Tim Prater

Far too scorchio for us this week, it has been a struggle to hand water the plot, and to water it well enough.

The brassicas have been checked again and again for pesky caterpillars or eggs, which means crawling around on all fours peering at small plants, but very necessary.  The endives and lettuces got planted, as did Chinese cabbages and a few Romanesco, squeezed into the last available space.  The runner beans are now showing plenty of flower and with enough water and no more gale force winds, there could even be some beans!  We noticed lots and lots of ladybird larvae on the beans which was where the blackfly had been partying; thank goodness the cavalry have arrived in force as they should make short work of those unwanted guests.

Some of the sweet corn is starting to swell.  When it is ripe, it gives out a sweet smell which attracts wildlife (thinking in particular of our visiting badger) and so we have been rubbing Vics vapour rub around the base of each plant as an experiment to try to mask the sweetness.  If we come away with any ripe sweet corn, it would be a minor miracle.

The flowers are looking particularly beautiful these past few weeks and we have been picking sweet peas by the armful.  You have to be sure to pick every sweet pea or it will go to seed and stop flowering.  The picking also generates lots and lots of flowers to the point that by the next day, even more are there.  As the season goes on, the stems become shorter and shorter, so faced with hundreds of stumpy flowers we have decided to let them finish and use the much wanted space to grow something else.  It was great while it lasted, and they could for some time, but we are happy to move on with other things. 

The winter squashes are starting to swell, and it can often be difficult to identify which are summer squashes to be picked now, and which are to be left to grow on into the autumn.  Summer squashes are softer and more prolific – winter squashes may only have one or two fruits per plant depending on the variety, and can be stored and eaten months later.  These plants can regulate how many fruits they can cope with over the growing period, and eject any that cause extra stress.  We often have to wind the long trailing stems along the edge of pathways so they do not get stepped on as who knows where they are trying to get to!

What’s next?

• Let the sweet peas go to seed

• Water, water, water

• Pick, pick, pick

• More vapour rub on the sweet corn

• Keep checking for caterpillars

• What are the soy beans doing?  Have they been worth the effort?

• Assess what space if any may become available for planting up in the next few weeks.

• Start to move compost if it cools down.

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The problem with covering up the brassicas with mesh is that you become complacent and think to yourself that no harm will come to those plants nestled in there, until you take a look one day and discover that they were placed inside the covering with butterfly eggs already hiding on them, and not carefully checked so that all the leaves on several plants had disappeared, and the caterpillars are marching with speed towards the rest of the plants!  There was some serious peering at close hand to find the minibeasts and remove them before any more damage was done.  Another lesson learnt and marvel at how clever the caterpillars are to lie along the main vein of a leaf so as to be practically invisible.

Most of this week was about picking and watering, the recent rain had really helped, but never enough for very thirsty sweet peas, beans, salad leaves and courgettes that put on so much growth in just a few days.  Pak choi, chervil, dill and mustard salads got sown; the rainbow chard got planted.

As we are involved with the Hythe Hop scheme, growing four hop plants against the wall, we are sent regular information about how our plants should be doing and news about the expected harvest time.  It is anticipated that the hops will be ready for collecting in mid-September when all the hops in the scheme will be picked at the same time and sent off to be made into a local brew.  It seems our plants are on target as the flowers are now there, and the general growth of the plants is good as shown on the pictures below.

Bee news

One of our gardeners had a swarm of honey bees turn up in her garden this week, but luckily we have a couple of bee keepers in our garden community, and one of them was on hand to catch them.  Unfortunately they decided they were not going to hang around and had other ideas.  Apparently there is a saying ‘a swarm in July isn’t worth a fly’, and such swarms are to be avoided.

Fremantle Park and Golden Valley planters

The Fremantle park planters have now been planted up and signs erected.  Our hope is to help any interested locals to expand the growing area, and plant more in the way of edibles. 

The Golden Valley shop planters have now been weeded and tidied.  Some of the planters have been adopted by the shopkeepers, and they have had an input as to what they would like to grow there, to include an olive tree, various herbs, fruit trees, soft fruit bushes and vegetables.  We have had lots of encouragement and praise from visiting locals, pleased to see the changes being made, and we hope the planters will flourish and be admired. 

What’s next?

• One more check on the netted brassicas just in case!

• Keep picking and watering

• Plant out the endives and lettuces

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Now that restrictions are lifting and it is possible to go away or simply go back to work, it meant that the Wednesday morning session was quiet and many of our jobs on the list did not get done.  However, we made up for it Saturday, with beginner gardeners, and a steady trail of visitors either coming to look or to take vegetables or cut flowers home. 

In the week, the parks department of the Folkestone and Hythe Council very kindly brought us some compost from their yard which will be going to good use.  Some of the courgettes are sitting on a thin layer of compost, and a couple got pulled out by a visiting fox or badger, so some compost was spread around them to help them bed in better.  Our own compost bins got turned, and we now have a ton of simply the best compost waiting in the wings to be used on the garden over the winter.  With any luck we should have at least three ton bag size heaps of the stuff to go onto the beds later….. happy days! 

The Pink Fur Apple potatoes got harvested, and some kale plants immediately planted in their place, and of course covered in a mesh for protection.  We did not find time to block the spaces under the fence – maybe this week!  The priority is to make sure we keep up with the picking of the flowers, courgettes and beans in particular, or they will stop producing any more.  We were surprised to find we had some rather large cucumbers lurking in the foliage, they had been totally missed and we had no idea they were there and ready!  Quite often you have to search hard for ripe veg, as they are experts at camouflage.

Bee news

Chris has now got a second hive, and sent some amazing action pictures of bees in flight; one is shown below – beautiful.

Incredible Edible news

Some of the Incredible Edible team and the Community gardeners joined forces on Tuesday to begin work on tidying and clearing the brick planters in the Golden Valley shopping car park.  We are working with the Parish Council and the shop keepers to plant up the space with edibles and bee attracting plants that the shop keepers will be happy to perhaps help look after and make more personal to them.  Meanwhile, we commissioned three wooden planters to be made by Martin who lives locally, to position in Fremantle Park (he did an amazing job; got them done in no time and they are proper solid too!).  The Sandgate Society has kindly donated some funds to enable us to get them planted with herbs and vegetables for residents to help themselves to.  Thanks also go to Adrian and Gaye who funded two of the planters.  The Parish Council since taking over responsibility for the park have upgraded the children’s play area as well as made repairs and planted some trees.  They are keen for local people to get involved with using the park, and we hope that there could be an interest in starting up a small community garden there.  Please contact the Sandgate Parish Council if you are interested in becoming a friend of the Fremantle Park and would like to get involved.  There are to be more working parties over the next week or so and we will keep you updated with progress.

What’s next?

• Keep picking, but might only need to water some things after the rain on Saturday!

• Sow rocket, pak choi, coriander, dill, chervil and land cress.

• Cover the gaps under the fence

• Check the brassicas just in case they have been sabotaged by cabbage whites!

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Every session these days there is something to pick, this week was salad leaves, the first of the dwarf beans, beetroot, courgettes and summer squashes, along with the last of the spring onions.  The sweet peas are producing more and more flowers, as are the zinnias, and now a few dahlias.  We are always pleased to see any visitors on our Wednesday and Saturday morning sessions keen to take produce home with them, and have had reports of how flavoursome the vegetables are.   

The kale and purple sprouting got planted, two varieties of each, and immediately they were covered with a fine mesh to prevent the cabbage white butterflies from laying their eggs.  It is also important to make sure the plants are clean of eggs before they go under cover.  Any outside the mesh will have to be checked and cleaned every week as a caterpillar infestation can finish them off.  Cabbage whites can be seen dancing around the brassicas desperate to get at them.

Since reporting on the amount of blackfly last week, happily this week there is evidence of more and more predators such as ladybirds.  It makes sense for them to appear in numbers after infestations, to give them plenty of food to eat, and they certainly have some catching up to do.

With extra weed, the pond is starting to look more pond like!  It still leaves a lot to be desired, but if you take time to really peer into the water it is teeming with all kinds of creatures, including a spaniel that decided to squeeze under the fence and jump in one hot day…… we need to put some mesh along those gaps!

Bee news

Our bees in the garden are always looking very busy, and we are assured by Ray and Chris that all is well.  Ray has been busy collecting honey from another hive he has, and Chris has her own new hive close by.  Her bees are collecting pollen that is black in colour, and it will be interesting to find out what that may have come from on the pollen chart for July.

Incredible Edible news

The Incredible Edible team have been measuring up and planting large planters in Cheriton High Street.  Several shop keepers are keen to have their own edible displays.  The lettuces in the Sandgate High Street planter have been harvested and hopefully eaten.  They have been replaced with Palla Rossa Chicory and some edible viola flowers ….. they look great mixed in with a leaf salad.  We hope to have some news about things taking shape in the Golden Valley area of Sandgate soon.

What’s next?

• Keep picking, weeding and watering.

• Get some mesh in the fence gaps

• Check the Pink Fur Apple potatoes to see if they are ready…. If so, harvest and replace with more kale.

• Sow more chard, and maybe some Chinese cabbage

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