Tim Prater

The return of some warmer and drier weather was certainly a welcome relief, and on Saturday the garden was alive with butterflies, bees and dragonflies, as well as gardeners and visitors all making the most of it.  Such a contrast to the previous Saturday, with lashing rain and high winds,  After the garden session, there was a migration to the harbour to at last sample the green Hythe Hop beer and very good it was too. 

Here is some information from Hythe Hops about where you can sample the green ale from Docker and HopFuzz but you will have to be quick as it will not last long.

“Official launch of 2021 Docker and HopFuzz Green Hop Ales made using our hops takes place at Docktoberfest at Folkestone Harbour (East Yard) from 12 noon Saturday (9th October).

“The same Green Hop Ales (Red Green Hop Ale and HopBuzz) are to be/have been distributed to the following local pubs:

Beer Shop – Folkestone

Docker Tap Room – East Yard, Folkestone Harbour

The Goods Shed – Canterbury

Unit 1 – West Hythe

Bouverie Tap – Folkestone

Broken Drum – London

Duke William – Ickham

Freed Man – Deal/Walmer

Hidden Treasure – Dymchurch

Inn Doors – Sandgate

Larkins Alehouse – Cranbrook

Lighthouse – Deal

Smugglers – New Romney

Tankerton Arms – Tankerton

Three Mariners – Hythe

Unit 1 – West Hythe

Waterworks – Rye

“We cannot guarantee precisely where and when beers will become available or sell out so if you’re planning to make a special trip to any please check with the pub first.”

Very busy as usual in the garden.  Some spare plants, seeds onion and garlic sets were handed over to the nursery children at Saga so that they can get planting and sowing.  We always look forward to seeing what they are growing in their playground.  We took down the last of the tomato plants, cleared the ransacked beetroot bed where the badgers had helped themselves, and removed the dwarf beans.  We now need to get the cleared beds prepared for new plantings, and make space for the compost heaps to be turned as our current bin is really full to bursting.

On Wednesday after the garden session, some of us made our way to the Folkestone Fringe event ‘Re-Rooting’ to set up our planter and plants.  The planter will be there until the 30^th October.  We enjoyed setting it up and being able to take part in something different, and hope that visitors will enjoy seeing what is looking good in October.

Below is a picture showing some of the fungi that has suddenly appeared on the plot and in some of the beds.  Fungi is a welcome sight and we just let it be to do its thing as it does no harm.  So much to understand still about the role of fungi in the garden, but as an organic ‘no dig’ garden it certainly encourages plenty of it.

What’s next?

• Plant some of the mustards still in seed trays

• Plant more mustards in mushroom trays for the cold frames

• Check on the Re-Rooting planter for water levels and condition of the plants

• Sow broad beans in large modules

• Plant garlic and onion sets in large modules

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Well, it has definitely all changed for wetter and cooler weather!  The rainfall for September was at 3.9 mm for most of the month until the very endo when it surged to 40.5 mm.  It has probably rained more than that in the first couple of days of October. 

Docker brewery had to postpone the launch of the green Hythe hop new brew until Saturday 9^th October for fear of losing their gazebo on the harbour to the high winds, let alone the lashing rain.  We were only thinking how fabulous the banana tree was looking in the Enbrook garden with a full set of leaves, and took a photo before it was tattered to bits.

Unfortunately the leeks added to the plant confusion as to which season we were in and also started to flower, which is totally unheard of in October.  With any luck the trend will be over and it will be clear we are now in autumn. 

Arms full of herbs got collected this week and sent to a ‘wild remedy workshop’.  Whilst collecting some rosemary it was interesting to see that there were several metallic looking beetles amongst the leaves which after research turned out to be the Chrysolina Americana or rosemary beetle becoming established in the 1990s apparently, and originating from southern Europe.  Luckily it does not do much harm to the plants and seems to have scarpered since the rain started anyway.  However the weather has not deterred the badgers from demolishing the entire beetroot crop in one fell swoop,  another reminder that it can be a BIG mistake to remove netting sometimes.

Sections of the netting around the garden have been damaged by our nocturnal animals, and one of the pictures below shows the holes created.  The squirrels (or is it the foxes?) have worked out how to get under some of the netting and have great fun digging about in the soil.  Not to be left out, a mole has worked its way from the other side of the garden wall and is happily pushing up the soil all around the tool box and compost heaps where we hope it will stay!  The badgers seem to have turned their noses up at the winter radishes so far which we have just started to pull up, and very tasty they are too.  Much larger than the spring varieties, they can get as big as a turnip and withstand winter temperatures although it is doubted they will last that long.  The cheeky late sowing of winter lettuces had been safely tucked away in a cold frame making plenty of growth until the wetter weather encouraged just one snail to find them and make a meal of all but six – it only takes one snail.

The nursery children at Saga are keen to be planting up their pots and planters in their playground now that the summer is over, and we will be supplying them with a few cloves of garlic and onion sets to plant, along with a few broad beans and mustard plants.  They have visited the garden to see what is growing there as part of their educational walks around the park grounds.

This coming week we are pleased to have been asked to take part in an exhibition as part of the Folkestone Fringe, called ‘Re-Rooting’.  We will be installing a large planter in the window of the venue at the Shakespeare Centre in Sandgate Road, full of plants with information on their medicinal uses and any associated folklore.  Six volunteers from the garden have stepped up to the plate to get the job set up and eventually dismantled.  The exhibition will run from 8^th to 30^th October (Thursday – Sunday 11am to 4pm) just incase you happen to find yourself in that vicinity and feel in need of a cultural experience as apparently there will be four artists exhibiting their work at the event too.

What’s next?

• Take down the tomatoes left standing at Enbrook and distribute green fruits

• Remove the beans and prep the ground for replanting

• Any wood chips left?

• Clear the demolished beetroot bed and add compost for replanting

• Take plants and seed to the nursery for the children to plant

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The unseasonable weather has continued this week with a possible break coming soon of cooler and possibly wetter conditions.

It has been interesting how the autumn plants have fared under unusual circumstances. Used to thriving in a typical autumn, the Chinese cabbage has bolted, and the mustards are trying to do the same.  You begin to wonder if the sowing dates may have to be altered, however the daylight hours remain the same, and such plants need to be able to put on growth in the shorter days available before it gets simply too cold.  It is a constant juggling act trying to get the conditions right, luckily most of the time we manage it.  The cheeky sowing of some winter lettuces shot up within a couple of days – again, another gamble of taking chances.

We have started to think about the clearing of some of the beds, beginning with the Golden Valley Planters.  Rita has been working hard over the months sowing collected seeds, taking cuttings, and nurturing lots of plants at home for putting out eventually in Golden Valley and probably parts of Fremantle Park too.  The first job is to clear, cut back and pot up some plants, put down new compost and replant parts with new stock.  A start has been made but now we are waiting for  a decent downfall of rain as mulching a dry bed is not a good idea.  

The new cold frames we had made this year have been languishing at the end of the garden being used every now and then in the earlier months to shelter a plant or two, but will now soon be starting to do their work.  They are mighty heavy to move from one end of the plot to the other,so it was a case of waiting for some strong willing volunteers to be in the garden at the same time to be able to shift them into a space with the chance of getting some winter sun.  They will need a bit of a clean up, but will soon be protecting those new winter lettuces and mustards so that we may have a few salad leaves even in the deepest darkest depths of winter.

Following on from last week – the Hythe Hops scheme made a second and final collection of the hop cones, making a grand total of 110 kg.  Docker brewery have announced that the green brew from themselves and HopFuzz will be available from noon on Saturday 2^nd October at the East Yard on the Harbour Arm.  Some of us will be rushing over there straight after our gardening session that day to try it before it sells out!

The Hythe Environmental group were in the centre of town on Saturday 25^th for their annual seed and plant swap with apple pressing going on at the same time.  We took some of our spare seeds for exchanging, admired the apple press at work and tried some of the amazing fresh juice. 

We would like to give a mighty ‘THANK YOU’ to the Sandgate Society for organising the walk and talk of the Sandgate Community Gardens and for donating the money raised to us, after expenses – we are indeed very grateful for £64.30 which will be going into the kitty towards all the seeds and numerous other things on our current wish list.

What’s next?

• Clean up the cold frames and start collecting together mushroom boxes to be planted up with salads

• Remove and compost the bolted Chinese cabbage

• Keep checking the mustards for and flowers which should be removed.

• Prick out the new mustard plants and lettuces in the modules

• Plant the saffron crocuses in a safe place

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