We managed to ration the water this week with some help from a long awaited downpour Friday night, thanks, we suspect, to Chris perfecting the rain dance.  It obviously did the trick! 

On the menu this week are courgettes, mangetout, spinach, and salad, with the arrival of tomatoes, and a few raspberries!  The beans are flowering at last; we have red and lilac flowering varieties, so it will not be long before we will be treated to some beans!  The sunflowers have climbed higher than the brick wall, and the flower heads are peeping over the top.

The tomatoes have been tied in, the brassicas continue to be checked for caterpillars, and two donated chilli plants were planted.  Work is starting on the much needed compost heaps, but we need some more pallets, so if you know of any going spare locally – let it be known and serious construction can begin! 

All the ground to the right of the fruit trees has been planted up, and work was carried out to the area to the left of the fruit, which involved lots of pairs of hands, and a pick axe to clear out some troublesome roots!  This done, we can now start to plan where the permanent beds for strawberries, raspberries, and asparagus are going to go………

It goes to show that you can always grow food even with no outdoor space….sprouting seeds can be grown all year round on the shelf in a cupboard, and the picture below shows the seeds ready to be stir fried or put into a salad in less than a week.  All you need is a big jar or container to grow them in, and job done!

What’s next-

• Make sure the transplanted lettuces get plenty of water this week

• Keep checking the brassicas

• Start constructing new beds for the perennials

• Keep picking

• Sort out the compost heap area

• Did you put that date, 22^nd September in the diary? (the picnic)

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The plot is looking a real picture, quite literally, as the before and after Instagram posting shows.  What an incredible difference a few weeks makes! 

In the fight to keep most of the crops for human consumption, and not the wildlife, we are checking for eggs laid on the brassicas, and any green or blackfly.  No need to feel guilty about moving them on as we have planted sacrificial offerings such as nasturtiums and calendulas for them to feast on!  Chris has been collecting coffee grounds from work to sprinkle around the site as it is a fertiliser, which slugs and snails do not like, and we are wondering if the coffee smell disguises the smell of the vegetable plants!  Any more coffee grounds can be composted in our soon to be constructed compost heap, a must for every garden!

Kalpana from the Nepalese community visited again this week bringing two friends to help with the watering and sowing.  We planted lentils, Nepalese string beans, Rayo spinach, mustard seeds, and red hot chilli seeds, all grown and harvested from the back yard of Kalpana’s family home!  Learning so much from Kalpana’s visits!

Thanks go out this week also to Rosie for investing in some new bean canes for the future, to Paula and Andrew for six pepper plants, and to Paul the head gardener at Saga, for getting to grips with the water tank plumbing and fixing a proper tap!  One of the pictures attached is of Paula’s rose, looking amazing.

Now for the great announcement!!  Our first event is planned for the afternoon of Sunday 22^nd September, from midday – a picnic at the garden, to celebrate our achievements so far, and to say thank you to everybody that makes it all possible – if you are reading this, you are invited, so put the date in your diary.  Fresh salad, runner bean pickle, beetroot and horseradish hummus, tomatoes, courgette cake and chocolate beetroot brownies on the menu already, so if you are coming, which of course you are, bring a dish to share.

What’s next –

• Watering – we need to keep an eye on the water level as there will be no refill available this week

• Check for aphids, caterpillars, and tomato side shoots

• Keep weeding and working on the ground to the left of the fruit trees, and the construction of the compost heap

• Put the 22^nd September in your diary and plan a dish of food to share!

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It has been a warm week, and we have been working hard to water all those thirsty plants, and they have rewarded us with more salad, some courgettes and pak choi .

The leeks, kale and purple sprouting got planted, and now here is where the fun begins!  As soon as the very warm weather arrived, and the kale and purple sprouting got to a decent size, the first of the cabbage white butterflies started to make an appearance, to seek out those seedlings and lay a few eggs all over them!  So if we are not to surrender our plants to the caterpillars, we will have to be observant, and remove any eggs before they devour the lot!  If you are not sure what you are looking for, there are two pictures of what the eggs look like, with this newsletter.  More salad has been sown, but July and August are months when it is best to avoid sowing certain seeds as they tend to bolt or set seed before their time.

Kalpana, a representative from the Nepalese community visited the garden this week to talk about Nepalese growing and cooking that is possible in the UK.  It was really interesting to hear about how the food is grown mainly in back yards, and is an important part of family life and diet.

We have been so busy with watering and searching for butterfly eggs, or being on holiday, that some of the jobs from last week will reappear again on this week’s tasks.  This may be an ongoing theme for a few weeks until holidays and dry, warm weather are out of the way, and we can get down to some more serious planting and sowing yet again!

What’s next? –

• Watering, if this weather continues

• Remove pesky butterfly eggs or caterpillars from the brassicas

• Keep pinching out tomato plant side shoots – unless it is obviously a bush tomato!

• Hoe those weeds on the paths, and dig out any of that bindweed making a re-appearance

• Two raised boxes to finish

• Ground to be cleared between the water tank and the fruit trees

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