Kilmuir Primary School

Katie Morag and the Tiresome Ted

Our garden was inspired by, and tells the story of, ‘Katie Morag and the Tiresome Ted’ by Mairi Hedderwick. Kilmuir is in an extremely windy, remote part of Skye and many children lead the Katie Morag life. We chose the story because it was very relatable. Also, following the global pandemic, we were looking more closely at how to deal positively with strong emotions like anger and frustration. Gardening was a wonderful, relaxing thing to do and better than kicking teddy into the stormy sea!

Tiresome Ted

Tasty things growing

Lots to see from the sea

‘Tiresome Ted’ is found washed up in a tideline, surrounded by seaweed, a creel and shells.

The pallet walls are shaped to form the front of a boat. They give protection from the wind and make the design 3D. There are plants on the outside and on the inside. They are mostly drought resistant to survive in small pots.

Our planting is designed to encourage wildlife. We have already seen bees at the flowers in bloom. The local seaweed mulch and all the driftwood will attract insects and provide habitat. The song yhrushes which live right next to the garden can eat the worms and insects. They have stayed right outside our door to make a second clutch. The first four chicks have flown already. There are also flowering chives, aquilegias, pulmonarias, daisies, geraniums, geums, beans, peas, wildflowers, cornflowers, sweet peas, hebe, cucumber, lavenders, sunflowers, and nasturtiums.

The edible parts are carrots, chives, beans, peas, lettuce, kale, nasturtium and cucumber. All the pots and pallets are old and re-used. We reused an old fish box from the beach and an old freezer drawer. We also planted in an old fishing creel for support. The willow (that the peas and beans are growing up) was harvested from our playground. The seaweed, driftwood, shells and nets were found in the local tidelines. We also reused some old wellies!

We learnt a lot. The project was bilingual and English medium and Gaelic medium children teamed up for the first time, following the pandemic. Teamwork was key to the success of the project. This included; co-operation, talking, listening, planning, leadership and motivation. The children worked together every week for ten weeks. We created an amazing talking and thinking book. They gained confidence and developed friendships.

Links to the local community were established, with numerous plant donations, although many plants were also grown in school from seed. Some seeds were donated from a local business. There were also donations of pallets, seaweed, shells, driftwood, a creel, a teddy etc.

After the competition is finished, the garden will still be looked after by the children. Lots of the plants were chosen so that they can be left for the summer holidays to grow and be ready for harvesting in August. Local community volunteers will also check it and water if necessary. The children were very inspired so we would like to make another garden next year.

Planting in wellies

Lots of plants growing 

Reused materials

Garden design

From design to reality