Great news!  The rhubarb eventually turned up in the post at the end of the week and was immediately planted, and we have had some substantial rain at last.  The start of the week was taken up with watering the plots, and planting out more lettuces, spring onions, coriander, dill, parsley and chervil.  The herbs make a great addition to the lettuce leaves when they are picked and add some great flavours and textures.  The radishes sown in mid-February are starting to swell and should be ready to start to pick in the next week or two – such an amazing quick crop which copes well with the cold and can be eaten within nine weeks from being sown.  Not all of the jobs on the list got done as it is still quite cold and it takes time to remove fleece covers to water, and then replace them.

The garden will take some years to mature, and for the small shrubs and trees to become established but we can already see changes to some of the fruit bushes with promises of actually bearing some fruit.  The Honey Berry is a relative of the Honeysuckle, and is currently in flower.  The berries are very similar to blueberries without half the fuss, and can be eaten raw, or made into jams and jellies.  There is a picture of the flowers below.  The Goji berries are putting on some lush growth and should produce some fruit later this year – time will tell.  The autumn raspberries also planted last year are appearing thick and fast so there should be much more to pick with any luck.   In the meantime we have been tantalised with a picture on our WhatsApp group of Rosie’s parsnip pie!  There were many offers to help with the eating as it apparently tastes similar to apple pie; however it was already too late, and the pie had not surprisingly, been quickly consumed by the family.

By the pond we have some Pulmonaria or Lungwort in full flower which has certainly been attracting the bees in the few times that the sun has come out enough for them to venture out.  Other wildlife noticed this week has been many ground beetles.  It seems they are mostly active from March until October and as part of a well-balanced garden ecosystem, they will be helping out by feeding on any slugs or other insects they can find.   Every now and then we come across random small rodent sized holes, going deep underground; always interesting to consider all the life that is going on under our feet, and perhaps it was about time we got the wildlife camera out again to get some insight as to what goes on when nobody is around.

This coming Saturday, 17^th April from 10 am to 12.30 pm, there is to be a plant sale and seed swap at the front of the Community Network in Cheriton High Street.  We are donating seeds and plants for this and all proceeds will go to our sister group Incredible Edible to support more planting and growing of fruit and vegetables in the community

Reminder – tomato plants will be available up at the garden from Wednesday 21^st April.  Courgette plants to follow from mid-May.

What’s next?

Get to grips with unfinished jobs from last week:

• Stake the raspberry patch

• Plant the sweet peas

• Continue the war on sycamore seedlings

• Fill any lettuce gaps

• Sow more celeriac and celery, plus start the sweet corn and courgettes

• Keep watering carrot and parsnip beds plus pot plants and new plantings

• Pot up herbs for the Incredible Edible sale

• Start to pot up the tomato plants

Happy Easter!

It was great to be able to work on the plot with more people this week due to the relaxing of the Covid rules.  We had cake on both garden sessions in celebration which went down very well, particularly Theresa’s carrot cake on the Saturday morning as it was freezing cold out there.  We had a couple of beautiful warm days at the start of the week, and since then it has gradually become colder again with the threat of frost and possible snow to come in the next few days. 

We really could now do with a good amount of rain to finally fill that pond to enable us to finish tidying the edges.  We have only had 51.3mm of rain in March, and with all the new sowings and plantings, we have managed to empty our water bowser already.   We have sown leeks, carrots, parsnips, celeriac and nasturtiums, plus some tree spinach and a few more flowering annuals such as cosmos and French marigolds.  We checked the new plantings for any casualties due to damage and replaced them with spare plants, and planted the perennials given to us by Morrison’s last week. 

Two spinach beds got planted up, and three with lettuce.  We have a few different lettuce varieties in shape and colour to make that salad bowl as interesting as possible.  The broad beans got staked, and time will tell if there are enough bees around willing enough to visit their flowers.   Some blossom is out on the old plum trees, and the maiden pear trees are trying hard to flower but it would be better if they remained closed for just a few more days until the cold snap has gone.

The kale has gone to flower and so they have been stripped and pulled up, the purple sprouting should be carrying on for a few more weeks as should the spinach from last year and the remains of the chard. 

We are waiting on several things to arrive in the post, which does not seem to have been very reliable of late.  Our new rhubarb plants have gone astray and we are told they could take up to a couple of weeks to arrive – always a worry when you have live plants in the postal system!  We are also waiting for our new tool box which has been on order for weeks!

The situation with the continual bombardment of sycamore seedlings continues.  Fortunately a few of our gardeners find pulling them out quite therapeutic and we probably have at least another couple of weeks of attacking them before the plague begins to subside.  Happily they make good compost but what a shame they are not edible too.

Incredible Edible news

The Incredible Edible team have been busy filling Cheriton High Street planters with new plants, and continuing work on the new herb garden.  The addition of a lovely new cherry tree to the garden is a reminder of the cherry tree orchards that apparently used to flourish in the area.

What’s next?

• Any sign of the missing rhubarb?

• Stake the raspberry patch

• Possible planting of the sweet peas if they are ready

• Continue the war on sycamore seedlings

• Fill any lettuce gaps

• Sow more celeriac and celery

• Keep watering carrot and parsnip beds plus pot plants and new plantings