November in your school garden
Now that we have had a few frosts, autumn leaves are colouring beautifully, and beginning to fall. Converted to leaf mould they are a great resource for the soil, but they are also a great teaching resource for measuring and plotting in maths, providing stimulus for poetry and prose, using and making keys in science and all kind of creative work from prints and stencils to Andy Goldsworthy-style ephemeral art. Have a look at the KS2 Lesson plan ‘Colour all around us’, under Resources. This has lots of ideas on exploring colour in the garden that can easily be adapted for use in autumn.
Jobs this month
• This is a good time to plant all kinds of deciduous trees and shrubs, while they are dormant but the soil is not too cold for them to become established. This includes roses, hedges, woody climbers such as wisteria, and fruit trees and bushes.
• Carry on preparing the ground for crops you will be planting next spring. Remove any weeds, but leave the soil rough and let the frost break down the lumps
• Protect overwintering crops such as chard, early peas, winter radish and salad leaves with fleece or cloches.
• Harvest chard, leeks, salad leaves and winter radish. Chard or leeks are both delicious baked in cheese sauce, and a mix of salad leaves with grated winter radish and carrot or apple makes a crunchy starter or side dish.
• Take the opportunity to collect together all your pots, trays, labels, canes, ties and so on. Give them a good scrub with dilute garden disinfectant, and make a list of any replacements needed
• Order seed catalogues so you will be ready to sort out your orders next month