Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 2nd March: HELLO! WE ARE BACK!
In actual fact we have not been away from the community gardens but have been forced on occasions to miss gardening sessions due to the cold or the wet. Quite often we would meet up for just an hour or so before fingers and toes go numb and we abandon the tasks and head for home to defrost or dry out.
The rainfall for January was 83.6 mm and for February 55.3 mm. It has seemed so grey and dull these past months but with the longer daylight hours we have recently seen the return of the sun and a few warmer days. In fact the daffodils and the wallflowers are now in bloom and the garden is starting to look brighter for them.
There has been plenty to do over the winter months. We got in some loads of wood chips and put them down on our paths to make sure we never have to get our boots muddy. Unfortunately, after several stormy days, the netting on the purple sprouting broccoli came loose and the plants got broken or eaten by the pigeons. Luckily the pigeons do not bother with broad beans, and these survived the winter and are currently starting to grow their second and third shoots. At the Pent farm garden, it was a different story – the purple sprouting broccoli survived but the broad beans did not simply because the beans were dug up and eaten by rodents.
In the ground at Enbrook Park we have overwintered parsley, coriander, sorrel, chard, spinach, mustards, kale, leeks and spring onions. The other beds are prepped with a fresh layer of compost and ready for planting when the new young plants are ready. We got some bags full of cow manure onto the rhubarb bed, and fresh compost over the asparagus beds.
As soon as we got to Valentines day the seed sowing started and the potatoes bought for chitting to be planted out in late March or early April. So far we have sown radishes, spring onions, lettuce, spring cabbage, calabrese, beetroot, spinach, kohl rabi, turnips, peas, parsley, coriander and a few broad beans as replacements. From now on it will be all about keeping up with the seed sowing, watering and care, then transplanting the seedlings into the ground as soon as possible. Already the radishes are trying to climb out of their seed tray and will need planting out this coming week.
We have been fortunate to have support from volunteers at Napier barracks. They have shifted many wheelbarrows of wood chips, turned a compost heap or two, and just this week helped to dig out the hops along the brick wall, dig in some cow manure and replanted a few chosen hop roots. Their new shoots are already in evidence, and it will not be long before they are climbing and winding their way up their supports.
What’s next?
- Plant out the radishes and cover with fleece
- Sow more calabrese
- Split the oregano plants
- Tether the tayberry to the wires
This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.