Kerry Earth Education Project & Gortbrack Organic farm - where I started!

Rocking the good life down at Gortbrack...my old Alma mater! Good on ye lads! Magical place! Check out this video about the farm here.

Irish Times Article on Forest Schools

An article written by a journalist who came out to see us on our Forest School Training...interesting stuff!

Irish Times Article by Sheila Wayman - Why children need to go into the woods today.

An extract from Sheila Wayman's article on our Forest Schools Training Course:

'There are whoops of delight as seven grown adults pile into the “debris shelter” they have built from scratch in russet woodland in Co Wicklow. In the distance, the first snow of winter is sprinkled like icing sugar onto Lugnaquilla, lit by the low-angle sun in the clear blue, winter sky.

They were given 45 minutes to complete the task, starting with the picking of a suitable tree with a “V” on which to prop a sturdy “spine” that would, in turn, support a “rib cage” of branches. Armfuls of brush were gathered to fill in the gaps and then covered with forest floor mulch to waterproof the structure.

Mission accomplished, group members stand around and admire their handiwork. Okay, they are not going to have to sleep in it tonight but that doesn’t stop them clambering in to get a feel of it – the leaf-covered, earthy base and the scratchy, twig walls of the dim interior.

It’s the stuff of childhood – at least it should be. But within the space of one generation, a gulf has opened between children and nature as their freedom to roam and play outdoors has been drastically curtailed.

Instead they turn to television and the internet for entertainment while, in the words of Last Child in the Woods author Richard Louv, they are kept under “well-meaning, protective house arrest”.

By depriving children of the chance to negotiate outdoor challenges independently, we’re in danger of raising a generation of physically inept, risk-averse softies, with no wish to get their hands dirty.' 

by Sheila Wayman.

Forest Schools Training Course...in progress.

Serious concentration a happening during the first ever Forest Schools Training that happened in Wicklow last week, basically we got to play in the woods for the week!!!!

The week involved our immersion onto what Forest Schools can and should be, so we mixed it up between playing in the woods - fire making, natural art, mud art, campfire cooking and then sound child developmental theory and educational theory which to me was fascinating! there was a whole 6th sense that I never knew about before...

First ever School Garden Conference to be held!

The First Conference on Organic School Gardens - TEACHING IS EASY IN A SCHOOL GARDEN, was held in Marino College, this weekend gone by, SAT 5th Oct 2013. It was a fantastidcally succesful day, organised bt SEED, our first ever national school gardens network (www.schoolearthed.ie) Fantasitc and memorable day-great to see school gardening getting the attention it deserves! With Trevor Sergeant giving our opening address and old stalwarts of the school garden world such as Paddy Madden and Ian McGrigor in tow. There were workshops and talks throughtout the day, and more to come in the near future we hope! 

Aine from www.irishseedsavers.ie giving a talk on seed saving at the SEED school garden conference at the weekend in Marino College(picture right).


http://www.schoolearthed.ie/conference.html

Summer Camp with a twist...

Wildcraft summer Camp.

Your kids will finish this weel with a new curiosity about nature and have creative tools to go outdoors and make fun for themselves!
at Hunting Brook Gardens, nr. Blessington

Age: There are three age groups: Teens 13-15 yrs, 9-12 yrs, and 6-8 yrs.

Cost: Five days €120, three days €80, or per day €30 When: 10am–3pm daily, Mon 19^th – Fri 23^rd Aug

Wildcraft * Storytelling * Camouflage * Wildlife Tracking * Wild-Plant Identification * Games 

* Plant Food and Medicine * Folklore * Ethical Foraging & Eating * Indigenous tools * Camp-Craft

Travel: Drive via N81 or take No. 65 Bus, bus stops just a few minutes walk uphill to the gardens.

To Book: www.earthforceeducation.com or call Ciara 086 3199 515, or Lucy 087 650 8226

Woodland Education-getting our kids out playing in the woods!

Check out my friend Ciara's great coverage on Nationwide this week...
getting the kids out into the woods!

http://vimeo.com/65611610

Tree Nursery Project at Donadea Forest, October 2012

In the autumn of 2012 we carried out our LA21 funded project - Native Tree Nursery Project at Donadea Forest in North Kildare. We worked with three local primary schools, three different classes, 2nd class from Scoil Naomh Mhuire, 4th class from Rathcoffey NS and 6th class from Tir Moghan NS.

The schools came to Donadea for a full immersion in the woods, we gathered tree seeds from the sweet chestnut, maple, beech, sycamore, Hawthorne berries and rosehips from the wild rose, horse chestnut and a small amount of ash keys, there were no oak to be found this year, and we were too late for hazel.

We also played various sensory games to raise the childrens' awareness of their surroundings, we did bug hunts and pond dips, and had wonderful days all in all in the woods.



We followed this up with a trip to the schools to build and set up a tree nursery in the school itself. With the class we built a small raised bed, filled it with soil and leaf mould, and then put in our gathered tree seeds, in separate sections so we can identify the baby trees as they grow, this was topped with leaves to replicate the forest floor, a system called the Dunemann System.

To finish we made a wire mesh lid to keep the vermin at bay, mice especially love to eat tree seeds. And tree nursery beds done. The class have to keep an eye on the beds, water it in especially droughty periods and take the lid off in spring when the trees hopefully start to grow!

ONE MILLION TREES IN ONE DAY at The Acre Project

Earlier this year I put in an application to the ONE MILLION TREES IN ONE DAY Project for the ACRE Project in Celbridge. We were successful in the application! So, on Friday 26th April we will be planting over 1,000 native trees and hedgerow plants at the ACRE Project in Celbridge! If you're interested in getting involved just let me know, we'll have students from the Salesians, the TY's and LCA's and my adult  FETAC class involved on the day. Really excited to be involved and leading the planting project! Check out more about this really exciting project at: http://www.onemilliontreesinoneday.com/

From the Ground Up...representing Holy Trinity School Garden

Fionnuala Fallon, horticulturalist and Irish Times journalist has published a book, 'From the Ground Up' that tells the stories of some very talented and very different `ticklers of the earth', all of whom live and garden in Ireland today. From schoolchildren to retirees, amateurs to experts, what they share in common is a delight in growing their own fruit and vegetables.

Most notable for me, she visited our amazing organic school garden in Holy Trinity National School in Donaghmede in North County Dublin over three years ago now, I had completely forgotten about it until I saw myself in print and in photos in the book at Christmas. It's a really good read, and really promotes the positive aspects of developing gardens in schools! To read more about rthe book see below.

http://www.collinspress.ie/from-the-ground-up.html

Heritage in Schools Scheme is Open for Bookings!

Heritage in Schools Scheme is Open for Bookings!
The wonderful panel of 165 Heritage Experts are all ready to bring heritage to life in the classroom for your pupils!

Find out more at...

http://www.heritageinschools.ie/

Let's get those gardens growing! You can find GROW on the website above..book us in if you want to get your school garden a growing!

Dublin Zoo - Teacher Training and Summer Camp Madness, Summer 2012

I was invited in to work with Dublin Zoo this summer on their teacher training course and on their summer camps. They have a purpose built school garden now in the zoo with a vegetable patch, fruit area, composter and pond for dipping in, as well as a purpose built classroom and a kind of urban farm next door complete with cows, sheep, goats and pigs.
I spent 2 days teaching primary teachers about how to set up their own organic school garden, I covered garden design elements and how to re-design your school grounds, seeding seeds, planting potatoes and science in the garden experiments.
The summer camps were run over 5 weeks during the summer, I was only doing one day a week on them, and fair play to the rest of the staff in the zoo for doing them full time during that time, don't know if I would have had the energy! I did some veg tasting, seed in a pot, mini-gardens,pond dipping and bug hunting in the school garden, it was a busy day in the zoo.

April 2012, The Outdoor Classroom, redesigning the school garden!

It had been a while, but I went across to Tullamore today to work with Geraldine O'Toole from Sonairte. We did a school garden design day for the school. We worked with 4th class for the day, bringing them through the whole process of redesigning their school grounds from the perspective of making it into an Outdoor Classroom. so we went through the possible elements - vegetable patch, woodland, pond, orchard, fruit area, wild area etc, then we went outside and mapped the grounds, measuring the buildings and green spaces and auditing the site so we knew what the school already had onsite. Then in the afternoon we returned to the classroom and together with the kids we came up with the design that you see here in the picture, a fabulous 10-year plan for the school to work towards. We already made some preliminary plans to come back and start building the vegetable patch in a few weeks!

Progress being made at Piper's Hill, April 2012

The ladies are making huge progress in the new school garden we're building for the students down at Piper's Hill School in Naas, Co. Kildare. I'm working with a parent's group to develop the garden, and it has turned out to be an all women's group, but let that not deceive you, there has been trojan work done by the ladies, during April we built the beds for and planted up the herb and fruit areas in the garden. We planted raspberries, currants, strawberries, and rhubarb to name a few!

Getting your school garden started...

‘The Year Round School Organic Garden’, A Guide to Designing, Creating and Using an Organic School Garden’

by

Lucy Bell, Niamh Ni Dhuill, Áine Ni Fhlatharta of Kerry Earth Education Project and Irish Seedsavers

The Year Round Organic School Garden’  is a practical guide for teachers and other education practitioners.  It aims to help with the planning, design, creation and use of an organic school garden with children and teenagers. It demonstrates the huge possibilities of using the school grounds as an educational resource, to learn about organic food production & the importance of bio-diversity. 
The guide incorporates cross curricular activities such as Science, SESE, Maths and Art into the garden. It sets out practical projects on growing local food, creating biodiversity and native habitats in the school grounds; encouraging healthy eating, doing nature based activities and getting children active.  It aims to highlight for the children, that important link with where their food comes from, and above all is a fun and rewarding project for children to undertake.

Email me about purchasing the book at growingardens@gmail.com, it costs 15e, with 2e for p&p.

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Willow Haven in the city

We built these willow half domes and fence with a group of willing 4th class from St. Finians Nat. School in Finglas, they are to be a little haven and chill out spot for the kids, when they need some time out from class. We're going to get pieces of wood to sit on, and hopefully when spring finally fully bursts out it will become a living structure. We also found shield bugs, a bird's anvil and lots of other interesting finds on a wander along our nature trail we've built at the school.

You can book us through the INTO Heritage in Schools Scheme to do this type of work in your school. Check out www.heritageinschools.ie

GROW listed on INTO/heritage in Schools Scheme

 GROW listed on INTO/heritage in Schools Scheme Brochure

Great news for GROW. We've been accepted as Heritage Specialists on the INTO/Heritage in Schools Scheme for 2010. Lucy has been a specialist in Kerry for the last 4 years, and GROW are delighted to be finally set up in Kildare. We're hoping to get involved in helping Kildare and surrounding counties schools set up their own gardens in the school grounds. and with the scheme, the schools get our fee part paid by the Heritage Council. So, if you're interested in setting up a vegetable patch, or a native woodland, or building some living willow sculptures, book us now through the scheme. You can find out more about it on

http://www.heritagecouncil.ie/education/heritage-council-initiatives/heritage-in-schools-scheme/#c2639