Thursday 30th May 2024

It was a VERY WET visit to Gilmerton today! We all got wet feet which was made worse by playing tig running through the big puddles ON PURPOSE. Torrential rain got into the air vents which meant that weird white tendrils are growing upwards which looked like white fingers creeping up

It’s a type of fungus which loves it when it’s 20-25 degrees and very wet, so the hot bin was prefect. Mrs Mitchell had to take a photo holding her breath and we weren't allowed to go near. But fungus is really important to break down wood and is vital to decomposition. All the rotting wet wood in the forest will be broken down by fungus and helps it break down. Everything we walked on is the result of small microorganisms, fungus, bacteria

Today we also planted seeds which are going to flower in September to sell at the open day on sept 1st

These tall seedlings were planted a month ago (in the picture) We have amazing soil in East Lothian. Volcanic! But the soil will be exhausted if you keep growing things without putting nutrients back in. We use compost to do that, bought in from the farm shop from Caledonian horticulture based outside East Linton. We need to sieve the compost to get rid of little twigs do that the seedlings can get through the soil 

Root trainers can grow runner beans . We have to plant the bean and cover them gently. But for tiny seeds like parsley seeds (photo) we used a seed planter which only lets out the number of seeds that you want

Spotty dog got his paws dirty planting some seeds with Ailsa!