Tim Prater

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 16th July: Keeping your bananas well away from the beehives.

Just as our newsletter went out last Sunday bemoaning the fact the rain was passing us by yet again, it started to pour down.  We have had several substantial showers since. This weekend the winds have arrived with a vengeance. 

Apart from the interesting weather, the main feature of the week has been insects, from the good, the bad, and the (not so) ugly.  For a few weeks now there has been a plethora of ladybirds – always a delight to see, but they seem to be in particularly high numbers at the moment and appearing in all of the gardens. 

We are always interested in identifying what we find locally, and a friend posted a photograph of a delicate looking moth which had caught her eye.  Unfortunately it happened that the moth was the box tree or box hedge moth.  An invasive species from East Asia accidentally introduced to Central Europe a few years ago, it devastates box trees, and many box tree plants in Sandgate have indeed been lost or affected by this particular creature this year. 

Whilst clearing some weeds at Fremantle Park it was interesting to find several caterpillars of the Cinnabar moth.  Looking like it is wearing a brightly coloured yellow/orange and black striped rugby shirt, it is very easy to find although birds know that it is poisonous.  The Cinnabar moth is not rare in the UK, but the adults and caterpillars certainly give a great splash of colour. 

Whilst working at Enbrook Park in the garden this Saturday we were joined by our beekeeper, checking on the main hive to see if the queen was in evidence.  The good news is that she certainly was at home, and the hive has increased greatly in numbers.  Unfortunately they took umbrage at being disturbed (quite understandably) and decided to go for the gardeners by buzzing around their heads to warn them away from the area.  When bees are stuck in your hair and sounding mighty angry it can be a challenge to remain calm, and a certain amount of squealing and running about did not seem to help the situation.  Added to which, once you are stung by a bee, it releases an odour called an alarm pheromone to alert other bees to the danger.  This alarm pheromone apparently smells like bananas and attracts other bees to come to the defence of the hive.  Lessons learnt:

• Do not open a hive on a gardening day.

• Do not eat bananas near a beehive.

If stung, the pheromone stays on your clothing which should then be washed before wearing them again!

This week, Alistair, our composting champion, has been working at Pent Farm for Touchbase Care to sort out the unruly composting heaps.  He has certainly made a terrific difference, by recycling and rethinking the area.  On his return to the farm to check on how the compost was ‘cooking’, he took off the cover to find a rather large and splendid grass snake taking up residence.  The cover was quickly replaced and the snake left, in the hope that it may decide to stay for the rest of the season with any luck.  We shall certainly not be disturbing it.

In spite of all our encounters with wildlife we did manage to get some broccoli planted as well as spring onions; lettuces and chicories were sown and rampaging weeds removed. 

What’s next?

• With luck the purple sprouting can be planted

• Check on the courgettes

• Weed the leek bed

• Remove the bolted lettuces

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 9th July: The Johnson-Su system takes some 400 days for the compost to mature.

The lovely drop or two of rain we had last week made an amazing difference to the plants but now we are back to watering again as it continues to be warm and mostly sunny with thunderstorms passing us by, although we can hear the thunder rumbling around in the distance.

As well as helping our vegetable plants, the weeds have benefitted from the rain showers too and are starting to take over in some places which will have to be tackled next week or they will be robbing the water from the vegetables.

 The courgettes have started to arrive, and it is likely we will pick our first dwarf beans next week, just as the potatoes are finishing.  The spring onions are starting to swell, the first sowings of lettuces are now bolting, and as yet, the badgers have not discovered the beetroot.  An executive decision was made to harvest them small or as soon as they are large enough to make something of, in case they should suddenly disappear!  Our first outdoor tomato arrived from a Sungold plant – always a difficult decision as to who should have the very first of anything that has been grown, however all volunteers know that we will fairly share whatever has been grown between us, and/or with any visitors (including the wildlife which seems to get more than a fair share!)

We are starting to make some progress with our new composting system, although we know it is a learning curve on our quest for the perfect compost, and we are only just starting on this journey.  We have certainly had to dedicate a lot more time and effort to making it, from the collecting of the materials to the mixing, and we know we are missing some ingredients which we need to source.

We are grateful to Alistair, one of our dedicated team, for his DIY skills and determination in the making of our new compost bays, and Johnson-Su style compost bins.  There are four compost bays –

The first bay is for the green waste (food waste, weeds, finished plants, and pruning materials) which will enrich the compost with nitrogen.

There is a bay for brown waste (wood chips, dried grass, shredded paper/card, and dried leaves).  These materials feed the compost with carbon.

There is a bay for manure/compost to include cow manure, spent mushroom compost or green waste composts.  These add nitrogen to our compost mix which we hope will also provide a diverse biology.  We are grateful to Farmer Tom at Pent Farm for the cow manure which has come from the cow sheds where the beef herd have been housed over the worst of the winter months, before being turned out into the fields.

The final bay is for maturing the made compost for several weeks/months until it can be put onto the vegetable beds.  This compost will have been through the Johnson-Su style composting system before being placed into this bay.

The Johnson-Su system was invented by a Dr Johnson and his wife Hui Chun Su.  Their system takes some 400 days for the compost to mature; however by turning the compost several times, it will speed up the process.  The successful outcome depends on the materials being as small as possible which is an issue for us as this relies on the use of shredders and electric power which we do not have at the community garden.  It therefore means we have to manually chop the materials into as small pieces as we can, which is often hard work and takes time.  Our results so far have been mixed.  Sometimes the compost mix is too hot and at other times too cold – we gauge the temperature with a thermometer, and heat is required to kill off any seeds, harmful bacteria, and can apparently break down any herbicides and pesticides 32 times faster than a cold composting system.  Sometimes the compost mix is too dry which then halts the composting process.  One thing which is fascinating is how quickly the mix is infiltrated by all manner of organisms; in as little as three days after putting the compost mix together, there are worms and all manner of minibeasts to be found just under the surface!  Incredible!  As we make new discoveries in this composting world, we will bring them to the newsletter to share with you all.

What’s next?

• Prick out the lettuce seedlings

• Create a space for all the pots and seed trays

• Weed where the weeds are taking over

• Sow some more chicories/endives

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.