Tim Prater

Storm Ciara rip roared around last weekend, and we seemed to get away with just shredded fleece cloches, we were lucky.  Let us hope we get through Dennis paying us a visit this weekend!

More barrowing of compost and wood chips has been the theme this week.  It should certainly help to define where it is safe to walk, as most visitors manage to trample over the onions at some point or another.  Unless storm Dennis obliges and blows the rest of the compost and wood chips up the hill to the garden, we will be repeating the action into next week and quite possibly the week after.  One of the Saga gardeners took pity and brought some of the compost up to the garden on the tractor trailer but that was before they became preoccupied with fallen and falling trees in the park!

Believe it or not it is time to be sowing seeds, and the window ledges are filling up with all sorts of seed trays and seedlings.  We aim to grow as much as we can this year.  We are on the verge of announcing lots of other plans and ideas, but all that is for later.

We had the welcome gift of six bags of manure to add to the compost heap from Jill, a good friend of the garden – it will do the world of good, thanks Jill and indeed, all donations of horse muck, seeds, plants and tools gratefully received.  

The area around the pond has had the ‘no dig’ treatment, and is starting to look better, but there is much to do on the path side, where some of the earth needs to be pulled back so as not to show so much of the liner.

If you get this newsletter on a Sunday morning, it will not be appearing until Sunday night next week the 23^rd, as I will be on a course with none other than the world famous guru of ‘no dig’ himself, Mr Charles Dowding.  He has a market garden in Somerset, and is totally inspirational in how he grows and harvests organic food.  I am so looking forward to seeing his garden, which is already in full swing, providing plenty of salad leaves and vegetables to the locals.  So hopefully I should be bringing back lots more ideas and techniques to ours.

What’s next?

• Check for storm damage

• You guessed it – more barrowing of compost, and making of wood chip paths.

• Much is starting to sprout in the garden, and so are the weeds which need hoeing again.

• Collect more coffee grounds/cardboard

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So very happy to report that our wishes have been answered, and we had compost delivered to the community garden to enable us to make the soil easier to work, and continue with a ‘no dig’ policy.  Folkestone and Hythe council took pity on our plight and are giving us their own compost made in their yard from waste collected from local parks and gardens.   It is peat free and perfect for our requirements.  Feeling cheeky, we mentioned we were looking for wood chips to continue making our paths, and that wish is also to be granted – happy days!  Well, if you don’t ask you won’t get – thank you to our local friendly council……. this makes a great difference to us.  The wheelbarrow has been working overtime trundling backwards and forwards (always uphill with a full load!) to the garden and the new compost is being put down where it is most needed first.  Starting to think we could do with another wheelbarrow, one with an engine strapped to it!

On Wednesday we put nine wooden posts into the ground and along the wall, ready for wires to be strung between them, and for plants to be trained along them.  A maiden pear tree was donated and planted by Sue, a local lady, and another pear tree will be arriving next week.  They are both to be trained against the wall.  We have had other offers of tree donations but we feel that we are at saturation point for the amount of space we currently have.  We had some spinach plants which were planted in one of the raised boxes.

On Saturday we continued wheelbarrowing the compost to the garden, put a mulch of well-rotted horse manure around the orchard trees, and picked some kale and purple sprouting.  Storm Ciara is on its way Saturday night and Sunday, so we spent some time making sure cloches were well secured.   Time will tell if the storm has spared the garden, and an inspection is to be made Monday morning.  Having ’battened down the hatches’, a happy hour or two was spent at the Sandgate Societies sloe gin tasting session.  A must considering we should be picking our own sloes from our newly planted hedge later this year.  Looks like we shall have to consider entering a community garden offering next year!

What’s next?

• Check on any storm damage

• More compost and more uphill wheelbarrowing

• Continue to keep on top of any weeds

• Collect coffee grounds from the local cafes for the compost bins

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