[GrannieAnnie]

He probably did do a Google and ended up with us anyway!!!!! lol

[noshed]

Crickey James - this is all supposed to be fun!

[John]

I expend quite a bit of effort on maintaining these forums and I think they have a proven value otherwise they wouldn't get used.  A question is posed and a range of answers offered. Where an answer is incorrect, usually someone will correct or provide a different method etc.

Books and search engines have their uses but there is still considerable benefit in having actual people interacting.

Take a look at something like the php site manual - following each item in the function manual is a series of posts on using the individual function with scripts. I have three books on php and still find a great deal of help in those forum style comments,

When it comes to searching the net, formatting the search string is becoming quite an art to find relevant information (I know how SEOs manipulate page rank to get people onto their site often meaning you don't get what you want when you search)

If I have a problem with my rotovator, someone like gwiz will give me in depth technical advice - there are no books on 1976 Merry Tillers.

So, please don't underestimate the value of forums generally and do remember there are no stupid questions but there are stupid answers.

[Zak the Rabbit]

Actually, just for the record, i know quite a bit about teaching. Im due to do my PGCE shortly (anything to get out of engineering!)


Any information should be validated, but as any teacher or student will tell you, the errata in books is horrendous. A forum such as this dispenses with the errata, simply because if its wrong, someone will point it out.

Besides, allotment gardening is about far more than what a book can tell you. A book could teach the kids what to plant and when, but not how to discuss things with other plotholders, it cant teach community spirit, and i think that is something that all kids these days need teaching. And where better than the plot?


Martin

[milkman]

Zak Rabbit with what you know about TV transmissions etc etc I think you will make an inspiring teacher!

[Annie]

Dave,you did not say what age the children are as I think this probably makes a difference as to how much you involve them now in planting/digging or planning.You could always start by seeing if they know what seasonal food means.Keep using the forum,as you can tell plenty of us think what you are doing is worthwhile,and as for books and the internet all well and good on how and why but they can`t tell you which varieties taste nicest or how the current wierd weather is affecting those of us who grow their own.

[Zak the Rabbit]

Thanks Milkman,

trouble is, ive reached 30 and never really found what i wanted to be. Ive done loads of dodo jobs, cleaned power stations and glass works, driven sweepers, repaired doorbells and intercoms, fixed radios, built tellys, climbed masts, even served in the forces, now i work in a control room.

I do a bit of woodwork, gardening, building, a bit of ham radio, astronomy, learnt to ride motorbikes, drive boats, fly planes, do some charity work, renewable energy, more gardening, it just goes on. I can even do a bit of ballet if i were forced at gunpoint...

But ive always been into science and technology. So maybe teaching is the thing. I just really enjoy the hands on approach.

Ideally, i would become a teacher, and work in a small school on a scottish island, next to a windfarm, with a huge garden, a boat in the nearby sandy cove, tons of fresh veg and skies clear enough at night to have a big telescope.


Somethings i have got right though, there called Julie and Sam.


Martin

[Zak the Rabbit]

Dave,

Get in collaboration with the history and science teachers. Run the lessons so they all fit together.

One of my favourite bits when at school was history, thats where i learned about crop rotation. If you teach about the way the soil formed, the history teach gives background on crop rotation, Jethro Tull etc, and the chemistry teacher explains what the soil comprises of, the biology teacher can then teach how the plants grow in it all!

And after all that, you can eat the subject!


Martin

[James]

Forums are an invaluable way to obtain answers and to indulge in discussion.  They are not, and should not be treated as, a substitute for bookwork.  There is an inclination for people today to find a forum and type in 'please tell me everything I need to know to start an allotment' when many of the answers can be found with a bit of research.  Look how many 'Hello I'm a novice, how do I start?' threads this forum generates.  Far too many.  That's not the function of a forum imvho.  I swhould think that if I went to a php forum and said 'hi, I want to run a forum, teach me how to' the response would be 'go and read book x and come back when you've got some questions.'

And people should have lessons on how to google.  It's very straightforward to learn to use inverted commas!

[Zak the Rabbit]

I think we may have become a bit overspeculative here, we havent heard from Dave for a while, and we dont know just how much research he did before coming to us.

As a teacher he will be very busy. Finding time to read books on top of his marking, lesson planning, and training, and of course trying to have a life, could well be hard. The advantage of asking us here is that we effectively digest the books for him and return the key info in a form he can access when he has a spare moment.


I have found that i can run off a question here, then go back to the plot and check for advice later. And my books dont get mucky fingerprints on them


Lets all wait for Dave to resurface and tell us how he's getting on. I think its very valiant of him to take this on on top of all his other duties.


Martin

[GrannieAnnie]

Perhaps we've frightened him off??

[milkman]

Hallo davedrivesamini please don't be put off by some of the more robust replies to your queries - I'm sure that this forum isn't your only source of information and its certainly a great place to come for dos and dont's and ideas and support for what you are trying to achieve.

One of the local primary schools just down the road from our allotments has embarked on a very similar project except they had enough space within the school grounds to create an allotment plot equivalent.  To help them on the path to success they approached some of our retired plot holders who now attend the after-school-gardening club offering lots of advice, expertise and encouragement to the kids - so this may be something to consider - don't tackle it all on your own.  Whoever's suggestion it was that you contact Garden Organic (HDRA) is another good idea.

The next stand to our allotment association's stand at last Sunday's farmer's market was run by the same primary school with some very enthusiastic youngsters roping in joe public to transplant lettuce seedlings and sow mustard & cress in egg shells, parting with their school-made tomato sauce from tomatoes they'd grown in colourful pots and containers in exchange for donations.  

If you want to try and PM me I can let you have the name and contact number for the inspirational energetic teacher person at this school who got it all started about a year ago now.

[ytyynycefn]

I think this forum is great, and haven't been doing growing veg very long myself - about 5 months.  I read a lot of organic gardening books, allotment books, web sites, magazines etc before joining, as I have absolutely no experience in doing this kind of thing at all!

The problem is, so much conflicting information!  One book says always plant brassicas after legumes, another says not to.  And on such a fundamental thing as crop rotation, you assume you must be really thick not to be able to decide which one is right - hence the "I'm new to this game, please help me!" threads, of which I have, and will continue to post.  Sometimes a book is no substitute for the voice of experience - and how often you you get text-book problems?  Like dealing with this summer's interesting weather, for example.

I like to see this forum as a chat over the virtual fence - the old boys on our plot might not have two O-levels to rub together, but they grow fabulous veg.  I'd rather take their advice on slug control (for example) than read my own MSc thesis on the same subject!  I reckon Dave should take information from anywhere he can get it!

I wonder if perhaps it's occasionally of benefit to everyone to go over the fundamentals with a new person - I tend to get very bogged down with grand schemes and forget the basics... :oops:

Just my 2p, sorry if it offends anyone.

Mel

[davedrivesamini]

No I hadn't been frightened off - just busy like someone suggested. I've already roped in quite a few other departments in an effort to make this into a whole school project (but it's good to see that some of you are thinking along the same lines as me).

This wasn't the first place I looked for advice - I'd already done my homework but got confused about how to actually start things off, having read several different conflicting suggestions.

The students are secondary school age (11-18) and the allotment's going to be managed by part of the school parliament (made up of students from each year group), however as this school year is only into its third week the working group has not met yet. However I hope to have a group of yr10 students removing the turf in the next couple of weeks.

David

[Annie]

I put in my comments because if I`d been Dave I`d have given this forum a miss if it had been me.I don`t know about the rest of you but I`ve used other forums and got fed up of the bickering when a sereous question is asked and gets lost a few answers down the thread.I watched this site a while before I joined as it seemed more welcoming and open minded.
  From James i`d like to know what do you do for a living and why,after all you`ve said,why did you join a forum?
  Mini-rant over but I am feeling a little cross.
  I am obviously a much slower typer than you Dave as your reply got in before mine,glad you`re still here.Of coarse if IT have been included we could be hearing from students..