Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 18th June: The badgers have had all the carrots.

Quite frankly it seems astonishing that most of the plants in the garden are surviving, the newly planted seedlings in particular, as it has been sweltering all this week from early morning to late evening.  There has been no rain at all in Sandgate for weeks, so most of the garden has not had any water at all for this time.  We have now stopped watering the broad beans as they are coming to an end, and are focussing on the potatoes as they are starting to swell, and could be ready in a couple of weeks perhaps. 

We have been closely observing the weather apps which show a constantly changing situation sometimes promising a possible chance of some rain which then fades to nothing; then all of a sudden during our Saturday morning session we were treated to a surprise shower which sent gardeners scuttling out of the gates to close car windows or take in the washing!   It has made little difference, but the drop in temperature and a cooler breeze will help whilst we study the weather for more of the wet stuff in the next few days.  Parts of the country have been hit by thunderstorms and deluges of rain leading to local flooding, whilst parts of Kent on the verge of a hosepipe ban.  (Overnight, in-between writing this newsletter and sending it out, the weather broke with a good thunderstorm and substantial rain – phew!)

The flowering part of the garden had suddenly become so overgrown it was impossible to get down the path to the bench, so we had to be ruthless and fight our way through the jungle to clear some space.  The pea shoot bed got cleared, the strawberry planter netted, the purple sprouting got sown, and the tomato plants tackled as they have certainly been enjoying the heat and put on lots of growth although not necessarily where you want it.  It seems if you take your eyes off them for a day or two, they have sprouted multiple side shoots and need tying in to the canes yet again as they have shot upwards.  The lower leaves have been removed and the first tomatoes are just starting to form. 

It seems that the wildlife have eyes firmly fixed on the garden, as well as stomachs.  The badgers have removed the mesh netting and completely demolished the carrot bed, and it might not be too long before they realise there are a few beetroot starting to develop which are a firm favourite of theirs.  The blackcurrant bushes were in fine form, and the fruit was just starting to swell and change colour, however before we could net them it seems something quite substantial in size has broken several stems and stripped the fruit which must have been quite sour.  Needless to say we have now covered the tayberries with netting and the honey berries too although as we know, it is little defence against a hungry badger.

With a report of asparagus beetle in the district, we checked on ours which has now mostly gone to flower, which are surprisingly attractive to bees and hoverflies as there were quite a few to be seen trying to negotiate the fine fronds and get to the small flowers. 

After some years of negotiating, the Incredible Edible group in Cheriton have started work on some planters on a platform at Folkestone West railway station.  The planters themselves were made by The Men’s Shed group based at the Marigold Centre, Folkestone, and are very substantial which meant it was going to be a challenge to fill it with enough compost.  In the end the decision was to opt for a form of Hugelkultur bed, where the base of the planters are filled with logs, then a mix of sheep’s wool (these days in use as packing in parcels) and topsoil, finished finally with compost.  One of the planters has so far been completed and planted with herbs, tomatoes, cucumbers, and squashes donated by ourselves.  Hopefully the second planter will be completed soon too.

Just a reminder that the Disco Soup event is coming up this Saturday, 11am to 3pm, at St John’s church hall, Folkestone.  We are also excited the Sandgate Community Garden will be included once again in the Sandgate Sea Festival which it has been announced is happening on the evening of Saturday 26^th August with a firework display, and then on the Sunday 27^th, we will be there on the seafront with our stall on the Sunday.  So get that date in the diary and we will look forward to seeing you there.  Now if ever there was a day when we do not want rain that has to be it!

What’s next?   

• Check on any soft fruit which may need netting

• Start to dismantle the old composting area and tidy up

• Finish the hedge cut

• Tidy up the bay trees

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 11th June: The mole is happily making earth mounds and pushing up seedlings.

The strong winds were still a feature this week, and then the temperature started to climb so that by Saturday it was sweltering.  The weather report keeps talking of thunderstorms in the south east of England; however as is usual with Sandgate, we suspect they will pass by our corner of the country again, with no rain expected at all for as far as the weather experts can see.

As soon as we start one of our gardening sessions, it is out with the watering cans and the water pump although not everything gets watered, just new plants, pots, and anything that looks like it is struggling.  The potatoes had to get on with it but we may have to water them soon or the potato crop will be meagre.  Some of them can be seen just under the surface of the soil and so we have had to apply more compost to prevent them becoming green from the sunlight.  The broad beans are still producing well, and as more bean pods are picked, the amount of beans inside have increased which is interesting as last week we were reporting that there were only two or three in each pod.  We also picked our first Japanese turnips which are versatile as they can be eaten raw, grated into a coleslaw, thrown into a stir fry or roasted – absolutely delicious.

The leeks got planted as did more dwarf beans, and more squashes.  A few lettuce seedlings were pricked out into larger modules, and the Bellis daisy seeds got sown. 

The mole is happily making earth mounds and pushing up seedlings in several of the plots, whilst the shrinking pond is alive with water boatmen.  Aphids seem to be having a great time attacking a few broad bean plants, some of the globe artichokes and the stems of the elder flowers.  There are so many flowers out at the moment, from foxgloves to nasturtiums, borage, violas, strawberries, peas and tomatoes, so that every day there is something new to look at.

Our new composting system is being hard worked on by one of our DIY skilled gardeners.  Using mostly scrap materials from pallets to donated wood, our new composting bays are starting to take shape.  We have several changes to make to our current system, and it will be a while until it is fully up and running, and even longer until we can tell if we are on the right track.  But we will report on how it is going over time.  We also had a donation of a wormery to the garden, which we also hope to be able to set up just as soon as everything else is in place.

What’s next?

• Strip back the pea shoot bed

• Keep checking the tomatoes for new side shoots

• Sow purple sprouting

• Net the strawberry planter

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.