We have had some stormy weather this week which has meant checking on the netted and fleeced beds to make sure it is still all in place!  Most of the netting being more open meshed than the fleece was fine, but the fleece got pulled off and blown about several times so that it was black with dirt and looked most grubby.  Fortunately a few rain downpours soon cleaned them up and they are looking better already.

It was mostly about starting the annual compost and wood chip mulching this week; however there are things to be done before that can be attempted.  The deciduous trees are bare at last, and ahead of any compost or wood chips being laid the very last of the fallen leaves have been picked up and composted so now we can see the outlines of the beds and paths where they should be.  Several self-sown plants were potted up to be placed later in other spaces, and some were simply removed and composted if they were taking up too much space or smothering other plants.  Several plants and herbs were cut right back, and once satisfied the spaces were clear, then the laying down of mulches can begin, a good 4 – 6 cm depth if possible.  There is still much to be done.

Other tasks included trimming the hedge, planting some random onion seedlings, clearing around the back of the pond so that it remains accessible and watering the cold frame contents.  We still have things to pick, such as winter salad, a few radishes, kale, spinach and chard, but we are fast approaching the shortest day and combined with lower temperatures, any growth is now minimal and it takes much longer to replenish anything picked in the way of new leaves.  This is the time when the self-sufficient land owner or traditional farmer would be relying on anything stored from earlier in the year, and plenty of hardy winter vegetables.  The green outside the chip shop in Sandgate has had a tidy up and some bulbs planted, as have the two planters along the seafront and the Ship planter too.

Perhaps one of the most amazing things about living in Sandgate is that we have so many green spaces and trees in our parks with associated wildlife. There was an unusual sighting of what was believed to have been a great white egret in the trees near the brook at Enbrook Park this week.  Apparently this bird is a frequent visitor to the south east of England and more likely to be seen in winter and spring so keep a look out for that one.  Whilst working in the garden we frequently hear and see buzzards circling over the trees and there is often a great commotion as the sea gulls try to chase them off.  Counting our blessings that the only foraging we have to do to find our food is in the community garden or the supermarket, where there is little competition and certainly no fighting!

If the weather is fine we intend to celebrate the festive season and another amazing year in the garden at Enbrook with mulled wine and mince pies on our last Saturday and Wednesday before the 25^th December. 

What’s next?

• Continue to mulch the beds and paths

• Start to prune soft fruit bushes

• Maybe turn the compost heap if feeling strong

• Get organised for mince pies and mulled wine!

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How extraordinarily lucky we were that the Sandgate Christmas lights switch on event did not get completely washed out by rain which had been promised.  A great community event, where so many people associated with the garden were present.  It was a reminder that the creation of the community garden has brought so many people together and it was a busy evening meeting more friends at practically every corner.   We paid for the lack of rain the following morning when it did make an appearance, but fortunately it stopped and the sun came out by 10 am and we spent a happy couple of hours getting on with our tasks.  The rainfall for November was just 31mm, which was not surprising as we had to water in many of our new plantings during the month when usually the rainfall would have done the job. 

With some drop in the temperatures this week, it was important to get some of the beds covered in fleece so that they have a better chance of surviving the winter.  This was the case for the broad bean beds in particular.  There was a final tray of spare broad bean seedlings and a few late pea shoots that got planted.  The broad beans were to replace any missing or failed beans in the beds.  A friend of the garden had lost all her beans to what was probably rodents, always good at finding such large seeds that can make a great meal for them – they can destroy an entire crop in no time at all, but at least we were able to supply a few spares for another try.  Same goes for the pea seedlings too, being just as vulnerable – ours got planted in some mushroom crates filled with compost and put into the cold frames, we shall have to keep our fingers crossed that they grow fast enough for the seeds to not be of interest to the rodents any more.  The changes in the season have also attracted pigeons to the garden and they have been stripping the brassicas so we have had to net them quickly to put them off.

The fluctuating temperatures are not helping the wildlife, and Chris, one of our bee keepers is concerned that the bees are still out and about trying to forage, but with nothing or not much to find, they will eat their way through their winter stores and starve.  Apparently during the colder weather the bees cluster together to keep themselves and the queen warm, but if it becomes too warm, then they will start eating.  Below is a picture taken on 4^th December of a red admiral butterfly taking advantage of the flowering mahonias in the park grounds.

More leaves got collected, and it looks as if we are nearly done with them for the year, the leaf compost bin is full to bursting and they will be left to get on with making compost. All these tasks and more have been written about in a further blog for ‘Explore Kent’.  Now that we are entering into the start of winter, our blog described all the many labours that are perfect for carrying out this time of year.  Unfortunately it seems it was more than there was space for on the website, and it got edited to a shorter version.  You can read the cropped account here at

https://explorekent.org/blog/2021/11/30/winter-gardening-tasks-and-jobs/

Last but not least, we nearly received a Christmas present from Waitrose!  We were contacted by our local branch in Hythe out of the blue to say that we were to be presented with a cheque as we had been nominated as a worthy cause.  In our excitement and baffled enthusiasm, the precise monetary size of this cheque got overlooked, and just as we were about to have it placed into our hot, grubby hands, it got returned to the shop office as it was not correctly written.  So near yet so far, the cheque has been returned to head office and we will not get to see the updated version this side of Christmas!  Oh well, something to look forward to in the New Year, and we can still speculate as to just how much a difference it will make to our funds…….

What’s next?

• Pot up any useful self sown seedlings

• Continue to mulch the beds

• Keep checking on the plants in the cold frames

• Continue to weed the flower garden near the bench and cut back the herbs

• Start work on laying wood chip paths

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At last the cold stuff has arrived at the very end of November, and you can begin to think that the festive season really is around the corner.  Plenty more leaves have fallen from the trees although some are still in place, however a good blast of wind probably due to come along any time now will do the trick, and the leaf clearing will soon be over.  We have managed to fill our leaf bin full to the brim, and have squashed leaves into every available gap to make space for more.  We cleared some of the herbs that had bolted, although the flower heads, such as the Dill, are full of flavour and good to mix into salad leaves.  We had a few last onion sets to plant in any spaces where nocturnal animal visitors or birds had pulled them up and given them a taste!  Fortunately none of the raiders seem to like onions and either spit them out half chewed or simply drop them on the path. 

We had a most welcome message from ‘Seed Craft’ during the week, offering us a box of garlic for which we were most grateful.  Still time to plant onions and garlic if you have not done so already.

More compost got bagged up to use at the alleyway and Golden Valley.as part of the great annual compost mulch for all ‘no dig’ enthusiasts.  This is the time to dress as many of the beds as possible with a layer of new compost, and there certainly is plenty to do there. Paul, the Grounds Manager of Enbrook Park, took great pity on us having to barrow the newly acquired compost uphill to the garden from where it had to be delivered, and using some machinery, got it up to the garden for us!  Not sure quite how, but one day it was down the hill outside the garden, and the next day, up the hill and in the garden…..happy days, thank you Paul!  Now we can mulch away to our hearts content!  Saturday was to have been the day to make a start, but we had to dodge the heavy showers mixed with hail, and just about managed to get the broad bean beds covered with fleece in preparation for promised frosts.on Sunday and Monday.

The greatest news of the week is that the fruit and nut trees at Sandgate and Fremantle Parks got planted at last after the initial hiccup in arranging planting days which did not then happen.  There were twenty five trees in total.  Apples, pears, plums, cherry and cob nut trees.  There were twenty four bought and paid for, but we found a cheeky interloper hidden amongst them and thought we had better plant it anyway.  We are most grateful to all those who came along to do the hard work, and there is now a small orchard in each park which we will all be watching over and helping to take care of. 

There are future plans to develop the areas under and around the trees, and we understand there will be official ceremonies to welcome the trees in June 2022, as part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, and organised by the Sandgate Parish Council.  Thank you Parish Council for thinking of providing fruit and nut trees, giving flower and fruit for wildlife and local fellow humans to enjoy for many years to come.  We understand that it is possible to sponsor one of the trees for £100 by contacting the Sandgate Parish Clerk Gaye Thomas at clerk@sandgatepc.org.uk or by calling 01303 248563.  The trees are semi-dwarfing varieties and will therefore not grow to be enormous!

What’s next?

• Start on that mulching at Enbrook

• Fill in any broad bean gaps

• Plant some pea shoot boxes for the cold frames

• Still more leaves to collect, the final push? Put fleece over the spinach and check on the brassica netting

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