Tim Prater

Happy New Year!

Looking back at this time last year, not surprising it was certainly colder, and we had just suffered the consequences of storm Bella and were in full lockdown mode.  It was good to be able to celebrate the end of this year with many of the volunteers in the garden, as the weather has continued to be so very mild.  The last of the mulled wine and mince pies went down a treat with Christmas cake and sausage rolls, whilst the last of the parsnips got pulled, enough for all to take home a few for Christmas dinner, and very delicious they were too.   

On the first day of January, it was just like a lovely spring day, warm and sunny.  There were a few displaced covers to put back over some of the brassicas, and it was clear that the pigeons had been making the most of us not being around and had stripped a few plants that found themselves out in the open.  Most surprising were the missing mustard salad leaves.  Who would have thought they would be appreciated by the wildlife too and in such quantity.  Perhaps they do not taste the same heat we do when eating them.  They are now re-covered in the hope they may sprout again with any luck. 

Compost bin number one finally got turned; a great workout for the first day back.  For several weeks before Christmas it was full to overflowing and had to be pressed into any spaces and even jumped up and down on.  Yet after the Christmas break it had sunk down nicely and when turned into the same sized bin number two, only just about filled it half way with room for more at a later date.  Turning the compost in the first bin is not a job for the feint hearted.  It can be full of tiny flies that billow out from the cover when lifted, and as you proceed with the turning into the next bin, usually has the most pungent aroma.  However the unpleasantness is short lived, and once turned, all is right again.  After this initial turn, the compost becomes odourless, and apart from being full of wriggling worms, really does look almost good enough to eat!  Turning the compost also reveals what did happen to the secateurs when they went missing, as well as the fact that a month of Sundays will never decompose foil or plastics mistakenly placed in compost bins!

Compost/soil is a most fascinating subject, and this link will take you to a BBC short video which explains all sorts of interesting facts:

This time of year is perfect for reflecting on the growing year just gone and planning for the next.  Yule, and the shortest day have gone, and before we know it, February will be upon us and we start seed sowing once more.  In preparation, and as a Christmas gift to ourselves, we have invested in some new long handled dibbers (pictured below) which will hopefully make planting out much easier than using the shorter and smaller versions.

Now is a good time to order new seeds; seeds are another little understood subject which deserves and needs to be investigated further.  On Saturday 22^nd January, there will not be many of us at the garden as some of us have booked to attend a short course or introduction to seeds and seed saving at the Locavore growing project at Martello Primary school in Folkestone, led by Seed Sovereignty UK.  We are looking forward to meeting up again with other local community groups committed to community-based food production , Incredible Edible, Feeding Folkestone, Kent Food Hub, and of course Locavore.  It will certainly be a very interesting and informative day.

What’s next?

• Still more mulching to be done

• Review the seed stock situation

• Sort out the retrieved secateurs from the compost bin

• The French marigolds have finally stopped flowering and need composting

• Tidy around the compost bins

This is our very last newsletter of 2021.  With Christmas falling at the weekend, our next edition will be on Sunday January 2^nd – so where did that year go? 

Looking back we have had an amazing growing year in the main garden at Enbrook, and started several other projects.  Going into spring 2022, the garden will be three years old, and it is clear as it matures that it begins to give more and more produce.  There is still work to be done to improve the soil, but it is getting easier to work with as time goes on so we look with excitement to see what this new year brings.  More projects, more collaborations, more links with other community groups and greater friendships. 

This week the job of mulching the plots has continued, as well as putting down more wood chip paths.  The soft fruit bushes got pruned, and where many of the gooseberry stems had trailed along the ground they had taken root, giving us several new plants which were potted up to mature and transfer to other places along with more self-sown flower seedlings discovered along the way.

Some of us joined up with the ‘Go Folkestone’ group as well as the Incredible Edibles to plant thirty trees at the Three Hills Sports Park in Cheriton Road on Thursday.  The great thing about getting to know other voluntary community groups is that when a job needs doing, then the invitation can go out for everybody to lend a hand and make short work of a large task.  Both these groups supported us with the orchard plantings in Sandgate and Fremantle parks recently, and so it was great to be able to return the favour. 

The weather has been unseasonably warm again, with no sign of frost, just cloud and sometimes drizzle.  There are still flowers in the garden, lettuce and broccoli to pick.  On Saturday we had a Christmas gathering for our volunteers, in a time when Covid numbers are starting to sky rocket again and many other Christmas events cancelled.  The fact we are working outside has its benefits, and as It was warm and dry enough we partook in mulled wine and mince pies and talked about what we hope to be getting up to during the holiday period, with luck.  We have been waiting since April when the seeds were sown, to lift some of the parsnips in time to serve for Christmas lunch.  Parsnips are made sweeter for being well frosted, but they looked pretty good as a crop with little or no signs of canker or root boring pests which can be an issue – they were certainly better looking than last year!  Wednesday 22^nd December will be our last gardening session for this year when we intend to get the mince pies and mulled wine out again as there are often different volunteers that day, and anyway…….why not?

All of us at the Sandgate Community Garden would like to wish you a very merry Christmas, and a healthy new year.

What’s next?

• Finish off the mince pies and mulled wine

• Carry on mulching

• Maybe start pruning some of the fruit trees

• The compost bin number one really will need turning and will be a good workout!

We have had some stormy weather this week which has meant checking on the netted and fleeced beds to make sure it is still all in place!  Most of the netting being more open meshed than the fleece was fine, but the fleece got pulled off and blown about several times so that it was black with dirt and looked most grubby.  Fortunately a few rain downpours soon cleaned them up and they are looking better already.

It was mostly about starting the annual compost and wood chip mulching this week; however there are things to be done before that can be attempted.  The deciduous trees are bare at last, and ahead of any compost or wood chips being laid the very last of the fallen leaves have been picked up and composted so now we can see the outlines of the beds and paths where they should be.  Several self-sown plants were potted up to be placed later in other spaces, and some were simply removed and composted if they were taking up too much space or smothering other plants.  Several plants and herbs were cut right back, and once satisfied the spaces were clear, then the laying down of mulches can begin, a good 4 – 6 cm depth if possible.  There is still much to be done.

Other tasks included trimming the hedge, planting some random onion seedlings, clearing around the back of the pond so that it remains accessible and watering the cold frame contents.  We still have things to pick, such as winter salad, a few radishes, kale, spinach and chard, but we are fast approaching the shortest day and combined with lower temperatures, any growth is now minimal and it takes much longer to replenish anything picked in the way of new leaves.  This is the time when the self-sufficient land owner or traditional farmer would be relying on anything stored from earlier in the year, and plenty of hardy winter vegetables.  The green outside the chip shop in Sandgate has had a tidy up and some bulbs planted, as have the two planters along the seafront and the Ship planter too.

Perhaps one of the most amazing things about living in Sandgate is that we have so many green spaces and trees in our parks with associated wildlife. There was an unusual sighting of what was believed to have been a great white egret in the trees near the brook at Enbrook Park this week.  Apparently this bird is a frequent visitor to the south east of England and more likely to be seen in winter and spring so keep a look out for that one.  Whilst working in the garden we frequently hear and see buzzards circling over the trees and there is often a great commotion as the sea gulls try to chase them off.  Counting our blessings that the only foraging we have to do to find our food is in the community garden or the supermarket, where there is little competition and certainly no fighting!

If the weather is fine we intend to celebrate the festive season and another amazing year in the garden at Enbrook with mulled wine and mince pies on our last Saturday and Wednesday before the 25^th December. 

What’s next?

• Continue to mulch the beds and paths

• Start to prune soft fruit bushes

• Maybe turn the compost heap if feeling strong

• Get organised for mince pies and mulled wine!