Tim Prater

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 13th March: the Spring of Deception

One of our gardeners sent through a very appropriate reminder that we are currently experiencing the ‘Spring of deception’ where you get all excited and raring to get going, but that it could all go horribly wrong if we get too carried away.  The problem is the weather on the horizon is looking reasonable, and we have filled practically all of our seed trays and the cold frames are full.  It is so exciting to see all the little shoots starting to pop up above ground both in the trays and in the garden.  New this week is the very first hop and asparagus shoots; however we will have to remain most patient about the asparagus as the beds still have another year to mature until we can start to harvest just a few spears in April 2023. 

Many of the buds on the fruit bushes and vines are starting to burst, and the kiwi vines poised to scamper up the canes.  The Goji berries are already in acid green leaf and are under threat of being relocated if they do not perform and produce more berries this year.  To be fair they did get attacked by climbing snails last year which probably ate all the flowering buds. 

Many thanks to Diane who contacted us with a gift of a blackcurrant bush dug up from her Sandgate garden which was surplus to requirements.  We certainly have a place to put that!

Seeds sown this week were dill and chervil, peas for pea shoots as well as Mange tout peas, more radishes, beetroot, spring onions, lettuces and spinach.  The broccoli which failed the week before has been replaced by a new sprouting batch which will be thinned out this week to give them more room. 

The kale which had gone to flower last week was removed and the stalks composted, all the autumn raspberries were cut down to the ground as the new shoots are just starting to show through, (however, summer raspberries are not cut right back in this manner).  The enclosure containing the last of the wood chips was emptied, and the wood chips spread about on the paths. 

We are pleased to welcome Miracle to the garden, not quite our youngest member but certainly younger than most of us.  She is working on her Duke of Edinburgh award and has been busy sowing seeds and tending to the hop plants so far.  We hope she will enjoy her visits and gets to absorb what community gardening is all about. 

What’s next?

• Cut back the butterfly bush this week

• Pot up more seedlings just starting to appear, for relocation

• Tidy up the chard beds ready for their last fling

• Random onions still need removing from the Choke berry bushes

• Collect new hop twine and re-string the hops

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 6th March: All Systems Go

It is all systems go from now on; it remains reasonably warm here in the South East, with no frosts on the horizon to knock any of the growth back.  In fact we had to remove the fleece covers from all the broad beans as they have already started to flower and it would not be possible for any of the pollinators to reach them with the covers still on.  Flowers are what we definitely look for as regards broad beans but not what we want with the kale.  As soon as the kale starts to go to flower it means the beginning of the end for that crop.  However the flowers can be eaten before they are fully open, and so we picked as many off as we could and the rest of the crop will be salvaged and removed next week.

Also cropping early are the spring onions sown last September, we were not expecting to be harvesting them until the end of this month and into April.  Most of the Romanesco broccoli and the Kaibroc have been harvested, but as the ground is not required as yet for the next crop, they have been allowed to stay put and send out some side shoots with miniature flowering heads, as an added bonus.  If you have the time, space and decent weather to allow them to do this, they will reward you. 

Just when you think there can be no more parsnips in the ground, four more suddenly put on some top growth and make an appearance above the ground.  To be fair, three of them must have slid down into the path early on in life to have escaped the final collection, but there was still one more to be found actually in the bed.

The peas and radishes sown just seventeen days before, got planted in the week, and we got to try out our brand new super-sized dibbers we had treated ourselves to before Christmas.  They will make life much easier as they can be used without having to be on your knees, not always possible for some of our gardeners.

We had an invite to visit a new garden project by Touchbase Care in Tontine Street.  For the past year they have been working very hard on the main design and structure of their garden in the corner of a field on a farm.  Nearing completion, they have made it wheelchair accessible, there are some beautifully built raised beds, a tool shed, a greenhouse, a classroom or summer house, plus they are now starting work on the all-important compost toilet!  We first heard about the project this time last year and are delighted that they are realising the dream and now reaching completion.  It has been a lot of hard work to put all the structures in place, but it will be an amazing space once it is up and running and such a beautiful spot too. 

What’s next?

• Take up the kale and strip anything edible

• Sow spring onions, more radishes and herbs

• Cut back the butterfly bush

• Remove more of the woodchips in store

• Remove some random onions growing near the raspberries

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 27th February: Lettuces, compost, pruning and facility envy.

Luckily, Covid had decided to move on by the end of this week, just leaving the usual after-effects, and appreciation that it could have been much worse.  Regardless, the seeds sown over the last week have popped up and many have been ‘pricked out’ into individual modules to continue growing.  Now starts the juggling with the available space and watching the temperatures, weather conditions and pesky slugs.

Paul, the Saga grounds manager, has very kindly brought the water bowser back to the garden, as it had spent the winter parked up in his yard until planting time came around once more.  He was just in the nick of time as we think we should be planting the pea shoots and radishes, the fastest growing vegetables, this coming Wednesday, just seventeen days after they were sown, incredible.

You may recall that just before Christmas we were tantalised by a call from Waitrose in Hythe with the wonderful news that they had decided to give us some funds; however before we could hold the cheque in our grubby hands it got whisked away back to head office because it was written incorrectly.  The good news is we do now have it in our grubby hands and most grateful we are for £333.00 which will be going towards all the plans we have for this coming year – thank you Waitrose!

The Incredible Edibles have had a busy week making a brilliant start on the dismantling and rebuilding of the big composting area at the back of All Souls churchyard.  No small task as it involves pulling out all the compost in the bins, but it will be fabulous to have a system which is large enough to cope with all the plant matter being generated, from grass cuttings to leaves and weeds.

On Saturday, some of our community gardeners were involved in helping to prune an orchard of some 70 fruit trees, mainly cherry, a few plum and pear trees owned by the community farm ‘Muddy Wellies’ just outside Ashford on the A20.  This community space is part of a series of gardens under Brogdale CIC, serving six college sites across Kent providing horticultural education for disabled young people.   The event was organised by the Hythe Environmental Group, and we had guidance and instruction from a professional commercial orchard manager.

The trees had not been pruned for several years, and so will take a good three years to get them back into good shape.  The weather was just beautiful which was important on the day as well as settled weather thereafter, so this weekend was perfect.  The day was amazing, once we got over the facility envy of polytunnels, kitchen, indoor working spaces and even two toilets!

A great time was had by all, excellent company and such a worthwhile project.  We are hoping to stay in touch and with any luck get involved with the pruning next year as it will be interesting to be able to follow the project through.

What’s next?

• Keep seed sowing

• Plant the pea shoots and radishes – cover

• Is the pond clear of the storm debris?

• Water the plants in the cold frames

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.