We have been appreciating the lovely warm sunshine this week for both of our gardening sessions. We’re not, however, so sure the bee keepers will be too happy as the bees in the hives were very active which must mean they will be using up their food reserves as there is so little to forage.

We have raised some of the brassica netting as they were trying to burst out.  The purple sprouting is set to be at full production by April so we need to keep a close eye on them.  Once the netting was off we took the opportunity to remove the lower leaves and mulch the bed beneath before replacing with a looser canopy to deter pesky pigeons!   We have certainly been steaming through the compost pile and are starting to run low already, however we have not had to be frugal with it this year which is a luxury.

We have taken up the swedes and most of the celeriac as they had not been as good as we had hoped and it is too late now to expect them to get any bigger!  Some examples from Fremantle Park from the same batch of seeds and grown at the same time were compared (see picture below), so it is clear that something else such as compost or moisture levels have been to blame.  Always a guessing game when growing plants, trial and error.

Having cleared a bit of space we were able to plant three more rhubarb roots.  We will not be able to harvest any of the stalks this year but they should be large enough in 2023 with any luck!  We also had a few small asparagus crowns which are a useful addition to one of our planted asparagus beds which was a little sparse in places last year.  We will have to remain patient with this crop as there is no collecting of the delicious shoots until next year, and then only a few of the spears can be taken until it has had a chance to become well established.

We took a trip out to Brook near Ashford, to visit Rebel farmer Ed at his market garden, specialising in edible flowers and microgreens.  It was fascinating, even at this time of year when not much is growing outside.  Ed’s microgreens are available all year round, growing in insulated and lit outbuildings.  Demand for his produce is great and he is running flat out in order to supply, and has plans to expand.  Like us, Ed likes to grow using organic, no dig principles, using just a yearly layer of new compost to maintain the health and vitality of the soil first, which will then sustain the plants growing in it.  No fertilisers, no chemicals, just simplicity itself.  We will be keeping contact with Ed to see how his business develops over time as he has lots of ideas in the pipeline. 

We have another trip planned for next Saturday 22^nd with Seed Sovereignty UK at the Locavore growing project at the Martello Primary school in Folkestone.  It being our gardening day on Saturday, there may not be any of our volunteers at Enbrook Park, but we will be back the following week as usual, hopefully full of lots of seed saving ideas.

What’s next?

• Review the compost situation

• Keep an eye to make sure the brassica netting is doing its job

• Order some more fleece

• Work to be done at Fremantle and Golden Valley

Wednesday’s gardening session was a delight in full, warm sunshine.  We planted a few random bulbs, pulled up the last of the finished French marigolds, mulched more beds, bagged up compost for other community garden sites, a spot of weeding and generally had a good time nattering and pottering about.  Saturday on the other hand was a wash out, dull, dingy and generally soggy so we gave it a miss.  Little point in trying to do things in the wet and cold, there can be no joy in that when there is always another day.  The rainfall for December was 95.8mm and was apparently so overcast and gloomy that it was commented upon in the national news.

Our seed stock is currently being reviewed, looking at what can be used this year and what we need to buy.  We know we are indeed fortunate to be able to buy the varieties we want, and continue to get to grips with what suits us.  However it needs to be remembered that seeds can be very random, with surprisingly little regulation, which means you are at the mercy of the seed supplier and how good they are at creating quality products.  Saving your own seeds is a good solution and is easily possible with some vegetables, but can be quite complex in others.  We are looking forward to 22^nd January when we will be finding out more from Seed Sovereignty UK.

This coming week we have been invited to visit Rebel Farmer Ed, at his market garden in Brook, just outside Ashford.  What an incredible treat this promises to be.  We met Rebel Farmer Ed at the Disco Soup event in Radnor Park way back in November.  He specialises in edible flowers and microgreens, supplying to various markets, cafes and restaurants.  We are very excited to be able to visit the garden and get an idea of what Ed does.  Although we’re already quite pleased with the quality of our salad leaves, considering they are grown outdoors, maybe after this trip we could be lifted up to another level in quality produce!

We continue to work in other community spaces around Sandgate.  This week the planters at Golden Valley got a good weeding and general overhaul. The plants are looking quite perky and healthy, some even flowering, with many bulbs starting to push through.  We’re confident that they will look very pretty this year and give a good show.  We would like to thank the mobility shop and the Golden Arrow pub for constantly offering us hot drinks and a warm up inside when we turn up to work.  This is always appreciated.

Open minded to new pockets of unloved and dismal looking public land in our locality, work started on a small strip that needed some loving attention in another part of Golden Valley.  So far it has been covered in thick cardboard and then compost on top in typical ‘no dig’ style, to weaken the grass and weeds beneath, plus enrich the soil.  With any luck planting can begin in the spring, and it will most likely be a garden for pollinators where flowers are dominant.

What’s next?

• Keep up the bed mulching work

• One of the planters at Golden Valley needs some work

• Order new seeds for this year

• Review the brassica netting as they need more space to spread

Happy New Year!

Looking back at this time last year, not surprising it was certainly colder, and we had just suffered the consequences of storm Bella and were in full lockdown mode.  It was good to be able to celebrate the end of this year with many of the volunteers in the garden, as the weather has continued to be so very mild.  The last of the mulled wine and mince pies went down a treat with Christmas cake and sausage rolls, whilst the last of the parsnips got pulled, enough for all to take home a few for Christmas dinner, and very delicious they were too.   

On the first day of January, it was just like a lovely spring day, warm and sunny.  There were a few displaced covers to put back over some of the brassicas, and it was clear that the pigeons had been making the most of us not being around and had stripped a few plants that found themselves out in the open.  Most surprising were the missing mustard salad leaves.  Who would have thought they would be appreciated by the wildlife too and in such quantity.  Perhaps they do not taste the same heat we do when eating them.  They are now re-covered in the hope they may sprout again with any luck. 

Compost bin number one finally got turned; a great workout for the first day back.  For several weeks before Christmas it was full to overflowing and had to be pressed into any spaces and even jumped up and down on.  Yet after the Christmas break it had sunk down nicely and when turned into the same sized bin number two, only just about filled it half way with room for more at a later date.  Turning the compost in the first bin is not a job for the feint hearted.  It can be full of tiny flies that billow out from the cover when lifted, and as you proceed with the turning into the next bin, usually has the most pungent aroma.  However the unpleasantness is short lived, and once turned, all is right again.  After this initial turn, the compost becomes odourless, and apart from being full of wriggling worms, really does look almost good enough to eat!  Turning the compost also reveals what did happen to the secateurs when they went missing, as well as the fact that a month of Sundays will never decompose foil or plastics mistakenly placed in compost bins!

Compost/soil is a most fascinating subject, and this link will take you to a BBC short video which explains all sorts of interesting facts:

This time of year is perfect for reflecting on the growing year just gone and planning for the next.  Yule, and the shortest day have gone, and before we know it, February will be upon us and we start seed sowing once more.  In preparation, and as a Christmas gift to ourselves, we have invested in some new long handled dibbers (pictured below) which will hopefully make planting out much easier than using the shorter and smaller versions.

Now is a good time to order new seeds; seeds are another little understood subject which deserves and needs to be investigated further.  On Saturday 22^nd January, there will not be many of us at the garden as some of us have booked to attend a short course or introduction to seeds and seed saving at the Locavore growing project at Martello Primary school in Folkestone, led by Seed Sovereignty UK.  We are looking forward to meeting up again with other local community groups committed to community-based food production , Incredible Edible, Feeding Folkestone, Kent Food Hub, and of course Locavore.  It will certainly be a very interesting and informative day.

What’s next?

• Still more mulching to be done

• Review the seed stock situation

• Sort out the retrieved secateurs from the compost bin

• The French marigolds have finally stopped flowering and need composting

• Tidy around the compost bins