Tim Prater

Thanks to all those who pointed out the typo in last week’s newsletter which seemed to cause much hilarity – it just goes to prove that the update does get read!

It was mentioned last week that tomato blight is in the locality, and it has appeared in our plants at the Golden Valley, so Saturday morning was spent scrutinising the tomato plants at Enbrook, however it seems we have got away with it right now.  Even so it will be a case of really keeping an eye out for it and removing the infected areas or even the whole plant as soon as it is seen.  It is probably a case of when not if. 

As there is so much growth in the garden and we are full to the brim, it is ideal conditions for some mighty big weeds to sneak in, snuggle up against the vegetables and take away the water from their roots – before you know it you have a monster weed and an overwhelmed tiny vegetable plant.  It is always good practice to remove the competition, and whilst picking various things around the garden to also have a container  to collect the weeds so that they can be composted.  The habit is often to leave them for later or to pull them and place them on the floor where they often still manage to drop their seeds or even re-root if the soil and weather is wet.  We put absolutely everything in the compost heap and have no worries about all the weeds from mares tails to nettles and bindweed, they are all composted.  You can tell from turning the compost that there is nothing left of the plant material except good compost, and seeds will have been mostly heated and destroyed as part of the composting process.   If there are vast amounts of bindweed, it can be laid out in the sun to dry out thoroughly before being added to the compost if you are worried about it regrowing.  Most weeds are best removed whilst still small and can be easily hoed on a fine dry day, or just pulled between finger and thumb.  Easy if the beds have a good layer of compost.

Some trays of spring onions and more winter radishes got sown this week.  We had a delivery of ready to sow seeds from the amazing Seed Craft company in Folkestone.  They sent us a box of seeds a little while back and we were delighted to receive this one too – many thanks.  The dill, coriander and chervil plants got planted.  The second batch of  lettuces are now standing up on great long stalks in response to their outer leaves being removed weekly.  The timing between these and the next batch of lettuces may well be just right fortunately, as the new plants are just about ready for a first pick.

Lots of things are going on outside of the garden too.  ITV Meridian News heard the podcast on local radio about the Incredible Edible planters and areas in Sandgate and Cheriton.  They want to run a news story about the concept, and it would be fantastic if other neighbourhoods became as inspired as we were by the original group in Todmorden in Yorkshire.  All going well, Incredible Edible should be set to be on the local news Tuesday evening. 

The Community Gardeners are looking forward to being at the Sandgate Sea Festival next Sunday 29^th, where we will be advertising the garden and raising funds. Please stop and say hello when you see us as it always cheers you up to see some friendly faces.

The Sandgate Society have kindly set up a walk and talk from the Community Garden at Enbrook to the garden at Freemantle Park, followed by refreshment at the Golden Arrow in the Golden Valley with the new landlords Shona and Richard.  The focus is on ‘no dig’ gardening, how to start and to let it be known just how easy it really all is.  You can make a bed and plant it up in just one day.

If you are interested in coming along then please contact the Sandgate Society sandgatesociety@gmail.com  or ring Gemma on 07984 694907. The date is Sunday 5^th September at 2pm.  The cost is £5 to include tea or coffee at the Golden arrow, and any profits will be ploughed back into the garden, so a brilliant cause!

What’s next?

• Start planting the spinach plugs

• Keep watering the new herb bed and smaller lettuces

• Dismantle the last of the strawberry bed and rake ground

• Raise some of the flat nets

• Plant the Nero kale

It has been ‘hunt the cucumber’ week as all the plants have been scattered along the wall and in any available space so that when they trail along and produce fruit, they can appear just about anywhere.  It makes for an interesting time finding them, and an achievement when one gets found after the search is called off.  The tomatoes are starting to try to do something now with a first fruit picked, but many gardeners are telling how theirs are lost to blight this year.  We shall have to keep fingers crossed that ours survive as they are slow to get going this year and have been put back further by the strong winds.  We have been comparing site conditions as one of our gardeners has been picking tomatoes for some time. 

The Hythe Hops group has started the process of deciding on harvest dates for all the hops in the area.  It seems optimistic to be contemplating a harvest as our poor hops at Enbrook were looking somewhat brown and crispy after the salty winds last swept through however happily some new shoots have fought their way through and are sending out some flowers so all is not lost, there should be something to pick and contribute. 

The winter radishes sown last week got planted on Saturday, and the mustards sown in the week along with the spinach, are up already through the soil in their modules, which puts the pressure on to find and clear more beds to make space.  The celery bed should be free soon as we are having to harvest them quite quickly as some of them are bolting.  Like the celeriac, after they were sown way back in the early spring, we had several days of colder weather making them believe they were experiencing winter so that when the summer arrived, they had been fooled into thinking they were in their second summer which triggers them to produce flowers followed by seeds.  The plant then becomes tough and bitter so needs to be removed as soon as possible.  Chris, obviously our speediest gardener made hers into a fabulous soup within two hours of being picked.  It looked fabulous in a picture on our WhatsApp group.   Other plants confused by the seasons are some cowslips planted in the seafront planters, now currently flowering. 

We have been checking under the netting of the brassicas, removing yellowing and doyley leaves chewed by the illusive keel slugs.  We have invested in more fine mesh this year, not just for the brassicas but also to protect new plantings until established.  The netting over a bed of chard was removed in order to use it to protect the new radishes, as the chard is now a few weeks old.  However, as soon as it was removed, an opportunistic pigeon caught sight of the unprotected chard and swiftly flew in to start work on them before being noticed and shooed away!  The chard got covered again!

There is a picture below of a Jersey Tiger moth seen at Fremantle Park this week, such a beautiful creature and a treat to see, we are always on the lookout for more unusual sightings in the locality.

The Sandgate Sea Festival is fast approaching and we are starting to collect things for our stall to raise some funds to keep our Sandgate projects old and new progressing as well as contributing to our sister group, The Incredible Edibles based in Cheriton.  Many thanks to Terry for contacting us and donating some beautiful house plants, thanks also to Marjorie for funding towards seeds and pants for next year.  We will be doing our utmost to help you part with some of your cash should you venture our way on the day!

What’s next?

• Not looking like rain is on the near horizon so back to some watering

• Pot up more plants for the stall

• Keep an eye out for any signs of blight

• Check busy areas for some weeds hiding

Big change over of plants at the moment, lots of new sowings and trying to find room to plant kale and yet more lettuces which need a few weeks to grow before they can take over from the lettuces we are currently picking so as not to disrupt the supply. 

We have a bed near the top gate to the garden which has been something of a dilemma to us as whatever we plant there will grow for a few weeks then starts to turn yellow, is stunted and fails to thrive.  We are not sure if the compost we added there is contaminated with something, or if the original soil underneath is the problem. So that we can still use the precious space we have put raised beds there filled with more soil in the hope that depth of growing matter will sort the issue. 

Raised beds cause their own problems, attracting snails and slugs with plenty of hiding places, and can dry out around the edges fast, but we will give it a chance and see what happens, and it has to be better than trying to grow in a contaminated space. 

Always be aware that if your plants fail to come up to your expectations it might not be your fault as regards how much care you put in; it could be a problem with the environment, the soil (even if it was compost bought in bags) or the seeds you started with.  Unfortunately it can make beginners think they are doing something wrong when in fact they stood little chance of success in the first place as the failure had been caused by something else out of their control.   The main thing is to start again and just get growing as there is always something to learn along the way and the rewards are great when it does go well.

The autumn and winter radishes got sown and by Saturday were already poking out above the ground, they are so fast to get going.  The Nero kale got pricked out, and a few plants in the garden beds lost to slugs got replaced with spares.  Three trays of spinach have been sown for the autumn, and we will have to consider starting to sow the winter mustards and hardy lettuces which could take us through the winter months. 

Although most of the brassicas are covered in Enviromesh so that they cannot be reached by butterflies wanting to lay their eggs, the swedes did get forgotten to be included in the brassica family (a common problem).  With no mesh covering or spray they consequently had been chewed to bits and smothered in caterpillars until given a dose of our organic bacterial spray and are now starting to recover.  The swedes will be a true test as to how our experiment with the spray will fare.  We love caterpillars and butterflies but have given them alternatives to take so that we can grow viable brassicas as an important food source over the colder months.  Meanwhile the Incredible Edible team in Cheriton decided on a policy not to spray and to allow the brassicas to be eaten by caterpillars which of course they are.  

The Cheriton Incredible Edible team have been clearing some of the planters where the plants had reached maturity, and replenished with new stock for both humans and insects.  Below is a picture of the herb planter outside the butchers shop.  The butcher always takes time to water and care for his planter and he has been rewarded with a lovely display of herbs with plenty of visiting bees and hoverflies.  It has to be said that this year there are many homes, shops, pubs and restaurants along Sandgate High Street growing some amazing floral displays; it really makes a difference and brightens the street for all to enjoy.

The Sandgate Sea & Food Festival is rapidly on its way and we hope to have some plants on our stall to raise some funds.  If you have any spare house or garden plants please get in touch via email, text/call on 07840 138308, or pop in to the garden Wednesday or Saturday mornings.  We are really looking forward to seeing you there, and hope you will stop at our stall and say hello.

What’s next?

• Sow the mustards

• Prick out the overcrowded Chervil, coriander and dill seedlings

• Check the wall plantings for random cucumbers and tomato plants needing attention.

• Check the celery for side shoots and remove

• Check the celeriac for old leaves that need removing

• Check under nets for weeds and remove old leaves trailing on the ground.