ready to go in the compost bins.

I have cleaned Fudge the Guinea pig's house, all 4 hen runs and houses as well, so Fudge, the hens and Ruby and the chicklets are all nice and clean and cosy :-)




All the throws and cushion covers from the sitting room are in the wash or have been given a good beating on the line to get the dust out, the kitchen, halls, sitting and dining rooms have been vacuumed and generally tidied up

20 wine bottles have been released free of labels and washed and upended to dry,





We need lots of clean bottles to reuse, as we have 72 bottles worth of wine on the go at the moment!



I refilled all the various washing up liquid and liquid soap dispensers, I buy Faith in Nature and Bio D in bulk bottles to save on packaging and resources and then reuse or recycle the big bottles when empty.



I tidied up generally, cleaned the small bathroom with an e cloth and hot soapy water, I cleaned various windows and mirrors with an e cloth and vinegar.

Compostman and I started loading up my car for me to go to the Household Recycling site....



Then we picked apples ...lots and lots of apples.....and pears....



This is what 50 lbs of apples looks like..and we have lots of these tubs filled up....

Compostman picked beans, and blanched and froze a load of courgettes while I picked the pears from the other pear tree (Conference)and I think I shall have to make pear leather with the remaining Beth pears as they are very ripe now.

I will be making chutney later on from the Victoria plums in the fridge, the Damsons are finished now on our tree so we are leaving what is left for the insects ( especially butterflies!) to ea. We have lots of wine on the go and lots in the freezer to make jam out of in a few weeks time.

I now have to think about making cider and juice from the apples.

One of the cats took exception to some mending left in a pile on the floor by my chair yesterday and wee'd all over it (and my knitting..grr) so I spent ages cleaning up the mess with the special spray from the vets ( which works!) and washing out wee from previously clean stuff yuck!

I had a lovely, if busy week here, one day last week my fellow Eco Club leader (who is a teacher at Compost girl's school) came round so we could sort out the Green Flag application for the School. We had a really productive session and got lots sorted and it makes me SO proud of the children to see what progress has been made over the last 4 years. I have also re started the Eco club I run at another school nearby, as well as "pitching" for some craft workshops during half term in October (happily I got the work, so am now making stuff for it and Compost girl is helping me!)

So a busy and productive day, and week, here at Compost Mansions!

CIWM Recycling Champion Award

Oh I am so excited! Once again I am up for this award! I am so pleased, for me, my family and for all the people and the children I work with :-)

From the organisers, The CIWM,

We are delighted to inform you that once again you have been short listed for this award and will be put forward as a finalist to our judging panel, who will be choosing the category winners and also the winner of the overall Award for Environmental Excellence. All the winners will be announced at the ceremony which takes place at the Dorchester Hotel in November.

Hope this time I have better luck actually getting to the event, though....

A very catch up post!

Gosh, I have not posted for more than a week!

The reason being, it is *that* time of the year! Like many of you I am madly busy in my veg patch, the first crops are now ready to harvest (new potatoes, carrots, broad beans, spinach, courgettes, shallots and onions, strawberries, cucumbers, salads.....) and weeding weeding weeding is a priority!

As is grass mowing and compost making...Compostman has been scything the long grass and the comfrey today, and I have been filling up the newly emptied compostbins.

The compost has been dug out of them to go in various raised beds, and I have been planting climbing french and canadian beans up beanpoles cut from our own woodland ( feel very smug about this!) as encouraged by the Small Woods Association, of which I am a proud member! and who I occasionally work for...If you want a great place to go, visit the Green Wood centre in Coalbrookedale, its wonderful!

In the last 10 days I have also done 5 full days of Master Composter stuff which I organised, booked, transported the display etc to and from (and made sure the lovely other Master Composters had a good time )



This is me joining in the drumming at the World Environment Day stands at The Big Event.

I spent Sat and Sun this weekend just gone at Hellens in Much Marcle, at The Garden Festival, which is the Hereford Waldorf School Summer fair. A wonderful place and a very worthy cause to help, and it is a pleasure to go and do a stall at such a lovely event.

While I was there I did an interview on BBC Hereford and Worcester..click here to listen...go to 45 mins into the programme.

Last week I started the first session of a new Eco Club I have been commissioned to run at a school near Bromyard and I went to a meeting of the new Transition Town Ledbury group and have been asked to join the Steering Group, to help get things "transitioning".

So lots of outside activities going on here, must be because it is approaching Midsummer! I DO feel energised and buzzing with life at the moment, I must say, despite still feeling a bit rough from the nasty flu bug thingy.

At Compost Mansions, as well as all that harvesting and weeding and compost moving and making, I have earthed all up the spuds again, harvested a lot of new ones, planted out climbing beans, mowed(with the push mower!) around the edge of the veg patch and I have cleared all round the clearing and log circle in the wood. I have potted on numerous brassicas and salads both for home and for the school garden use.

I am preparing for a couple of days of school party activities in the wood at the end of this week which is very exciting. I have also been writing course notes and brochures and web pages for my environmental activities in the wood and I have planned a series of courses to be held here in the wood in 2010, training early years practitioners in "having fun in the woods" type of stuff.

AND we now have a house wreathed in scaffolding, as we are having a few bits of work done/doing a few bits of painting on the roof and up the top of the walls and Compostman is going to be putting up THE SOLAR PANELS !!

Yes, the ones which he was going to do last year, but then he had to have an operation so couldn't . But now he is well again and we are SO excited about the fossil-fuel-free hot water we will be getting.

Having scaffolding and building work going on does make it more "challenging" to try to get on with anything, however......

And sadly as a result I have been unable to do much in the way of housework AT ALL as there is too much other stuff to do..

So thats a shame ;-)

Simple Green Frugal Co op post on ideas for an Eco Club

I have just posted over on the Simple Green Frugal Co op about

Greening the next generation, some ideas for things to do at an Eco Club.

I hope it is helpful and useful to anyone thinking about doing something similar.

I am now a no show at the Compost Awareness event in Hereford

I agravated a long standing back injury lifting tables and trays of plants last weekend..and now I can't drive, or do much at all...so lovely Compostman drove me to school today and helped at Eco Club this afternoon...

because today I was scheduled to be teaching in the organic garden at School, I had Reception class scheduled to be out in the veg garden, planting potatos, carrots, beetroot and shallots.

Yesterday I had Gardening Club (juniors) out in the garden over lunch break planting potatos, beans, carrots, peas and beetroot. Then during the afternoon I was showing year 1 children how to plant up their raised veg bed with onions, carrots, turnips, potatos and beetroot, all with the theme of "purple"

I also, today had Eco Club and we did some pond dipping , which was great fun!

But, painful....and I wouldn't have managed it without Compostman's help.

Unfortunately due to my ( very painful) back injury I will also not, now, be at the Compost Awareness Week event in Hereford Fri.

Sorry! especially to Kim, who was going to come and say hello I know..

so...its rest, and recovery, and NO digging for me...

This is a really bad time for me to have an injury, as apart from all the stuff needing to be done here at Compost Mansions, there is a major re vamp of the school garden this weekend as well...moving the fence out to make the plot bigger, a new greenhouse, new raised beds..oooh all sorts of stuff ...and I am meant to be there digging and moving and dismantling compost bins and laying terram sheet and mulch and all sorts...

but I suspect I will be making the tea, instead :-( Grrr, bluddy back injury, I have had this for 40 years now, am Sooooo fed up its not true...mumble mumble mutter curse........)

Eco Club plant stall at Blossomtime event

Sunday I got up early ish and did the hens, watered the polytunnel plants etc before starting to load up the car with plants.



Lovely trees waiting to be bought!



Mmmm salads, tomatos, beans, peas, aubergines, peppers, herbs...all waiting to go to new homes.

I did 3 trips to the village hall and then set up my table, along with a trestle table kindly provided for me, outside the hall and laid out the stall.





Sue joined me at 1.30 and we made ready for the flood of people coming for the start of the cider tasting in the hall. We had the plants to sell and had designed and written a Family Nature trail as well to sell. This was a sheet with a map of a walk across the fields from the village hall to Aylton Church and the wonderful, newly refurbished Court Barn, with 20 things to spot along the way. We had all had fun the previous Sunday doing this walk and getting the clues sorted out!







Business was very brisk on the plant stall, we sold lots of plants and I was very busy giving advice on how to grow the various veg plants to people who hadn't grown much stuff before but wanted to start growing, which I found very encouraging! We had grown a lot of heritage varieties and these went very quickly, especially the tomato plants and salads.

We also had a lot of general interest shown about Eco Club and Gardening Club, and of course lots of children from the school live locally so came up to look at "their " plants! A good number of families bought a nature trail sheet and had fun.

Much cider was also drunk ;-)Well the event in the hall was the tasting of the winners (and all entrants) for the Big Apple Cider and Perry awards.

Compostman and Compostgirl came over later, Compostgirl spent most of the time playing with her friends, although she did walk the trail and pronounced it "fun"
Compostman took a turn on the plant stall while I went and got much needed tea and cake from the Tarrington Brownies.



Plant stall after an hour, not much left!

We sold everything in the 3 hours we were there, apart from a few big trees...which have now also found a home.


And we raised nearly £100 for Eco Club, which I think is a good total :-)

Beltane!

A bright May Day to you all

I didn't get up and wash my face in the May Day dew this morning, I have done so in the past, but not today ....I don't feel so good and so stayed in bed this morning!


However, I don't have time to be ill as am very busy at the moment, we will be taking part this weekend in Blossomtime. This is a festival of apple blossom and all things cider-y, held every May in these parts as part of The Big Apple. Twice a year The Big Apple Association organise Blossomtime in May and The Big Apple in Oct. Thes are events where the seven parishes of the Marcle Ridge in Herefordshire celebrate their heritage of apples and pears, cider and perry.

This year we are not entering any of our cider for the competition ( want to keep it to drink ourselves!) but instead spent last Sunday walking and writing the clues to a nature trail for families. it was a lovely day and we all three enjoyed the walk!

So in addition to the usual daily tasks here, I am busy today and tomorrow potting, labelling and generally preparing plants (grown by the children and me, as well as donated by other parents) to sell at the Blossomtime event up the road on Sunday at Putley. I will be womanning the plant stall and selling the nature trail sheets to raise funds for Eco Club at school.

BUT I expect I shall get round to having a Bel fire later on today :-)

Monday I shall be having fun with my family, drinking cider and watching Moris dancers do their stuff. And playing in the wood, if I am lucky :-)

Have a very good weekend, all of you, and Beltane blessings to you all.

SGF Co-op post on Greening the next generation - Eco Club.

I have just posted over on the Simple Green Frugal Co op about Greening the next generation - running an Eco Club .

It is a revised and updated version of a post I put up on here a few months ago.

I hope it is helpful and useful to anyone thinking about doing something similar.

Eco Club - Paper making fun

well, recycled paper making... :-)

We made paper from recycled paper last week at Eco Club so I thought you might be interested to see how I do it and what preparations I make.

Recycled paper making is fun, but very messy!

I have built up a list of useful equipment over the 3 years I have been doing this, just to be able to do it in the most easy manner. Remember I am doing this with between 15 and 30 children, so I have extra sets of everything!

Paper making kit



Lidded bucket (to make and transport pulp)
Old laminated floor tiles (useful flat surface to roll out on)
Rolling pins
Cloths
Jugs (useful to scoop out pulp)
Stick blender or masher
Spoons (for adding/mixing pulp)

Mould and Deckle (you need to make (or buy) a mesh frame (sometimes called a mould) and an outer frame without mesh (called a deckle) Two picture frames and a piece of mesh stapled on to one frame would work.

Sponges (for removing excess water from pulp)
Trays (bigger than the mould and deckle, for the actual paper making part. I use unused plastic cat litter trays)
Newspaper
Aprons
Plastic tablecloths



My Paper making kit ready to go to Eco Club, all stacked in a big plastic box in the boot of my car, paper pulp in SEALED buckets (formerly had bird food in them, washed and reused for this), standing in the paper making trays. If pulp spills it is VERY hard to clean up!

To make the pulp

Take cut or better still shredded white office paper (printed is fine, but good quality office paper makes the smoothest recycled paper)

Many other types of paper that can be used include: Newspaper (If you want a grayish colored paper), old magazines, old cards (makes heavier paper) tissue paper (for finer paper)



Put a generous quantity of torn or shredded paper into a bucket and add warm water. Leave overnight if possible to let the paper absorb lots of water - this makes the fibres easier to break up. If you need to speed this process up you can add boiling water.



Liquidise or mash the wet paper until it is pulp. I find putting half the pulp in another bucket with some more water is best to liquidise it, if the pulp is too thick it is hard to liquidise.



It will look like porridge when it is ready.



Wash your hands after handling paper pulp as it is alkaline and can leave your hands very dry, and remind the children to wash their hands as soon as they have finished doing the pulp handling bit.


To make the paper

There are several ways of doing this, I put the mould and deckle in water (frame mesh side up, deckle on top)



and then spoon/pour pulp into the frame until I have enough. This is easier for children to do!




OR you can put some pulp in a bowl (bigger than your frame and deckle) with water.
Take the frame and deckle, hold them firmly together and scoop them under the surface of the pulp mixture until you have picked up enough pulp from the water to make an even layer of pulp on the mesh. This makes finer paper but is hard for children to do!

If you want to colour the paper add food colouring to the water at this stage.

Agitate the frame and deckle in the water to get an even layer of pulp inside the deckle, on the mesh. You can spoon some pulp into the deckle and frame to fill in any holes.



When all of the mesh is evenly coated lift out and allow the frame and deckle to drain, keeping level.



At this point you could add glitter, dried leaves, herbs, flowers, scraps of coloured tissue paper etc. I add some vanilla food flavour for a lovely scent, or a drop of lavender essential oil, or some dried lavender also looks very attractive.



Lift the deckle off,



place a cloth (I use old j cloths, anything absorbent will work) over the paper on the mesh of the frame. Gently dab with a sponge to remove the worst of the water.



Carefully lower the cloth and paper, cloth side down, on to a flat surface (I use an offcut of floor tile) covered with newspaper/cloth to absorb water. There WILL be a lot of water around!



You now have the cloth on the tile, the paper next then the mesh of the frame. This is the back surface of the paper, seen through the mesh.



Press down with sponges on the mesh, so the water is blotted off the paper through the mesh.



THEN

Lift off the frame from one corner, pressing gently from the mesh side as you go, leaving the paper behind on the cloth



You now have a cloth with some paper on top of it!



Put another cloth on top and roll with a rolling pin to remove any further water (and flatten the paper a litle.)



Repeat whole paper making process, adding each cloth to the stack.

When you have enough paper sheets, place something flat on top ( I use another laminated floor tile) and weigh it down to flatten the paper stack. Leave for a bit (a few hours if possible but it is not too critical).

Peel apart the cloths and leave each sheet of paper and cloth to dry out a bit more if needed.

Restack and put a weight on the stack to flatten the sheets

Finally peel off the cloths and leave the paper to dry out completely. DO NOT put in too hot a place or the paper will buckle as it dries!

I get the children to work in pairs, each one working on an end of the frame and then the sheet can be cut in half when dry. Odd bits can be re used to decorate other sheets of paper.

Put in a warm dry place to dry and make sure you know who made it!!


,


And THAT is how we made paper!

Eco Club - memberships and games

Quite a few of you have asked me about the Eco Club after school club I run at Compostgirl's school as well as the various environmental education things I do with children at Forest School.

So I thought I would do a post on some of the memberships and resources I have used. Some are free, some require a small membership fee, all are really good and I can personally recommend them. I also have listed some books and ideas sheets where you can find out more about some of the games we play and crafts we do.

Eco Club is an RSPB Wildlife Explorers Club. As part of the RSPB Wildlife Explorers club membership fee each child is a member of the RSPB and gets a magazine every two months as well as various occasional goodies from the RSPB. I also got to go off on a weekend in Bedfordshire for training as a Wildlife Explorers Leader ;-) The RSPB provide a lot of support and help to their clubs. Our RSPB membership is great and the children love the magazines and of course we take part in the Big Schools and Big Garden Birdwatch every year! There are lots of good, free ideas on their website as well.

Eco Club is also a Woodland Trust Nature Detectives Club , again for a small fee. The Nature Detectives Club is run by The Woodland Trust and they also produce the most amazing free resources as well which are available on their website to download and print off. The spotter and I.D sheets are especially good. The Woodland Trust are also responsible for "Springwatch" and Autumnwatch" as part of the UK Phenology Network, which records when natural events happen.

Eco Club regularly gets free trees and tree seed growing kits to plant, as part of the "Tree for all" scheme (in November and March) This is a scheme run by The Woodland Trust where children are encouraged to plant trees.

We are also registered as a BBC Breathing Places school so we receive emails and information packs from them with more good ideas in them for activities. This is free!



These are just a few of the resources I use. I have many feet of bookshelves full of books and info which I use in my environmental education work :-)


We start most Eco Club sessions with a game or two and here is the link to an an idea sheet I wrote in 2007 on playing environmental themed games. I use these games quite a lot and they are good fun.

We also make various craft things in Eco Club and Forest School sessions and here is an ideas sheet I wrote in 2007 on making craft items from natural materials ( bird feeders, mini beast houses, mobiles etc)

I used lots of these ideas when I worked for our local nature Trust as an Environmental Playworker and have used them since in various places.

There are some very good books with ideas for all sorts of activities and games as well. “Sharing Nature with Children 1” and “Sharing Nature with Children 2” by Joseph Cornell are inspirational books as is “Natures Playground” by Fiona Danks and Jo Schofield. Also “Earthwise” by Carol Petrash is very good. These are available from Amazon via the link at the top right of this page, or your local library may have them. The Woodcraft Folk Games Book is also very good, but I think that will have to be borrowed from a library. If your club joins the RSPB they provide very good guides on how to run a club with great ideas for things to do.

I hope this is all useful information :-) There is a lot of very useful and free stuff on the Internet, I hope these few links are helpful to anyone who either is thinking of helping at a club or just wants some interesting, fun stuff to do with their own children! The RSPB Wildlife Explorers Club and Nature Detective Club are not just for schools and youth groups, both offer family memberships which are also very good and again, I can personally vouch for that, as we are family members here at Compost Mansions.

So, now you have all this lovely information, why not go and play :-)

Eco Club - getting started

Several of you have asked me about the Eco Club I co-lead at Compost girl's school, so this is the first in a series of posts about Eco Club and what we do.

Our sessions at Eco Club run after school from 3 15 to 5 pm. We have so many children wanting to be in Eco Club that we have had to hold two duplicate sessions each month! We usually have around 15 children in each session, Sue (Yr 2 teacher) and I lead the sessions (with a couple of parent helpers, usually Compost man is one of them !) Sue and I are both qualified First Aiders, any non teaching staff have CRBs and we take a register at the start and end of the club to ensure the safety of the children.

Eco Club has its own notice board in the school, which is changed by me to reflect the up coming session.

We start with the children getting changed into old clothes then we have a drink, a biscuit and a general chat about what we plan to do in the session; this is also the time for the children to share any exciting news with the rest of the club, or show a book or magazine they have found. Sometimes we look at a web site or a DVD which relates to what is planned for the session. We also talk about what we would like to do in future sessions and ask the children what they would like to do.

Then it is outside for a few environmentally based games (more on those in another post). Then it is on with the activity planned for that session. We want everybody to be able to have fun without worrying about getting cold, wet or mucky so old clothes, warm coats and wellies are essential wear for Eco Club.

We have found mixing KS1 and 2 in a meeting is a really good thing as the older ones help the younger ones. We duplicate sessions each month so each group (Ants or Bees) does roughly the same thing as the other group each month .

We are an RSPB Wildlife Explorers Club, a Woodland Trust Nature Detectives Club and have been a Wildlife Trust Watch group. Each child is a member of the RSPB and gets a magazine every two months as well as various goodies from the RSPB on occasion.

Eco club activities cover a wider range of “green” interests. For example; we make recycled paper (more on that in a later post!),




have planted native hedgerow trees, have bird feeders all over the school grounds, have instigated a paper recycling bank at school, have made bat and bird boxes and erected them around the school,








have made a hedgehog hibernaculum, we take part in various RSPB and Woodland Trust events and we make insect shelters in the Autumn. Eco Club has several raised beds in the school grounds where we grow herbs and insect attracting plants.




We make a lot of compost as well! Bug hunts in the compost heap whilst “turning” it is always a VERY popular activity!

We have held HUGELY successful fund raising events, for the RSPB Albatross appeal alone we raised over £300!

We do a variety of recycled-based crafts



and a lot of bird and plant identifying and above all we have FUN.

What we are doing is part of a bigger message spreading throughout the school, of living in a more sustainable way. This has benefited the school in many ways and has meant the school is now working for the highest level an Eco school can achieve, the Green Flag award. We also recently won a prestigious Green Tree Woodland Trust award at Gold Level.

It is a lot of work for me, I cannot deny it and I do not get paid money for doing it BUT I enjoy doing it and I love helping the children to come to see the wonders of our natural world. I feel very privileged to be able to share my knowledge of the environment with the next generation and that is worth a lot! I am also lucky enough to have converted my interest and passion for educating about sustainability/the environment into a whole new career as an Environmental Educator, purely from becoming a volunteer Master Composter and volunteering to run Eco Club.

If you have similar skills, why not try helping at YOUR local school or other youth group?

Eco Club wins an award!

Yay! We have won another award!

Ashperton Primary School, in Ledbury is the first school in Herefordshire to win a Gold Award with the Woodland Trust for getting involved in green activities including tree planting, reducing carbon emissions and recycling.

The new initiative launched this year by the Woodland Trust offers schools the opportunity to bring the great outdoors, the wonderful world of wildlife and green issues into the classroom with a range of resources and a new award scheme.

The Green Tree Schools Award scheme rewards schools every time they participate in inspirational learning events, projects or initiatives provided by The Woodland Trust. Ashperton Primary School is the first school in Herefordshire to win this award for participating in green activities, which included tree planting, reducing carbon emissions and recycling. Over the past 2 years Ashperton School have planted new trees in their school grounds and the children have grown trees from seeds, as well as recycling Christmas cards, visiting a woodland, reducing their carbon emissions and joining in various other Woodland Trust activities.

Karen Letten, schools development officer, said: “The scheme promotes a range of opportunities, each designed to stimulate a child’s imagination and sustain their interest in nature. The achievements of the school are recognised through an awards scheme in which they receive points for taking part in activities. As they reach milestones within the project they will receive bronze, silver and finally an attractive wooden plaque which acknowledges they’ve achieved the environmental accolade of a gold award.”

Sarah Blenkinsop, who is a leader of the School Eco Club, commented: "The Woodland Trust have donated trees for our hedgerow and copse as well as seeds to help Eco Club improve our outside environment at school. They also have provided us with wonderful free resources from their website. The Nature Detectives Club offers loads of ideas and brilliant fun activities for all the children at school. As a Forest School leader I also use the Woodland Trust resources during sessions with the children.”

Sue Fowler, who is the Eco School Co-ordinator and Yr. 2 Teacher said: “It’s fantastic being one of the very first schools in the U.K. and certainly the first in Herefordshire to gain this award. We are very passionate about the environment at Ashperton Primary School and it is wonderful for the Woodland Trust to recognise our commitment and enthusiasm.”

To take part schools simply register at www.naturedetectives.org.uk/award and can start earning points immediately. These are a few of the many different ways to do this:

Participate in a tree planting event
Receive free trees for your school grounds
Recycle Christmas cards, mobile phones or inkjet cartridges with the Woodland Trust
Reduce CO2 emissions
Register with Nature Detectives
Join the Ancient Tree Hunt

Karen continues: “This is pick ‘n’ mix conservation. Teachers and children choose from a range of activities to suit their interest and priorities at any given moment. Schools embark on a real journey of discovery with us and, along the way, will also be working toward achieving other recognised environmental awards such as Eco Schools.”



The Woodland Trust’s learning team provides a range of resources for both primary and secondary schools. Most activities are available free of charge and further details can be found at www.naturedetectives.org.uk

Congratulations to ALL the children at our school, especially Eco Club, for all our hard work! We were the first school in Herefordshire and one of the first in the country to win this award!

We have had lots of media coverage about this, quite deservedly and oh I am so proud of us!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch!

RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch is 30 this year!

In the late 1970s, the RSPB asked its junior membership to count the birds in their garden - over the same weekend. This 'one-off' idea was so successful, it has grown into the world's biggest survey of its kind. Thirty years later and more than three million Big Garden Birdwatch hours have been clocked up by people watching and enjoying the birds in their gardens. That's more than 380 years – wow! We have also spotted 6 million birds, helping reveal the winners and losers in the garden bird world.

Taking part in the Big Garden Birdwatch is simple and fun!

All you need to do is watch in your garden or local park for an hour on either Saturday 24 or Sunday 25 January 2009.

Simply record the highest number of each species seen in your garden (not flying over) at any one time.

Download the counting sheet to help you keep track of how many birds you've seen. The sheet has pictures of the commonest birds seen in gardens, as well as space to cross off how many of each species you have seen together.

You don't need to send this sheet back to the RSPB - it is just to help you record your counts.

Submit your results using the online form provided, which will open on 24 January 2009 for you to enter your 2009 counts. The RSPB will collate and publish the results in March 2009.





And if anyone reading this is involved with a school or youth group, why not join in with The Big Schools Birdwatch?

This is a free activity for schools and youth groups (brownies, scouts etc) throughout the UK, which the RSPB run every year in January and February.

By observing the birds that visit your school grounds you will be helping them monitor UK bird numbers.

A free teachers activity pack is available. the RSPB also have loads of information and resources on these pages to help you carry out this activity with your class.

New for this year, build your choice of graphs and charts. Submit your results online and get access to these new, interactive class activities. A series of cunning questions provided by the RSPB will also get your class really exploring and interpreting their data.

Print out the tables, graphs and charts and use them as a record of data handling work, or put them up in your classroom as part of a Big Schools' Birdwatch display.

If you don't have access to a whiteboard, they still want to hear from you. Please submit your results using the paper form provided in your activity pack.

If your school does not have suitable grounds you can carry out your birdwatch in a local park.

The next Big Schools' Birdwatch runs from 19-30 January 2009.

It is NOT too late to apply!

We will be doing the Big Schools Birdwatch at both our Eco club sessions in January AND doing the Big Garden Birdwatch at Compost Mansions on the weekend of the 24th and 25 Jan

So why not join us!

Further musings on cider and chicken poo

Further to my last post and the various kind comments I received ( thank you kind blog friends.....)

I have a confession...we actually made twice the amount of cider shown in the last post.....and have already drunk the first 35 L since May....we actually got through it very quickly...and were a bit alarmed at how fast the levels dropped!

So we left off decanting this one in the vain hope that, IF it was in a 25 L container, ( out in the garage...) we would be less likely to start pouring a glass ( or several ) out from it. As it it bloomin heavy to lift and I don't actually think I could pour a glass out of it....

Or something. Well that was the reasoning. Maybe. Or was it just we didn't get around to it?

Can't really remember.........

;-)


And I really must thank you all for your good wishes, I feel marginally better than earlier in the week but am still very weak and feeble. I have cancelled taking my class for their Forest School session on Thursday AND have said I am not going to do Eco Club after school. Which is a big disappointment for me as I enjoy it so much BUT ....I really don't feel capable at the moment.


I was a bit puzzled at the comment from Thursday about how industrious the kitchen is...then I looked again with someone elses eyes ( well, mine are not much use at the moment!)

at the photo and realised that, with the big container of the old 2007 cider, the new cider bubbling away, the apples and pumpkins, the dehydrator, the jars of chutney etc...it DID look like we have been busy!


Actually, with the chutneys, its just I am too lazy to put the jars away and then have to get them out of the Chutney and Jam store ( yes we DO have such a thing....) to label them and I haven't labelled them yet and am leaving it there in the hope I will remember to get around to making some labels before it gets to be 2009.......


I DID manage to clean out all the chickens runs yesterday, they were all in a bit of a state and I shovelled an AMAZING pile of composted down chicken poo and bark chippings from the runs....it was WONDERFUL stuff and I can't wait to get using it next year! So all the hens now have clean houses and freshly clean runs full of nice composted wood chips from our wood.














BUT I think it was a bit too much for me, as after an hour of doing that I came over a bit wobbly and had to go and lie down for 3 hours and sleep......................


I like the symmetry of cutting down our trees for wood, chipping the twiggy bits and storing them to use as mulches or in the hen runs and then returning them to my compost bins ( with added Factor P for POO) to turn into lovely compost, to use to grow my veg, to eat.....

The Wheel of Life...I feel a "Lion King " moment coming on.....

( sorry....but I AM ill, remember....so am excused normality for a few more days...)

I also have been most amused by the antics of all the hens, they are very funny!





THIS is one of the chicks! She is the no 1 pullet and is VERY brave.....




SO...I am slowly improving ( although am tired , very easily, and have been falling asleep at all odd hours of the day...if I sit down I nod off.)...and life continues on....