Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 18th May: Never have we ever seen parched, dry brown grass in mid-May.
Not a single drop of rain to be had, and certainly none on the horizon until next Saturday! Every time the apps are consulted in the search for rain, the chances of it actually happening go further and further into the distance – where once it was to rain all day next Saturday, now it looks like it may rain for an hour or so in the afternoon! There was great excitement last week when suddenly the skies darkened and the weather apps promised lots of the wet stuff – however it came to nothing and passed us by.
Some things in the garden are enjoying the dry sunshine, but lots of things are not and are stressed, making them susceptible to blackfly and possibly diseases. The picture below of the garden this week looks quite lush and green. We have certainly been busy watering as much as we dare, but we notice that the pond has very little water now. The bottom of the pond is very boggy and full of weed which we hope can keep the plant life going for a while yet.
The very good news for the week is that Veolia have come up trumps and given us an amazing £560 to put towards our garden funds. We are in need of more truckloads of compost in preparation for the autumn, plus a few more tools, so this will be very helpful. Veolia contacted us last year to ask if we would host an event for them at the garden to promote the fact that they were looking for sustainable environmental projects to give funding, and we were lucky to be included too.
We managed to carry out our tasks for the week – to sow different varieties of kale, lots more dwarf, runner and borlotti beans, plant out more lettuces, take out the flowering claytonia and prepare the bed with a fresh blanket of compost and planted a few French marigolds in preparation for the next crop to be planted there.
The final photo shows a beautiful red admiral that came to visit and check out the garden. The wings are quite tattered and so we believe it may be a survivor from last year, and having gone into hibernation has re-emerged to make the most of the time it has left. It was a magical moment.
What’s next?
- Water the hops and the lemon tree
- Check for new roots around the emerging banana tree
- Might have some dwarf beans ready for planting out
- Cover the tayberries and aronia berries with some netting
This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.