Now that the summer months are upon us we have been asked by Kent Police to remind everyone not to leave back/garden doors open and unattended, as this could provide an opportunity for thieves to gain access to your property.
It is also advisable to keep handbags and keys out of sight from doors or windows.
It has been a warm week, and we have been working hard to water all those thirsty plants, and they have rewarded us with more salad, some courgettes and pak choi .
The leeks, kale and purple sprouting got planted, and now here is where the fun begins! As soon as the very warm weather arrived, and the kale and purple sprouting got to a decent size, the first of the cabbage white butterflies started to make an appearance, to seek out those seedlings and lay a few eggs all over them! So if we are not to surrender our plants to the caterpillars, we will have to be observant, and remove any eggs before they devour the lot! If you are not sure what you are looking for, there are two pictures of what the eggs look like, with this newsletter. More salad has been sown, but July and August are months when it is best to avoid sowing certain seeds as they tend to bolt or set seed before their time.
Kalpana, a representative from the Nepalese community visited the garden this week to talk about Nepalese growing and cooking that is possible in the UK. It was really interesting to hear about how the food is grown mainly in back yards, and is an important part of family life and diet.
We have been so busy with watering and searching for butterfly eggs, or being on holiday, that some of the jobs from last week will reappear again on this week’s tasks. This may be an ongoing theme for a few weeks until holidays and dry, warm weather are out of the way, and we can get down to some more serious planting and sowing yet again!
What’s next? –
Folkestone & Hythe District Council is conducting a review of the polling districts, polling places and polling stations that fall in the Folkestone & Hythe Parliamentary constituency.
In accordance with The Review of Polling Districts and Polling Places (Parliamentary Elections) Regulations 2006, the Acting Returning Officer will be invited to make a statement on the existing arrangements and any proposals made. In addition, we are seeking feedback from electors, political representatives, town and parish councils, community organisations and political parties from within the District area.
Representations should include views and opinions on:
Any representations must be received in writing by 14 August 2019. Comments are also welcomed on the Acting Returning Officer’s statement and must be submitted by 04 September 2019.
If you wish to make representation or comment, please send your correspondences as follows:
By post: Democratic Services Manager, Folkestone & Hythe District Council Civic Centre, Castle Hill Avenue, Folkestone, CT20 2QY
By email: elections@folkestone-hythe.gov.uk
We would also like to welcome the views of any person or body with expertise in access for persons with any type of disability.
A timetable, and other documents relating to this review can be inspected at the Council offices at the below address, or online at www.folkestone-hythe.gov.uk/elections/polling-review.
Decisions relating to the review will be made in November and the review will conclude on Sunday 01 December 2019.
Sandgate Beach is a dog-free zone from Sandgate Castle to the Seabrook BP (formerly Murco) garage at the far end of the Esplanade from 1st May and 30 September every year.
Outside these areas (from Sandgate Castle to Mermaid’s Beach, and the length of Princes Parade) dogs are welcome on the beach, although it remains your responsibility to clean up after them at all times, and to keep them on a lead on the Promenade.
Folkestone and Hythe now have an enforcement team who are now patrolling across the district regularly including early morning, late afternoon, evening and weekends – it’s no dogs at any time over the summer.
You must clear up after your dog if it fouls wherever you are in the district. The penalty for failing to clean up afterwards is £100.
Small plastic bags or nappy sacks make ideal poop scoops. Keep them where you keep your dog lead so that picking up a few bags becomes as automatic as clipping your dog on its lead before going for a walk.
There are free dog bag dispensers on the block by the Boat House of Granville Parade, at the seawalk entrance to Castle Road Car Park, and in the dog run at Sandgate Park. Please only take as many as you need to use.
To avoid smells and prevent flies, please tie the bag before depositing it in a dog waste or any street litter bin (it DOESN’T have to be a dog waste bin). Please don’t throw bags into hedges, verges or drains: keep them until you find a bin.
Beaches_and_Dogs-V2
The garden is just starting to fill out, with leaves getting bigger and lusher. Beans are climbing the poles, and the beetroot, tomatoes, and Tokyo turnips starting to swell. The first of the radishes have arrived and taste so delicious that I am thinking we should have sown even more because they are disappearing pretty fast! This week we have been filling three of the raised boxes, sowing more rows of carrots and beetroot, spring onions, and spinach. We have planted out more dwarf beans and tomatoes.
Many thanks this week to Terry and Alan for bringing some trays of seedlings, plus three cucamelons which are an exciting addition to the plot! Thanks also to Freddie for the seeds, and Paula for the gooseberry bush plus a lovely shrub rose which we have planted close to a tree that Paula’s family planted many years ago in memory of her father. We had a donation of some rather sad looking gooseberry plants plus two red current bushes which were picked up for next to nothing because they had been attacked by sawfly caterpillars. They can strip a plant of its leaves in less than a day if left unchecked; however the plants should recover with a bit of TLC and be fine for next year.
What’s next
Well, Wednesday might have been a washout, but Saturday certainly was not! Brilliant sunshine! The fig tree got properly planted in a bigger pot, the next two raised beds got placed in situ and partially filled with the old grass turf, more ground got dug over and weeded, the two last raised beds got another coat of preservative, lettuces and tomatoes were planted, and more salad seeds sown!
Many thanks this week to Geoff, one of the Saga gardeners, for the donation of some much needed hazel poles for beans, to Jill for the dozen tomato plants, and Theresa for the seeds and flowering plants! Excellent news is that the Sandgate Society has very kindly given us £100 to enable us to build on what we have achieved so far, and take us into next year with all the seeds and plants we need! We are bursting with ideas of what we would like to grow from the autumn, into winter and early spring, the aim being to grow food all year round.
The first of the salads has been picked! The ‘cut and come again’ salad in the boxes is having its first cut, and will be joined by the radishes not far behind, later this week! When cutting or picking salad, make sure you only take the leaves, and not the stem and crown of the plants, so that they can sprout again. That way we should get several servings from the same plants! Mixed with young nasturtium leaves and flowers, also calendula petals, and maybe chives, how more local and seasonal can you get!!
I mentioned last week to take time to look at things….. well, look at the photo attached for the view we have from the garden… that really is something! On a smaller scale however, keep checking the beans and salad leaves for unwanted critters trying to move in! Until the garden is balanced with more predators to help us out like ladybirds, ground beetles and, who knows…maybe some frogs…we shall have to be on our guard!
Next organised meet ups – Monday 6pm, Wednesday and Saturday 10am
If you are on WhattsApp, Sheila our Technical Advisor can add you to the group.
What’s next
