Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 18th December: A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from us all at the Sandgate Community Gardens.

Most of the week the theme has been freezing cold frost and ice, and on Saturday the thaw began, and we will be back to warmer, wetter and windier weather.  It certainly does not look like it will be a white Christmas in Sandgate, more like a soggy dull one. 

It seemed like a good idea to keep warm at the garden, and so we tackled the very full and ready to be used compost in bin number three which had been topped way back in the summer with a generous amount of cow manure collected from a local farm.  By now the manure was looking good enough to eat and very reminiscent of the Christmas cake mix or even the mince pie filling.  It was only the worms in there bringing us back to reality as we barrowed it to the rhubarb patch and the hops by the wall. 

The timing for the thaw was perfect, as the aim for our meeting on Saturday morning was to consume mince pies and swig mulled wine, all in the company of our lovely gardeners and catch up with who is doing what and where over the festive period.  We have been saving the pulling of the leeks and parsnips up to this point as it seems to have turned into a tradition in our short time of being a community group, to save some for the Christmas dinner.  We knew the leeks were not much more than spring onion sized, as it could be easily seen; however the parsnips were going to be a surprise as of course, the bit we are interested in is out of sight.  We are assuming the lack of growth has been due to the dry summer and plot, mainly because the very same batch of leek seedlings were planted in two other local areas, and they are MUCH larger.  It has to be said, we are looking at quality and certainly not quantity.  The roots of the parsnips tapered deep down into the soil, presumably looking for that illusive water.  As they emerged you could see the lighter brown of the deeper soil at the end of the root and the black compost at the top.  We were pleased to see so many worms too, as was the garden robin patiently waiting and quietly singing to itself in the hedge until we moved away and it could find those worms too.

It is always a milestone (when you spend time working outdoors), to get to the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice, coming up this week.  After that it lifts the heart to know that the days are getting longer again and the cycle towards the first seed sowing of the New Year will soon be upon us.  One of the photos below shows the very first sighting this week of the spring bulbs pushing their way up through the wood chips at the edge of the path – a tiny hint of the busy spring season to come, so in the meantime we shall enjoy the break over this festive period, and be back in the garden on Wednesday 4^th January.  Although the suspicion is that the garden will probably see a few of us taking a break from the feasting madness to find some peace and work to combat the Christmas belly fatigue. 

A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from us all at the Sandgate Community Gardens.

What’s next?

• Believe it or not there are still leaves falling from the trees to be picked up
• Continue to empty compost bin three
• Clear most of the long bed near the hedge
• Keep a close eye on bird damage to the brassicas and net situation

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 11th December: We’ve got chills – they’re multiplying…

At last the first real hard frost has arrived which still seems to have caught us unawares with a flurry of searching for enough lengths of fleece to cover the broad beans which are the only plants that need it.  Being warmer here than it is inland, we are holding our breath that it stays that way and the beans can survive minus three degrees, but probably not much less than that for a prolonged period.  Such is the gamble that you have to take. 

During the morning the garden is sagging and bowed over with cold, but as the sun begins to warm, the plants unfurl and stand upright once more.  Of course most are used to winter temperatures, and have their own form of antifreeze to prevent them turning to a mush when the frost sets in.  Sadly lacking in antifreeze was the ladybird pictured below, which should have been hibernating already and got caught out.

The first half of the week was milder, and we were able to carry on with business as usual in the community garden, but the end of the week, the colder snap appeared and put a stop to planting anything, and putting down any compost mulches.  Luckily some volunteers from the Napier Barracks came out earlier in the week to bag up more compost from our compost reserves, as well as wood chips, to transport to the alleyway garden off Meadowbrook.  The space was cleared of the summer debris, and mulched with fourteen bags of compost and six bags of wood chips.  We had a few spring bulbs remaining which were planted, along with some primroses.  Once finished, we moved on to the planters outside the shops in the Golden Valley, mulched the last of the planters outside the Beauty Boutique, and planted more of the primroses.  The remaining time, or until it gets too dark to see was spent weeding all around the outside edges of the brick planters, where all the plant debris gets collected and composted at Enbrook park. 

Coming back to the subject of primroses, these we planted this week were given to us through a friend of a friend of a friend.  All donations of any gardening kind are always gratefully received, but it goes to show that it is about who you know in this instance. 

Looking at the forecast, this freezing weather is due to remain with us into this coming week and so it is unsure if we will be able to do very much until there is a thaw.  Christmas is on the horizon, and with it falling at the weekend, and the New Year the weekend after, we will not be meeting from 24^th December until January 4^th 2023.  We shall be celebrating with our now customary mince pies and mulled wine on Saturday 17^th and Wednesday 21^st December.  There will be a newsletter next Sunday 18^th, with the next instalment not due until 8^th January!

What’s next?

• Finish planting the last of the donated primroses

• Finish potting up the last of the artichokes

• Check compost bin three for turning out in the New Year

• If not frozen, mulch hop area and rhubarb patch

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.