Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 27th April: The bees are now very busy in the garden making the most of the flowers.
Well it is true we wished for rain then lo and behold it decides to turn up exactly on the morning of the next gardening session! There are certainly no complaints about the amount of rain and duration, enough to make a difference and enough not to have to water all the week. So it was that the Wednesday morning session was cancelled but by Saturday morning it was certainly warm and sunny which meant we could catch up with a few jobs although again, not all of them got done.
The squashes and cucumbers did get sown, the leeks were divided into four bunches and potted on into larger pots. They need to get to the size of pencils before they can be planted out and have a long way to go yet. The netting which was flat over the calabrese plants was raised up over hoops and netted again – just in the nick of time it seems as the first cabbage white butterflies have been spotted and they could have easily laid their eggs on the brassicas if they were being touched by the net. However, the borage seedlings did not get removed or the carrots sown – but luckily we still have plenty of time. Some lettuce seedlings got pricked out into larger pots to grow on further and a tray of spring onions were planted next to a row of peas.
The bees are now very busy in the garden making the most of the many different flowers on show, the pulminaria by the pond has been on show for several weeks now and continues to be alive with the buzzing of bees.
The radishes, having grown to the size of golf balls which would make you believe they are tough and inedible. Luckily they are nothing of the sort and so it was a case of trying to find a use for them. It was good to know that they can be roasted, which sweetens them. Having shared an interesting recipe, it seems they may be tried cooked for the first time by many of the gardeners – and I know they were amazing roasted and added to a vegetable curry – Delicious!
What’s Next?
- Sow the carrots
- Remove the excessive borage
- Raise up the fleece from the lettuces
- Cut back the growth around the pot plant area
This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.