OWWL blog:
We have had an incredibly busy, productive and exciting week in our outdoor space, with the children working hard as builders, wildlife detectives and gardeners.
We started a brilliant new project at the top of our slope by building a dead hedge to create a secure, natural boundary. Ian and Alex used a special tool to drive strong wooden posts into the ground and, once they were secure, the children leapt into action! They worked beautifully together to forage across the woodland, collecting fallen branches and sticks to fill it up. Dead hedges are fantastic because they are low-cost, eco-friendly and use natural materials we already have. They create a wonderful biodiversity hotspot for minibeasts and birds, and they are incredibly easy for early years children to maintain, as they can simply top them up with more sticks as the structure naturally settles over time.
While exploring the woods, our little wildlife detectives also set up a hidden wildlife camera and put out some food to see if we could spot our resident fox. Our detective work paid off and we caught him on camera, although he got a little too curious and walked right up to the lens for a very blurry close-up! We are going to reset the camera this week to try to get a clearer look at our furry neighbour, now that he knows where the snacks are.
Meanwhile, down in the polytunnel, our young gardeners have been busy recycling cardboard toilet rolls to plant carrot and parsnip seeds, giving their long roots plenty of room to grow. After the recent dry spell, the soil in the polytunnel was very dry, so the children spent time carefully watering it to re-moisten the soil. All that hard work is already paying off, as we noticed that many of the seeds we planted last week are already starting to sprout through the damp earth! It has been a wonderful week of learning how teamwork and care can bring our outdoor environment to life.
Don't forget to bring in any leftover pumpkins after Halloween, as burying them in our beds over the winter can provide valuable nutrients for the plants we grow next spring!
