Tim Prater

Melanie Wrigley from the White Cliffs Countryside Partnership visited the garden this week to take a look at the project and advise on anything we can do to enhance the number and varieties of wildlife.  Happily it seems we are working the right direction already, and the future plans we already have will help to create the wildlife environment that can also benefit both the garden and the honey bees.  Melanie will be keeping in touch, and we will be updating her regularly through our newsletter.

There is to be an informal chat/meet up with the Hythe Hops organisers at the 3 Mariners, Windmill Street, Hythe this Sunday 12^th January from 5pm for a couple of hours.  As you know we are signed and paid up to this project, and are eagerly looking forward to receiving our hop plants sometime in March.  Well over 100 individuals are participating this year in the local area, mostly households with just one plant growing in the garden.  The hops are a dwarf variety, and therefore more compact and suitable for pot or garden environments.  If you think you might like to also take part, then why not come along and find out about it.

Happily the pond liner did not get lifted by high winds, as the Saga gardeners kindly filled up a bowser with water and emptied it into the pond…. Since then the water level has been added to by the rain, with much more to come this week.  The gardeners also laid down a base for the expected bee hives to stand on, and made a wooden gate for the new fence.  Thank you to Paul and his team!

Progress continues with more paths being put down, made from wood chippings, lots of weeding, picking of spinach and salad leaves growing under the fleece, and more broad bean seeds sown.

What’s next?

• Continue to cover/make paths

• Continue to tackle weeds whilst they are small and easy to hoe

• Perhaps make a start on emptying and using our own compost on new beds.

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During the course of this week the pond hole was double checked for stones, lined with sand, lined again with a fleece material designed to protect the waterproof layer from underground sharp objects, and finally the butyl top was laid down.  It took three of us to manoeuvre it into position, and very glad we were that there were no high winds.  However we will have to keep an eye of the weather as we have no means of filling the pond other than from the rain, which will also weigh down the liners… in the meantime a major gust of wind could see the whole thing flying off in the direction of Folkestone, and we are hoping that various rocks around the edge will do for now.  Once the pond has filled and pulled the liner into place, the edges can be cut to size and made to look more natural.  In spite of all the rain we have had recently, we are still hoping for more to get this pond up and running at last!

The New Year’s resolution is to refer to a lunar calendar and plant in harmony with the lunar rhythms.  We are being quite open minded about the whole thing, and are glad to know that midnight planting is not required.  We will not always be able to stick to the calendar, but a start has been made with sowings of two different lettuce varieties, and some cauliflowers.  As the seasons roll on, we shall keep reviewing how it is all going and let you know…

The Chinese cabbage has finally come to an end, and we will be glad to grow it again this year as it was well worth the effort.  For now, the purple sprouting is forming some big fat heads which will be followed by a multitude of side shoots to come as the weather gets warmer.   Spring may be around the corner but anything can happen in an English garden in winter and spring, from a heat wave to a foot of snow; always something to make things more interesting.

We have lots of tidying up to do this coming week as it seems we will be having some visitors – more about that in next week’s newsletter.

What’s next?

• Tidy up and weed

• Sow a few more broad beans to fill any gaps

• Sow a tray of turnips

• Still plenty of paths to be covered in chippings

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We were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to browse the archives held by Saga the day before Christmas Eve, which tells the history of Enbrook Park.  Paul, the head gardener researched the subject some time ago for Roger De Haan, and very interesting and quite complex it is too!  The park has been under the threat of being built on for housing in the past, and as a Community, we are indeed fortunate to still have this green area, and for it to be open to the public.  We were of course particularly interested in anything referring to the Community Garden site, and a few relevant pictures have been attached.  The auction details from 1912 give a brief description of the old walled-in kitchen garden, it being ‘of a very productive nature’ with ‘espalier trees and bush and other fruit and its walls are also trained with fruit trees of various kinds’.  Prior to the walled garden being in existence, there was evidence on a map dated 1842 of allotments situated close to the stream and Sandgate Road.  So history is repeating itself, and the walled-in kitchen garden is coming back to life once again.

Delighted to say that on Saturday the bird boxes were at last put up, and we will be interested to see if anything chooses to nest there.  The advice is not to nail or screw the boxes to trees as this will damage the tree, so we have found some webbing straps and have tied them.  We will of course have to check they are not tied too tight, which can be done every year when the boxes are emptied or repaired.  It was great to be outdoors on Saturday if just for a while after all the festivities…… chippings got collected and laid on top of a cardboard base to make more paths….an ongoing process.

We have an amazing 198 followers on our Instagram page, which is quite incredible for such a new project.  How close we are to 200; so if you are not already following us, please consider making it a New Year’s resolution to do so and boost our numbers even more.

What’s next?

• No arrangements have been made to meet on New Year’s Day, but we will be there on Saturday 4^th January 2020 raring to go!

• Start lining the pond area with sand in preparation for the pond liner

• Remove and compost the deceased cosmos

• Keep making more paths

The Sandgate Community Gardeners wish you all a Happy New Year, and look forward to seeing you in 2020.

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