So today we say goodbye to the Gospel Oak Gardening Club, class of 2007, who came to the allotment during their lunchtime for a final Friday visit. Led by the brilliant Lisa Sweeney, the kids had come to see how their Tagetes and sunflowers had grown since they planted the seed on their last trip about six weeks ago (after a slow start, the marigolds are finally coming into bloom but the sunflowers already tower over them).
The club also wanted to check on the progress of the Cherokee beans they had grown in their greenhouse and which are now creeping out of the top of their wigwams!
They tasted the herbs, frilly mustard and fennel but perhaps their favourite bit as always was the ritual visit to the manure pit, which now house a resident frog with his (or her) own captive supply of slugs.
The kids were also keen to scout out the best site for the scarecrows they are all entering for our competition, but there is still time to win a Wiggly Wigglers beehive compost bin, as entries don't close until the 18th. It has been a privilege to share our plot with these inspirational children and share in their enthusiasm for growing. We learned a lot from them. Now roll on September and the Class of 2008.
