Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 29th May: When life gives you lemon trees, and a world of guerrilla gardening.

It was a week of cancellations due to the fact we had even more rain, bringing the total so far for this month to a whopping 47.2 mm!

Anyone who has not seen the garden for a couple of weeks is amazed by the lush green growth and how quickly everything has shot up and matured.  Very little watering to do, just some of the pots, and a few new plantings, but otherwise everything seems quite happy.  We have been eyeing up the fig trees as they seem to be doing particularly well and quite laden with fruit this year.

The cucumbers got planted, as well as some of the flowering annuals, new coriander plants got planted, and a few celery plants.  The garlic had to be lifted as it had rust again and will fail to thrive.  It made small bulbs, but very edible and much appreciated.  We had this problem with garlic last year so it may be a good idea to see if we want to tackle the situation next year or give up the garlic.

The compost bins 1 and 2 got turned, and bin 1 which was empty, is half full already.  We just seem to have got out all the tender plants and made room in the cold frames and before we know it, we have to start thinking about sowing the seeds for autumn, winter and even next spring.  More spring onions got sown into modules as did basil and swedes.  The next planting of lettuces in June got pricked out into modules as soon as two leaves had come through.

We had several visitors on Saturday.  The elderly gentleman who presented us with a lemon tree two weeks ago, came to see if it doing alright and was delighted to see it has three flower buds already, so seemed satisfied that the tree was indeed quite happy there.  We were also visited by two Ukrainian ladies currently staying with our lovely Ukrainian gardener, Tatiana.  We were delighted to welcome them to the garden, and they got stuck in watering, sowing seeds and generally browsing and chatting to everyone.  They took back with them some salad leaves, pea shoots and broad beans.  We hope they will visit again.

As usual, a busy week is ahead of us, and lots to sort out and tidy before the Jubilee weekend so that all is looking its best.  The guerrilla garden in Golden Valley is being planted up and starting to fill out and look so much better than it ever did before.  It has been noticed that the tree pits in Augusta Gardens, Folkestone West, have been beautifully planted with all manner of gorgeous flowering plants and this year edged with a wooden border perhaps to highlight to the council weed sprayer that the planting is deliberate by locals, and can be bypassed – our fingers are crossed.

What’s next?

• Catch up with rained off jobs such as weeding of Golden Valley and Fremantle Park

• Sow more seeds!

• Plant more flowering annuals in available spaces

• Keep checking on the tomatoes for side shoots which need removing

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 22nd May: Calling All Supermarkets – please, water your plants.

Thank goodness at last for a substantial downpour.  There was enough to start to refill the much reduced level of the pond, and to bring on the broad beans so that the pods are starting to develop.  Apparently we had 23mm in the last few days, which is more than we sometimes get in an entire month. The bulb onions are swelling and we have to keep an eye on them to make sure they are not able to develop any flowers.  The garden feels fresh and given a revitalising boost.  Even after rain it is important to monitor new plantings until they get a chance to get their roots down into the soil as they can dry out quickly on a warm day in direct sun. 

Not pointing a finger at any supermarket or store in particular that have plants for sale, but it is actually distressing for a passionate gardener to witness plants left to dry out and die when the simple act of giving some water would be enough to let them survive.  The waste by allowing that to happen is just phenomenal.  The plastic containers, the compost, the plant that had all that time and energy spent on getting it to a certain point – all gets thrown away!  It is a skill to be able to ‘see’ if a plant is properly hydrated, and some of our plants growing in containers may need to be watered well twice on a very warm day, depending on the size of the root system plus the amount and type of compost they are in.   

The mange tout is starting to climb the net fence, the courgettes, dwarf beans and tomatoes putting down some roots and making new leaves.  All the winter squashes got planted this week in separate beds from the summer squashes this year because it can be confusing as they grow to know which is which.  We have planted out many of the tender summer plants and are now evaluating how much space is left for all the cucumbers and the annual flowers.

Waitrose got in contact to hand over some plants that were desperate to be planted.  We had only a little space for one or two donations at the Sandgate Community Garden, so most got passed on to other community spaces in the area, Locavore at Martello Primary School, Napier Barracks, the Harbour Church on Canterbury Road and Touchbase Care.   By linking up with other groups we can all make sure that nothing goes to waste and share what comes along.  

On Monday we had a group of volunteers from the Napier Barracks come out to Sandgate Park to help weed the mulched areas around the fruit trees planted for the Queen’s Green Canopy as part of the Jubilee.  After making it tidy and adding a bit more compost, we also planted a few herbs which might become useful to anybody having a barbecue in the park, and will be appreciated by the bees when in flower.

This coming week we will be working on tidying and planting in the Golden Valley, again in preparation for the Jubilee weekend coming up.  The Golden Arrow pub will be helping the Valley to celebrate by hosting many events, so keep an eye on their Facebook page or call in to see the posters advertising everything that will be going on.

What’s next?

• Weed and tidy Golden Valley shop planters

• If time, start on the orchard at Fremantle Park

• Start planting out the flowering annuals

• Start planting the cucumbers at Enbrook Park

• If feeling strong, turn compost bins 1 and 2

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.