Nov22, 2009, Multiply, Eco-Schools Green Flag

WE DID IT!!!

I've not been online a lot recently and this is part of the reason why..............thought you may like an update.
The School where I work is now the first senior school in our education authority to be awarded the ‘Green Flag’ from the organisation Eco-Schools. I’ve written about this before but for those who still don’t know what Eco-Schools is; it’s an international organisation for schools aimed at raising awareness of and supporting action to protect our environment. I am the eco-schools co-ordinator for our school and the ‘Green Flag’’ is the award every school aspires too. I am so proud of these kids, they recycle just about any thing and evey thing that can be recycled from the school and they have spent hours planting and tending our gardening projects. We will recieve a 'real' flag in the post very soon,but untill then the kids made lots of small green paper flags and ran around the school telling every one we had passed our assessment.
Every thing you could ever possibly want to know about Eco-Schools can be found here
http://www.ecoschoolsscotland.org/

Obviously I can’t name the kids or show the photographs of them, but we were in a couple of the local newspapers and one of the newspapers  can be found  online.  You may find this particular link interesting.
http://www.thecourier.co.uk/output/2009/11/19/newsstory14130792t0.asp
And to show their appreciation management presented me with a bouquet………………would you believe a GREEN BOUQUET!! I love it

Tags: greenflag, eco-schools

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delete reply pestep55 wrote on Jan 1, '10 Wow Congrats!

delete reply madisonpooface wrote on Nov 26, '09 Congratulations Loretta. I am so proud of you and your kids. That is a great thing to strive for and to learn about at a young age. This will now follow them through their whole lives.

delete reply djdx wrote on Nov 23, '09 Congratulations!

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Nov 23, '09 I knew it would happen. What a nice bouquet! Congratulations to everyone involved.

delete reply mitchylr wrote on Nov 23, '09 Congratulations, very well done!! The task of educating the next generations of the importance of being eco-friendly is essential for the future of the planet. Major kudos to you for being so involved!!

delete reply hedgewitch9 wrote on Nov 23, '09 WOW. CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You deserve as many bouquets as possible, you are a star Loretta!!!!!

delete reply initiativestain wrote on Nov 22, '09 Now that is a story and then some and that is something that expands in so many ways! This is the very first time I have ever seen your picture and good to see you. Areas like this are ones that take exceptional people.

delete reply lrrpslady wrote on Nov 22, '09 All the hard work paid off. I'm proud of all of you. Good Job.

delete reply starfishred wrote on Nov 22, '09 congradulations loretta so proud of you and all you have accomplished

delete reply veryfrank wrote on Nov 22, '09 Congratulations to all of you.

delete reply kathyinozarks wrote on Nov 22, '09 congrats!!

delete reply nemo4sun wrote on Nov 22, '09 yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this is so great! ((((big hug)))) :)

delete reply philsgal7759 wrote on Nov 22, '09 CONGRATULATIONS

delete reply greenwytch wrote on Nov 22, '09 OMG.........YAY! well done to all of you!!! thanks for sharing the good news!

delete reply pestep55 wrote on Nov 22, '09 Wonderful -- kudos!

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Nov 22, '09 thanks....................nice to see you again Bennet, just thought maybe some people would like a bit of an update.

delete reply bennett1 wrote on Nov 22, '09 I AM SO HAPPY FOR YOU AND PROUD OF YOU!!!!!!!

March 5, 2009, Multiply, School Herb Garden

The School Herb Garden and more.

This week I've started taking some of the pupils outside to continue our gardening projects we began last year. We have acquired two new plant containers, one for either side of the main entrance. The pupils have already filled them with compost and tomorrow we will go to the garden centre to choose plants for them.

The herb garden we planted last year has survived its first winter and is looking good.
This year, now  herb garden is established, I hope the pupils will be picking the herbs to use in their cooking classes.
Toward the end of last year we planted hundreds of spring bulbs. They are all native wild flowers, bluebells, snowdrops and others.
These are now popping up all over the place, so far we only have the leaves but I’m sure we will get our first flowers soon.
We also planted about 50 small wild hedgerow bushes. Most of these seem to have survived the winter but it will take a couple of years for them to become established.
We planted Holly, Hawthorn, Dog-rose and Dogwood.


At the far end of the school grounds is an area planted with small trees and bushes to celebrate the centenary. These trees are quite established now and last year we planted lots of bluebells among them.
It’s so nice to be able to get out into the grounds again and the pupils seem enthusiastic about continuing the gardening projects. We even have our own compostor now sitting in the corner of our herb garden.
Just as I was pleased to be able to get out into my own garden last week...............I'm very pleased to be able to get the pupils back out into the grounds.......as always, I'll keep you updated, this is just the first installment of the year.

Tags: garden, herb thursday, plants, herbs, school, trees

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delete reply djdx wrote on Mar 8, '09 Great post! I came home to find the first daffodils in bloom.

delete reply luckebabe wrote on Mar 7, '09 so fun to plant a seed and watch it grow. great work Loretta!

delete reply dianahopeless wrote on Mar 7, '09 The children are so lucky to have you teaching them about gardening. Not many have the pleasure of learning about it these days. Gardening was one of the first things I taught my children and grandchildren. Your projects look great. (I wouldn't mind finding some of those new planters. lol) In short order you will have glorious colored flowers. Don't you just love Spring?! Great post Loretta!!

delete reply acousticeagle wrote on Mar 6, '09 All this industry, excellent. It will be great to see the rewards of all that. Compost is great. I would like to have one of those composting bins. My Summer vege garden, sigh, mixed success. I'm still getting cucumbers, they've been good. The tomatoes, almost a dead loss, which I think was due to neighbourhood cats liking the smell of blood and bone too much. I'm getting zucchinis but they are hard to kill. I've got a very healthy rosemary growing and everytime I cook lamb I pick some. I'd rather fresh than dried. Yesterday I bought an indoor umbrella plant for my loungeroom. It's my first indoor plant since I've had this flat. I hope it grows high, I like them when they look like indoor trees.

delete reply esoterika713 wrote on Mar 6, '09, edited on Mar 6, '09 When my kids were in public school I helped to plant with the children of each class.. I had a friend who came to the school with sunflower seedlings to use as the foundation for the Sunflower and Morning Glory House. We had the children plant seeds in between the seedlings. The idea being that if the seeds and seedling were planted close together they wouldn't need stakes so the sunflowers would stay up. It worked perfectly. The Sunflower and Morning Glory House won a Community Blooms award. We were invited to attend the flower show at Allen Gardens green house. We felt very special because they had silver carafes with coffee and tons of food for everyone. Allen Gardens even gave us some cake to take home because we were the last to leave. The kids had a great time. The night blooming flowers were great because it was winter outside but a tropical haven inside. Our school garden went defunct unfortunately after I stopped participating in it. Now, I work in the Co-op garden and I get immense pleasure from working with nature to create a beautiful place to be in. Ta.

delete reply wulfshado wrote on Mar 6, '09 This is really awesome. Keep up the good work.

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Mar 6, '09 The composter was the first thing I noticed. The other day I saw some roses in bloom. However, with this horrible wind we've been having they're probably been blown off.

delete reply starfishred wrote on Mar 5, '09 looking good

delete reply veryfrank wrote on Mar 5, '09 I am as excited as a child - looking forward to spring and summer this year. For some reason, more so than usual. I'm hoping to get both of the grandchildren interested in their family garden when I start to work in it in a few weeks. They seem to enjoy the bulbs right now. Maybe it is the quick return, plant in November, bloom in March.

delete reply bennett1 wrote on Mar 5, '09 Oh how wonderful!! You have given the children such a gift - the soil, growing, green things renewing after a winter of dormancy!! I am so sad I could not fuss in my garden before I left. I did loosen the mulch a bit.

Nov 20, 2008, Multiply, The Eco-Schoold Herb Garden

Who remembers the Eco-Schools Herb garden??

Back in May/June I wrote about a herb garden some of the pupils got involved in planting. The original blogs are here
http://forgetmenot525.multiply.com/journal/item/40/What_is_a_herb_No_2

http://forgetmenot525.multiply.com/journal/item/42/Your_land_is_my_land_continuation_of_the_herb_garden_story

These pupils had never done any thing like this before and it was wonderful to see them out there getting their hands dirty and planting the herbs. I took a group of them to the local garden center to chose the herbs and a few days later we planted their herbs in a small garden next to the front entrance. I thought those of you who remember the original blog would like an update……………..as winter sets in look how well established our herb garden is. These kids should be proud of themselves.
Just recently we have been back in the garden digging over and preparing another corner close to the front entrance. This time we are planting a wild hedgerow. We have packed this tiny space full of Hawthorn, Dog Rose, Holly, and Dog Wood. There are almost 50 small bushes in all and if they all survive they will need thinning out in a couple of years. As if this wasn’t enough, I really splashed out and bought 500 wild bluebell bulbs, the pupils have planted these very close together in among the hedgerow bushes and all around the borders of the herb garden.
 I can’t wait for the spring when they will all bloom; it will be spectacular to have a great splash of bluebell blue greet you as you enter the school.

Tags: herbs, eco-schools

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delete reply kathyinozarks wrote on Nov 21, '08 wonderful Loretta, thanks for the update

delete reply djdx wrote on Nov 21, '08 A wonderful activity IMHO. Next you can teach them to cook with the herbs. :-)

delete reply starfishred wrote on Nov 20, '08 It will be wonderful in the spring.

delete reply dianahopeless wrote on Nov 20, '08 You have some lucky students. What a teacher you are!! How marvelous that will look come spring. Looking forward to more photos then......

delete reply seanymph3 wrote on Nov 20, '08 Oh how wonderful. Nobody trashed it either. You know how some kids are. Im glad they respected all that work. And the new plantings sound wonderful. Cant wait to see the pics come spring. :)

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Nov 20, '08 I can't wait to see this in the spring!

delete reply veryfrank wrote on Nov 20, '08 Busy, busy lady that you are, but this is so rewarding - I know.

delete reply acousticeagle wrote on Nov 20, '08 Oh, Loretta, just wanted to let you know that I'm having trouble with your site. When I write text the whole text block keeps spreading horizontally.

delete reply acousticeagle wrote on Nov 20, '08 Gosh, you've been sooo busy. Small area gardening can be so rewarding. It's really good to get some relaxation and exercise at the same time.

delete reply wulfshado wrote on Nov 20, '08 ooooo you had better be prepared with progressional pictures for those of us who can't be there to see in person!