school garden

school garden

Sunday 16 December 2012

(Almost) End of term update




A quiet week in the garden with job list made for the start of next term.  One of the first jobs will be the creation of a reed screen around the compost bins.






The posts and battens have been sourced and our friends from Abbotsbury Swannery will deliver twelve bundles of cut reeds to us at the start of the new term. A reed screen will look natural in the garden and should last several years before we replace the reeds.  The degradation of the reeds will depend on the weather.  Talking of the weather here is the previous weeks data





TEMP WIND PARTICULARS m/s RAIN MAX PRESSURE


min C max C SPEED GUST DIRECTION mms
DATE DAY






02-Dec SUN 2.7 10.2 4.4 5.8 Cyclonic 0.6 1016
03-Dec MON 5.7 11.6 5.1 9.5 NW 0.6 1009
04-Dec TUES 3.1 9.1 4.8 7.1 NW/NE 1.2 1005
05-Dec WEDS 1.5 6.4 3.4 8.2 NNW O.3 1013
06-Dec  THUR -1.1 7.8 6.5 13.3 SW 0.3 1012
07-Dec FRI 3.3 9.7 7.5 10.5 W/NW 9.6 1014
08-Dec SAT 4.7 11.1 4.4 5.4 W/SW 0 1025







Work has also started on the Aeolian Wind Organ.  Inspired by this magnificent spectacle on the cliff top at Portland during the Harmonic Fields Exposition at the end of the Olympics we are going to create a smaller scale wind organ in the garden.  The slots are cut in the bamboo and the edges filed to 45 degrees. As the wind passes over the slots a beautiful gentle note is emitted. Only heard if the ear is positioned near to the bamboo.



Little wildlife in the garden today except a cloud of Woodpigeons which took off on arrival. They have made short work of what was left of the purple sprouting plants.

Finally the last weeks weather


TEMP WIND PARTICULARS m/s RAIN MAX PRESSURE
min C max C SPEED GUST DIRECTION mms
DATE DAY
09-Dec SUN 5.5 9.1 3.4 6.1 cyclonic 0 1021
10-Dec MON 0.8 8.9 3.1 5.1 N/NW 0 1024
11-Dec TUES -0.2 6.4 1.4 3.1 N/NE 0 1026
12-Dec WEDS 0.4 7.2 4.4 7.1 SE 0 1012
13-Dec THURS 2.25 7.5 3.1 5.4 cyclonic 0 998
14-Dec FRI 6.9 11 6.8 9.9 SE 10.5 992
15-Dec SAT 8.8 11.9 5.1 9.2 SW 0.6 990


Some weather statistics before we close;

Over the last month the rainfall reading is 503mm.  The strongest wind recorded was  23.5 mph and the strongest gust of wind was 37.4 mph. The lowest temperature at the school garden recorded was -1.2C and the highest temperature was +16C. The lowest windchill factor was -4.6C.



 



Sunday 2 December 2012

A garden first.................

Today was a good day for a little pond management cutting back around the edges and removing the leaves which had crept in under our net.  Other water plants were thinned in order to keep the pond open and more valuable to wildlife rather than a mass of tangled weeds and roots. During the work 5 frogs were found under the frog house and a single pond skater was enjoying the sunshine as it skitted about the pond surface.

With still conditions prevailing a net was put up in the bird garden with the hope of catching and ringing some.  The best bird caught was a female Firecrest, a new bird on the garden list, but a couple of Goldcrests were also caught and some Long-tailed tits, Blue Tits and a Chaffinch.  A male Sparrowhawk continued to visit the garden in late afternoon which put an end to the ringing. The Firecrest weighed 5.2 gms which is about the same as a bank credit card!

Firecrest

Firecrest -click once on picture to enlarge

 
Long-tailed Tit

Goldcrest

Chaffinch

Pond after a tidy-up!



Our second weather review of the previous week.  Temperatures dropped at the end of the week but very little rain and the wind eased considerably.



TEMP TEMP WIND PARTICULARS m/s RAIN MAX PRESSURE


°C  max °C Min SPEED GUST DIRECTION mms hPa
DATE DAY
25-Nov   SUN 12.1 8.8 8.2 12.6 SE 4.2 1009
26-Nov   MON 9.5 6.2 4.8 6.5 SW 1.2 995
27-Nov   TUES 9.2 6 5.8 9.9 NWW 1.5 1008
28-Nov   WEDS 7.5 3.5 4.4 8.5 N 2.7 1012
29-Nov   THURS 9.1 0.7 2.7 3.4 N 0 1010
30-Nov   FRI 8.3 0.1 0.7 1.4 NW 0 1011
01-Dec   SAT 10.1 2.4 2.7 3.4 NWW 0 1014