Tim Prater

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 27th April: The bees are now very busy in the garden making the most of the flowers.

Well it is true we wished for rain then lo and behold it decides to turn up exactly on the morning of the next gardening session!  There are certainly no complaints about the amount of rain and duration, enough to make a difference and enough not to have to water all the week.  So it was that the Wednesday morning session was cancelled but by Saturday morning it was certainly warm and sunny which meant we could catch up with a few jobs although again, not all of them got done.

The squashes and cucumbers did get sown, the leeks were divided into four bunches and potted on into larger pots.  They need to get to the size of pencils before they can be planted out and have a long way to go yet.   The netting which was flat over the calabrese plants was raised up over hoops and netted again – just in the nick of time it seems as the first cabbage white butterflies have been spotted and they could have easily laid their eggs on the brassicas if they were being touched by the net. However, the borage seedlings did not get removed or the carrots sown – but luckily we still have plenty of time.  Some lettuce seedlings got pricked out into larger pots to grow on further and a tray of spring onions were planted next to a row of peas.  

The bees are now very busy in the garden making the most of the many different flowers on show, the pulminaria by the pond has been on show for several weeks now and continues to be alive with the buzzing of bees. 

The radishes, having grown to the size of golf balls which would make you believe they are tough and inedible.  Luckily they are nothing of the sort and so it was a case of trying to find a use for them.  It was good to know that they can be roasted, which sweetens them.  Having shared an interesting recipe, it seems they may be tried cooked for the first time by many of the gardeners – and I know they were amazing roasted and added to a vegetable curry – Delicious!

What’s Next?

• Sow the carrots
• Remove the excessive borage
• Raise up the fleece from the lettuces
• Cut back the growth around the pot plant area

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 20th April: Everything seemed to be that much fresher and greener.

Hooray!  Early in the week we had a good steady downpour so that by the time we went to the next gardening session on Wednesday, plants had started to perk up and look so much happier for it.  Already the broad beans had grown by a good foot and everything seemed to be that much fresher and greener.  The radishes were taken by surprise when it rained, and started to swell so much and so fast that they burst open to produce some strange shapes. 

It looks as though there may be some more rain to come this week which is still needed and so we will cross all our fingers in the hope that it will.  At Pent farm we have already had to use many litres of the precious saved rainwater and hope that ‘April showers’ is still a thing if we are ever able to collect more rainwater before the summer arrives.

The courgettes did get sown, along with two trays of sweet corn, but not the squashes which will be a job for this week.  The peas for pea pods and the peas for pea shoots got planted out, then the wigwam for the sweet peas was put up and the sweet peas planted around it.  Coriander and lettuce plants were also made space for in some of the plots as did a few left over seed potatoes.  The tomatoes, only sown last week sprung into life so quickly that they were pricked out this week to grow on in the greenhouse at the farm, as did the cosmos, French and English marigolds. 

Of course the splash of rain was enjoyed by the weeds and so we took some time to hoe out as many of the unwanted ones as we could.  The claytonia winter lettuce is now flowering which has meant that it can still be eaten however it is clear that if left to do so it will happily sprout up again when the cooler weather appears which it did last year and has literally popped up all over the place.

What’s Next? 

• Sow the squashes and the cucumbers
• Sow some carrots
• Raise up the netting over the calabrese
• Take out invading borage seedlings

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 13th April: Plenty of spinach, the asparagus is delicious, and the radish good and crunchy.

The fact there has been no rain for so many weeks is really starting to cause problems.  The broad beans look great but are so short – they certainly should be much taller by now.  We have put off sowing the carrots and parsnips because they need to be sown directly into the ground, however the ground is now so dry that at Enbrook Park any water just runs off the surface and does not soak in.  The newly planted seedlings are struggling although we have been watering them outside of our usual gardening hours.  Again, we get the promise of rain in the future from the weather apps, but sadly it comes to nothing as the days go by and the temperatures rise.  Our fingers are crossed that a chance of rain next week does arrive.   (As if by magic, in-between writing this newsletter and sending it out – we had some rain!)

This week we sowed the tomatoes, nine different varieties, from cherry through to yellow plum, black, beefsteak and a tomato with few seeds just right for pasta sauce.  We sowed yet more English and French marigolds as well as lots of cosmos and more lettuces.  The lemon verbena had shown signs of life and got a good pruning along with the butterfly bush behind the tool box.   Many tasks have been pushed forward into next week as it takes so long to water and we run out of time and sometimes energy!

Last week it was noticed that the black fly had made an appearance in great numbers on the fast growing elder hedging.  This week it was noticed that the ladybirds had arrived in the area and had also seen the feast awaiting.  With any luck more of their friends will arrive and demolish the lot before they consider taking to the broad beans.  As regards that other well-known pest in the garden, the slug, the lack of rain has actually helped to keep them at bay for now.

We are still picking plenty of spinach, the asparagus is delicious, the radish good and crunchy and the spring onions coming to an end from the autumn plantings.

What’s next?

• Sow all the courgettes and squashes
• Plant out the peas
• Plant out the sweet peas and make a wigwam
• Take time to weed

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 6th April: What’s the difference between calabrese and broccoli?

The total rainfall for March was a shocking 6.7 mm! For early spring that is a big concern. This is the time we are starting to fill the beds with very small seedlings, but the ground is dry and we will have to water as much as we can if they are to survive as there seems to be no rain on the horizon for many days to come. The sunshine and the warmth have been most welcome of course but the lack of rain is a big problem. We noticed that where the elder in the hedge had started to grow, parts were smothered already in blackfly which could be a sign of stress. With any luck the ladybirds, usually abundant in the garden may turn up in numbers and make short work of them.

The water pump needed so that we do not have to water by hand, was remembered this week. However, having spent most of the time stored away over the autumn and winter, it decided to play up and not work on the Wednesday. When threatened with a screwdriver to take it apart, miraculously sprang into action and started to work again, meaning that on Saturday the watering got done much faster. We are hoping it is just a case of having to wake up from a long slumber and that all will be well from now on.

We had so much on the list to do this week that unfortunately not all of it was completed. We concentrated on getting seedlings planted – potatoes, cabbages, calabrese, peas for pea shoots, and a few left over spinach plants. The question was asked about the difference between calabrese and broccoli, which had not been considered before. Apparently, the large heads of ‘broccoli’ you buy at the supermarket have been misnamed and should be called calabrese; whilst the small spears of broccoli, such as purple sprouting broccoli/tender stem broccoli are true broccoli. So there it is!

We did get to sow more seeds of spring onions and leeks. It was decided that the leeks for Pent farm could be sowed and grown as a multiple with up to four leeks per planting, however the leeks for Enbrook Park are to be grown as single leeks and using the old fashioned method of planting them deep, and this is mainly because Pent farm has clay soil and is a much wetter site compared with the Enbrook Park site.

In spite of the lack of rain there is still plenty of spinach and chard, spring onions, and this week we had the treat of the first spears of asparagus, a few sticks of rhubarb, and the first three radishes! Certainly not enough for a feast, but a taste

What’s Next?

• Still need to finish the bean supports
• Still need to tie in the hops
• Carry out some extra watering between sessions
• Lots of seeds to sow/ few spare potatoes to plant

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.