Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 4th February: Taming the wild garlic and thinning the strawberries.

It has remained dry going into February, and a little milder although with a wind chill it is sometimes difficult to believe that.  The rainfall for January was a mere 45.9 mm, the driest month since last June.  It has given a chance for some of the waterlogged areas to dry out a little.  Not much around in the way of sunlight, but the daylight hours are increasing and it is still light at around 4.45pm.

The park is certainly showing signs of waking up, some of the daffodils have emerged and are flowering (none in the community garden in flower as yet, but still pushing through the ground with the bluebells), and there are some fabulous displays of snowdrops to be seen.  They really cheer you up and make you appreciate the season is at last turning towards spring.  Yet we know not to get too excited as things can dramatically change in a matter of days.

We got to grips with several of our tasks this week.  The mint which escaped from the base of a large pot and into the ground some time ago has been romping away in the compost to the point that it got itself noticed and got a good thinning to make sure it did not have the chance to take over.  Several pieces were planted in pots as part of our stock of spare plants.  The wild garlic has continued to appear in lots of places around the plot, and it has taken some time to tame it and get it back to where we are happy for it to be, but there is yet more to remove!  A happy hour or two was spent removing wayward strawberry plants crowding out the gooseberry and blackcurrant bushes which mean that there is now good access to the shrubs so that they can be pruned.  

The last of the leeks were lifted, and compost put down as mulch on the empty bed.  We are now getting close to being ready for the first seed sowing of the year, not this week, but next – always close to St. Valentine’s Day, although if the weather turns cold again then it will be delayed, so our fingers are crossed that we get an early start.

We have got our seed potatoes already and have them indoors so that their shoots can develop, known as ‘chitting’.  As usual, we have gone for early varieties, and they will not be planted until March.  Now that many of the beds are empty we can plan where all the first seedlings will be planted in the coming weeks.

Unfortunately there will not be a newsletter next week, however we will be back the following week hopefully with news of how we got on with the first sowings – of course that is if the weather is on our side!

What’s next?

• Still need to cut back the dead nettle and the feverfew

• Finish the strawberry job

• Remove more of the wild garlic

• Start work on the gooseberries

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 28th January: A real community event and a pleasure to share food which would otherwise have gone to waste.

We have been lucky enough to have some pleasant sunny days when we have been working in the garden this week.   Cold with some heavy frosts, so we are still limiting how long we have been staying.   Two beds of broccoli from the summer were twisted out, stripped and composted.  They have worked extremely hard and have given us so many florets, but they were now exhausted and it was time to take them up.  A good layer of compost was put down on the beds where they were, to replenish the soil. 

One of our composting nets was turned out into a maturation bay; it will be some time until we can make more compost in our circular nets as there is not enough fresh new growth this time in the year.  The ‘runners’ from the hedge were cut out, a bay tree pruned, and the dead growth in the rosemary plants were cut out – more tidying and preparing for the busy season to come.

We were fortunate enough to have a group of volunteers from the Napier barracks come out. They barrowed lots of wood chips from the bottom of the hill up to the garden. They were then laid to make a new main path going right down the centre of the garden.  We still have more paths to put down, but we have made a good start.

It was a real pleasure to drive out to the largest greenhouse complex in the UK, Thanet Earth on Wednesday.  With strict security, it is a mile from the entrance to the reception desk, driving past the most incredible glass houses containing huge tomato and bell pepper plants still producing fruits in the middle of January.  We rang to ask if Thanet Earth might have some spare produce for the Disco Soup event on Saturday, and they kindly obliged by donating two boxes of tomatoes and two of bell peppers. 

On Thursday there was a visit from the Hythe Environmental group field gleaners, bringing two crates of potatoes, a crate of broccoli and a crate of cauliflowers freshly gleaned from the farms that very day.  With all this amazing produce, some donated sourdough bread from Docker bakery, plus some salvaged bits and pieces from a couple of local supermarkets, the participants of the Disco Soup event helped to put together a delicious feast of soups, salads, and tasty roasted vegetables.  It was a real community event, and a pleasure to share food amongst so many people which would otherwise have gone to waste.  All the vegetable peelings were saved too and will be going to our hot composter at Folkestone College sometime this week, nothing has gone to waste, and a good time was had by all.  We are now going to be looking forward to the next Disco Soup event either in April or May.

What’s next?

• Take up some of the mint starting to emerge

• Cut back the dead nettle and take out some feverfew

• Put down compost where the leeks were

• Remove old leaves from the purple sprouting broccoli plants

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 21st January: Cold weather, awards and the return of Disco Soup.

The weather this week continues to challenge our perseverance as to how long we can manage to work in the garden before all sense of feeling in the fingers and toes disappear!  We kept the sessions to just one hour which is fine if you are being active enough.  In spite of the cold the rhubarb is starting to make an appearance which seems incredible considering much of the ground is frozen solid and we had to refrain from doing anything with some of the potted plants as they were frozen into the pots.

Despite the frosts, there were plenty of holes around the plot in evidence this week, some were dug from above ground, probably in the search for juicy worms below, but some have been dug from below ground – just small, deep gaping holes to who knows where, but interesting all the same.  It makes you ponder, thinking of the recent flooding in the UK, of the plight of the creatures living underground, and how they can possibly survive.  Luckily our garden is not prone to flooding.

The new stacking crates got labelled so that we can easily find the small tools, (such a luxury) and the rest of our time was spent weeding and cutting back dead growth or shrubs.  We had a large patch of allium triquetrum, better known as the three cornered garlic or leek.  It is quite prolific in Sandgate, and spreads like mad if given the opportunity.  It was decided to take out this large patch as we have more elsewhere anyway and it makes a great pesto, so most of it got eaten.  However be warned that this plant is not native to us and considered invasive and therefore it is an offence to introduce this plant to the wild.

We had a delivery of woodchip, and so one of our tasks for next week is to put a good layer of them on the main paths as they are breaking down fast from their last dressing of chips!  That should certainly keep us warm, although the signs are that it should be warmer outside anyway.

We have been awarded a certificate by Councillor Dr Stephen Scoffham, (cabinet member for climate, environment and biodiversity) for our community composting project at Folkestone College.  Early days, but the food composting project is underway and we are composting anything from vegetable peelings to hot dogs, fish heads and potato chips.  The cold weather does affect the composting unsurprisingly, but it will be in full swing once the air temperature and the composter temperature start to rise.

Last but not least, we are supporting the next ‘Disco Soup’ event being held next Saturday at Radnor Park Bowls Club, Radnor Park, Folkestone, from 11am to 3pm.  A great free family event all about using waste food to make a community feast, you can dance, cook and eat whilst local DJ Andy Tempest gets the party going.  Check out social media for details on how to book a free ticket.

What’s next? 

• Get those wood chips down on the paths

• Have the pots defrosted?

• Empty the compost net

• Still got hedge runners to remove

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.