Tim Prater

The pond site is in the process of having straight sides cut into it to create a shelf for water plants to sit on once the liner has been laid.  The bottom of the pond has been trawled for any more sharp rubble and was starting to resemble the Somme.  The continuing rain is making progress more of a challenge and it is probably just as well that it starts to coincide with a holiday period!  We saw the Saga gardeners shredding a pile of hedge cuttings, and once finished, we moved in quickly to start putting the chippings down to make some paths.  Fresh wood chippings should not be used as mulch around plants as they can affect the soil pH and the soil nitrogen levels which means that plants can struggle to grow.  It needs to be composted first or used for making paths.

The bird boxes have been prepared, ready to be put up in the trees nearby the garden.  This will need to be done soon to allow the birds time to check them over and decide if they would like to move in and make a nest when the time comes.  Since our last newsletter, it now seems we have secured a good supply of cardboard for the ‘no dig’ plans.

Saturday was so wet we decided to meet up at the farmers market to indulge in mulled wine and mince pies, and there were even more mulled wine and mince pies to be had at the Fire Station with the Sandgate Society.  It was disappointing not to be at the garden, but it is all about the people involved, and community at the end of the day.   Some of us are, and will be on holiday now for a short while.  Our Theresa has been busy playing the part of Dolly, the love interest of Mike Nolan in the Tower Theatre production of Jack and the Beanstalk, and very good she is too…. Well done Theresa.

Discussions around live honey bees being sited at the garden continue to go well, and there seems to be a great deal of interest in the possibility already.  It would be a wonderful thing if a Sandgate bee community develops over this coming new year.  We wait and watch with interest.

What’s next?

No arrangements have been made to meet up on Christmas Day strangely enough; however one or two of us might feel like a bit of a workout on the Saturday, moving a few more wood chippings and some of those mince pies off the waistline! 

Merry Christmas to you from the Sandgate Community Gardeners.

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Continuing to be busy this week.  A couple of us were at the Sandgate Parish Council meeting to talk about, and promote the garden.  We hobnobbed to the best of our abilities, and think we have created enough of an impression to keep the garden in the minds of many of the movers and shakers of Sandgate!  We took a small hamper of winter salad, leeks, purple sprouting and Chinese cabbage.  Then since discovered that the leeks, growing in our very sandy, silty soil have captured that grittiness in their layers and need to be well washed or shredded to get rid of it.  Let us hope that the introduction of compost will help to stop that, and apologies if it was you that got to take the leeks home!  We learn something new every day…..

The broad beans got their string protection from the pigeons, which will double up as a support as they continue to grow taller.  The pond site got a rummage to find as much rubble as possible lurking there so as not to puncture the lining once it gets put in place.  We need to get this done next so that the pond can start to fill with rain water over the wetter months of the year, it would have been full by now if that had been lined just a couple of weeks ago!

The autumn raspberry plants arrived in the post and got planted on Saturday.  An autumn fruiting variety was chosen instead of summer fruiting, so as to extend the soft fruit season right into the end of October.  A small trench was lined with our own made compost for the new plants to nestle into, and it was awesome to be wrestling with what seemed like gigantic worms lurking in the compost bin.  Provide the environment and the wildlife just appears as if from nowhere! 

We continue to collect sturdy cardboard for the ‘no dig’ treatment of some of the weeds and paths and are amazed at how much plastic tape or metal staples need to be used to make a package, and how long it takes to remove it all before being used on the garden.

What’s next?

• Bird boxes?

• Cosmos has finally given up the ghost and can be removed and composted

• Get some sand to begin lining the pond area

• Work on pond area

• Mince pies and mulled wine on Saturday!

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The fencing is nearly finished, and the wind break mesh is in place, they give the new hedge the chance to take hold.

The donated bench hitched a ride to the garden, and is now in place, so we shall have to decide where we will be taking a break with a flask of coffee and a biscuit, or this month, a mulled wine and mince pie!  Thanks to Paul for arranging the transport.

We would prefer to use the ‘no dig’ method in the garden, for a variety of reasons, and this week we have started to use a cardboard mulch to cover the ground, topped with whatever we can find to start the process of enriching the soil and getting rid of any unwanted growth.  By the time the spring comes around, these newly mulched areas should be workable and ready for planting.  Regular visits to collect well-rotted horse manure which spread on the ground, will also have time to be drawn down into the soil by worms, and weathered.

Discussions are being had with a very local and experienced bee keeper, and all going to plan, there should be some announcements in the near future about bee hives having a home in the garden….exciting times indeed!

What’s next?

• Paint the bird boxes

• Continue to put down paths and mulch the hedge

• Protect the broad beans with stick and string supports.

• Maybe start clearing the pond site of any rubble.

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This was a week of absolute contrast.  On Wednesday it was lashing down with rain, but troops turned out for the morning session and we planted most of the hedge until soaked through to the skin and covered in mud; such dedication.  Not only were we there, but so was Paul the Saga Head gardener, putting up the new fence alongside the site of the pond.  The fence is a requirement as the pond is in a public place, and we are very grateful to Paul and Saga for it, and very smart it looks too.

On Saturday we managed to finish the rest of the hedge in glorious sunshine, and even got the posts for the windbreak in place, with a little time left to collect more leaves to set out some new pathways from a gateway entrance, to the compost heap.  As soon as we turn up at the garden to do something, the resident robin makes itself heard, following our every move and making a dash for anything edible that gets unearthed.  It sits on the wall or in the trees and bushes and sings its heart out.

This week the garlic and the broad beans have started to show through the ground, the pea shoots grow longer and start to unfurl. We pulled a couple of leeks for the first time, just to see how they are doing.  There are not many of them this year, but this time next year……..

Apart from our usual sessions on Wednesday and Saturday mornings, there are always other things to be done.  Some of us went to the Hythe hops meeting to find out about this great community project.  We have bought four hop plants which will arrive sometime in March, and paid £5 for our yearly subscription to the scheme.  This is the second year for the Hythe hops, which now has over a hundred members, from New Romney to Folkestone, all growing just one or two hop plants in their garden or allotment in order to share the harvest and then later the beer after a couple of microbreweries have done their magic.  So we are dreaming of supping our own beer at our garden picnic next year!

What’s next?

• Paint the bird boxes

• Put up the windbreak mesh

• Continue to put down the paths

• Spot hoe identifiable weeds

• Make a start on the pond!!

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