Community Fund – Batley Girls’ High School – January Update
Mud Mud glorious Mud!
The land is saturated and the poly tunnel remains underwater and with little chance of the weather improving activities is centred around the greenhouse and the hard standing stable area on the farm. Our thanks and appreciation goes to two of our local TRA who now visit the farm on a regular basis and recently supported our needs to feed animals while staff took holidays.
Horticultural activities have been undertaken by several of our 6th form students and the activity has been built into their lesson times Mon p4 Tues p1, 2 & 5 Weds all day. Thurs p1Friday p1&2. Perennial plants have been divided with root cuttings taken. The overwintered geraniums are visibly sending out new shoots ready to have cuttings taken that will be sold within our Farm Shop.
So things are looking bright more than we can say for the weather!
The winter season is often a dull affair but our Wellbeing Centre is being brightened up with the addition of pictures of summer flowers. With the pictures visible both on entry and exit we hope that visitors will feel that bit better. Piroska Red and Sturton onion sets have been prepared to be planted out when we can get onto the land while our seed potatoes Marfona and Charlotte are now chitting.
Students are still very active to both our Farm and Gardening clubs which gives me a great deal of pleasure amidst all this very wet and windy winter season. Despite all our wet ground here in Yorkshire we are relatively dry in comparison to those in the South with flooded land ruining farming and homes by the square mile. A difficult time for all concerned.
Malcolm Firth
BGHS Farm Manager