Happy New Year!

Fortunately we did not suffer much in the way of damage following Storm Bella last week, just a snapped sign and a few covers escaped – it could have been much worse.  Neither have we experienced much in the way of frost compared with much of the country.  The pond had a thin covering of ice, but it quickly melted.  However it is being hinted that we are to experience much colder weather in the weeks to come. 

The rainfall for December was 123.7mm locally, which seems quite a lot, although not as wet as October with 230.4mm.  The driest month last year seems to be April with just 13.5mm of rain.

We are still keeping an eye on the pond, and removing any debris that falls or gets blown in, as this can affect the water quality.  Now a year old, we are starting to see the fruits of our labours as regards pond wildlife, and we have seen plenty of water snails as well as dragonfly larvae this week whilst fishing for leaves.  Dragonfly larvae can live in the pond for up to five years, depending on their type, until they emerge and fly away; such an incredible metamorphosis.  We shall continue to monitor what appears in the pond with great interest.

Apart from observing the pond wildlife, we occasionally put up the outdoor camera to check on the nocturnal visitors to the garden.  During December we were visited by various foxes, identifiable by their different tail shapes.  There was no evidence of any badgers which we did see in the warmer months.  On investigation it seems that the badgers are preferring to stay tucked up underground during December, although not hibernating, whilst the foxes are out and about marking out territories and generally making lots of noise as mating season approaches.   As well as foxes, we saw a few unidentified flying objects, which could have been anything, and a couple of locals bringing their veg peelings up to our compost bins!

The compost bins have now been labelled 1, 2 and 3 to help identify which bin is doing what, and so gardeners and locals know where to put garden pruning or kitchen fruit and veg waste.  There are some photographs below showing the system.  Bin number 1 is always the current active bin for fresh additions, and you can see it has identifiable leaves and peelings.  The next picture shows the top of bin 2, with probably about three to four months old compost inside and brandling worms in evidence, still working on it.  Bin number 3 has previously been turned out from bin 2, and is ready for use.  To recap – always put any fresh additions in bin number 1.  Our healthy compost is vital to the garden and it now seems that the RHS is in agreement; Chelsea Flower Show gardeners will now also be judged on the health of their soil, at last the importance of good soil structure is starting to be recognised, but there is still much to be done on that subject in the UK.

It might seem that there is little to do this time of year but that can depend like most things on how much depth you wish to go to, or how long that piece of string is, there are always things to be done. 

What’s next?

• Clear the last of the oca

• Clear the last of the parsnips

• Mulch where the oca and endives were

• Keep bringing the wood chips up from the lower wall.

• Hoe along outside edge of the fence line and the outside wall

• Cut back sedge grass and bramble on bee hive path

We all hope you had a great Christmas however you managed to spend it under the circumstances of tier four.  It has not been quite how we envisaged this Christmas but it was possibly better than being stuck in the cab of a lorry over the holiday period.   One of our gardeners volunteered to spend much of her time collecting gifts and food from Sandgate and delivering to some of the drivers.  It was a drop in the ocean, but at least a few got to appreciate that others were thinking of them, well done and thank you Theresa.

The continuing story of the autumn was the roll of fleece ordered months ago being delayed and delayed.  A further message arrived saying the fleece would now not arrive until mid-March, way too late to protect the plants over the winter months, and then as if by special Santa post it arrived on the doorstep just a couple of days before Christmas.  Incredible!  The broad beans and peas are now tucked up under the fleece blanket ready for any cold and windy weather coming their way.

We had a donation of a few Cerinthe seedlings which have been planted, and a very kind person in Enbrook Road had obviously been clearing their garden and splitting up large clumps of plants, and instead of composting them, had kindly left plants in their driveway for anybody to take and make use of.  This was most appreciated and we had some for a section of the garden we are developing near the bench, of perennial flowering plants for bee and insect life.  If you are considering clearing parts of your garden before the spring, please bear us in mind for any unwanted plants; if we cannot use them in the garden they could be very useful for one of our other projects such as Incredible Edible.

The Incredible Edible alleyway off Chichester Road in Sandgate got a weeding and general tidy up.  Not much going on here for a while but there are herbs and a few swede plants.  Now we are past the shortest day, it will not be too long before we can start planting and sowing seeds again.

Looking back to this time last year it seems that we were busy making the pond and putting the liners in place, it has come a long way since then.  We were also busy wheelbarrowing wood chips to the garden then as we are now, and discussing how much we were looking forward to the arrival of the bees.  What a difference a year has made.  We all wish you a happy New Year, and look forward to seeing how next year will compare with this.

What’s next?

• Review any damage from Storm Bella

• Continue to barrow wood chips up to the garden to store

• Start sorting out the seeds for next year

• Start work on tidying the wheelbarrow area

The Sandgate Community Garden bee hives at Christmas

Christmas Greetings from Ray and Chris, your friendly beekeepers. 

You may be thinking that this is the time of the year when we are sitting by the fire in our Christmas onesies with a box of chocolates and a glass of fine wine… Well that may be the case but we want to assure you that we are still working hard to ensure our bee colonies remain safe and healthy during the cold, damp winter months.  We now have an opportunity to scour bee books, magazines and catalogues to research ways to improve our techniques and equipment ready for the spring. 

The worker bees (all female) will now have foraged the last of the pollen, mainly Ivy, Rosebay Willowherb and Himalayan Balsam and this has been packed away in the hive to provide a source of protein.   All the male bees (drones) have been expelled from the hive to die, this is because the drones serve no purpose during the winter and are voracious eaters of the precious stores.

The queen has stopped laying eggs and her last brood will live for six months (rather than the usual six weeks) and take the colony through the winter.  In order to do this they have to be well-nourished and free from disease.  The colony should have garnered about 20 kilograms of honey during the late summer for the bees to live on.  All our colonies have been checked and supplemented with a sugar syrup to make doubly sure they have plenty of food.

It may surprise many of you to learn that honey bees do not go into hibernation but remain very busy within the hive.  They will have clustered into a ball around the queen, their duty being to keep her fed, warm and healthy.  Warmth is generated by the presence of the bees themselves but it can be increased by the bees shivering to produce heat.  The bees will each move around from the centre to the outside of the cluster and back again to keep each other warm and to regulate the temperature within the cluster so that the queen is neither too hot nor too cold.

Although it may seem strange, colonies of bees survive better and use less food if the winter temperature stays very cold, between +5 and -18 degrees Celsius.  At higher temperatures the cluster of bees breaks up and their increased activity means the consumption of more stores so the bees need to work harder outside the cluster to keep their temperature above +7 degrees Celsius.  Sometimes the bees will not have enough honey stores or perhaps during an unsettled winter they will become too cold and weak to access their nearby supplies and the colony will unfortunately perish.

It is very important at this time of year not to open the hive unnecessarily so a procedure known as ‘hefting’ is used to estimate the amount of stores inside.  Many beekeepers on Christmas Day quickly open the hive to add extra food, regardless of the hefting process, so that our bees share in our festival of goodwill and also enhance their chances of survival.  The food of choice is called fondant and Ray and I have made our own, not because we are tight fisted but because we can be assured of the purity and integrity of the ingredients.  The resulting fondant is pushed into an open container and placed either directly onto the frames or above the crown board.  The fondant is firmer than honey and is simpler and quicker for them to digest.

Ray and I are still visiting the hives on a more than weekly basis to identify any issues.  This involves checking for damage caused by wild animals (woodpeckers in particular) or damage caused by the weather.  We are also checking for any signs of activity, disease or distress.  On a warm winter’s day, we would expect to see some of the bees flying outside but near to the hive.  They will be busy removing any dead or diseased bees, collecting water or doing what is politely called a ‘cleansing flight.’

Wishing all the Sandgate Community Gardeners a Happy Christmas and a Healthy and Safe New Year.  With love from Ray and Chris xxx