Sandgate Community Garden

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 6th May: Bore Place, Bumblebees and Muddy Wellies.

The rainfall for April was 89.5mm, so it is hardly surprising we have been looking forward to signs of warmth and better days.  A couple of good sunny days this week have suddenly revived most of the plants and we have had to start watering newly planted seedlings and potted plants.

On Tuesday a few of us had a meeting at Bore Place near Sevenoaks with the Kent Food Partnership.  We were treated to a tour of their organic market garden, and although on a much larger scale, it was somewhat reassuring to know that the head gardener was experiencing exactly the same issues as we are; having to hold back planting many plants until the conditions are right.  In forty years of gardening, he has never known such a cold and wet spring.  Fortunately we do not have to make a living from selling food, and it reminds you that all growers are at the mercy of nature and weather which can affect them financially.

This week we have been busy sowing more leeks and the first of the beans.  The pigeons took a liking to the courgette and squash seedlings, fortunately many were saved although we will need to sow a few more.  New lettuce plants were put into spaces where they were missing in the lettuce bed, and the growing tips of the broad beans were pinched out to deter the blackfly which are just starting to appear.  We shared the growing tips as they can be eaten as a salad leaf or steamed.  The alley garden has been weeded as well as the orchard area in Sandgate Park. 

On Thursday some of us joined the Sandgate Environmental Action Group on a bumblebee walk at Pent Farm in Postling.  This gave us an opportunity to try catching bees to enable us to identify them before returning them back to where they were seen foraging.  It was a lovely evening and we did manage to find some bumblebees although there seemed to be more honey bees in evidence.  It was a delight to see that the house martins were busy searching for food, and the skylarks can be heard above the fields.

On Friday there was an invite from the community Garden ‘Muddy Wellies’ to see their orchard in full flower.  It was indeed a spectacular sight.  Just two years ago some of us helped to prune the overgrown cherry orchard which is now in great shape.  If the blossom is anything to go by, they could be in for a bumper crop of cherries which they sell to raise funds for the garden. 

What’s next?

• Still need to check the hops

• Prick out the Zinnia seedlings

• Sow a few more lettuces and courgettes/squash

• Sort out tomato plants

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 30th April: An enormous surge in slug and snail numbers hiding amongst the leaves and potted plants.

It is quite difficult to describe exactly what is going on with the weather this past week.  Oodles more rain, longer daylight hours of course, but a sharp cold wind; a surprising few hours of brilliant sunshine when you least expect it and certainly not appearing on the weather apps.  We are now coming into May when all the fleece covers would and should have been removed by now from some of the growing beds, but the cold wind makes for a reluctance to do so.  The wet conditions have created an enormous surge in slug and snail numbers hiding amongst the leaves and potted plants at Enbrook Park and we have had to search them out and relocate them to pastures new!  In drier conditions we would have planted out much more by now, but know that small plants would have perished in the mollusc onslaught and are giving them more of a chance of survival by allowing them to get much bigger before planting out.

However all the perennial plants are getting on with life due to the lengthening daylight hours and in spite of the weather; and we have been surprised to see the strawberry plants flowering as well as the chives and some of the globe artichokes.

As for our list of ‘to do jobs’ this week, we did manage to get most of them done.  The spinach bed was treated to some replacement plants probably to the delight of the lurking slugs, but having just said we are repotting many plants for later planting, there comes a point when we have simply run out of space to keep them and are prioritising other seedlings.  Some of the earlier purple sprouting plants have given up their last viable broccoli sprouting and been removed to make more space, but the chard bed is trying to recover from being attacked by the pigeons and so they were interplanted with the cauliflower plants so that they can be removed at a later date without being in competition.  More radish plugs were planted in the radish bed where mature radishes had been harvested and to maintain the momentum. 

On our list was the tackling of the weeds around the bases of the brick planters at the Golden Valley shops.  This is an epic task as the weeds have a habit of clinging fast between the tarmac and the paving slabs, but we were delighted to be joined by some volunteers from the Napier Barracks who made short work of the job, leaving enough time for us to move on to Fremantle Park and plant out a van full of mature herbs and seedlings waiting for homes.

On Saturday afternoon, several of the community gardeners and Incredible Edible team went along to the Folkestone and Hythe Sustainable Futures Forum at the Burlington Hotel where we were treated to inspirational talks and information regarding many of the great initiatives already happening in the locality.  It was awesome to soak in the creative energy of so many interesting and interested people and we have come away with many links to businesses and community groups we hope to be able to engage with and support in the future. 

What’s next?

• Sort out the hop strings at Fremantle park

• Check on the hops at Enbrook Park and cut out excess shoots

• May have to reseed the small carrot bed

• Repot the coriander plants

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 23rd April: Coming soon – tomatoes for EVERYONE.

We seem to be stuck in a weather pattern of perpetual winter/early spring; cold and wet with the odd smattering of sunshine to lull you into a false sense of security to sow more seeds and plant yet more plants before it turns cold and dismal again, and you are left wondering how anything would want to grow.  The early spring flowers of daffodils and primroses seem to have been blooming for so long in these cool conditions, and it seems incredible that we will very soon be in the month of May!

Luckily we did manage to get in two gardening sessions at Enbrook Park which was just as well as it was the week to start repotting over two hundred tomato plants.  It seems like a rather large amount of plants however by the time we have planted them out in various places and our gardeners have taken some to grow at home, there should probably be enough for anyone in Sandgate interested in growing some too.  Too early to plant them outside just yet, they should be available in two to three weeks with luck and will advertise their availability via our newsletter.

The courgette and squash seeds did get sown, as did the leeks, chard, beetroot and more flowering annuals.  The sea lavender got pricked out into larger modules, and the mange tout planted.  The asparagus has made it to its third year and so we can harvest a couple of spears each session and are taking it in turns to try them.

Last Sunday there was a most interesting afternoon spent with ‘The Wild Kitchen’ in Saltwood, finding out how gourmet meals are created using foraged foods to be found in our locality.  We were treated to nettle cake, acorn crackers, crispy seaweed, haw jelly, sea buckthorn jelly, cleavers tonic and violet vodka.  There is an abundance of food out there if you know what you are looking for of course, and as a community garden we decided to harvest the flowers from a group of Alexanders we have growing near the bee hives, as it seems the flowers can be cooked like broccoli florets or eaten raw.  The Romans introduced the plants to the UK, and it is similar in taste to celery.

Since last week, it has been announced that another Asian hornet has been discovered in Folkestone.  It seems the hornet has a penchant for honey bees in particular, having already decimated many a bee hive in France.  The Asian hornet is different to our own hornet, and there is a picture of one below with a brief description.  The public can help by downloading the Asian hornet watch app as it has photos of the hornet as well as other insects which are commonly confused with the Asian hornet.  Any sightings can be reported on the app. 

If you should fancy an afternoon with lots of people interested in sustainability with a story to tell that could address our key environmental and related social challenges – then come along to the Burlington Hotel next Saturday 29^th April for the Folkestone and Hythe Sustainable Futures Forum.  Free tickets are available on Eventbrite – hope to see you there!

What’s next?

• Sow more leeks

• Check available space for some cauliflower/broccoli plants

• Weed at Fremantle, Golden Valley

• Fill any spaces in the spinach bed

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 16th April: Quickly planting the turnips and lettuces before the next downpour.

Crikey!  Just when you are beginning to think that the weather could not possibly get worse, what with below average temperatures and copious amounts of rain – it really does!  Storm Noa rip roared through this week with gale force winds followed by rather impressive hailstones and yet more and more rain. 

Our Wednesday gardening session at Enbrook Park was a case of quickly planting the turnips and lettuces before the next downpour.  We left early as apart from the rain it was simply cold.  The Saturday morning session was cancelled completely when rain which was not featured on the weather Apps suddenly materialised and put a stop to any catching up there was to be done.

This was the week to sow the courgette seeds, so they will have to wait a while, along with the leeks, although they will most likely appreciate some warmer temperatures anyway to be fair.  It has been decided to stop trying to bring on seedlings in mini greenhouses on the patio as they are simply too flimsy, and having lost so many of them in high winds, it was decided to take all seedlings to the greenhouse at Pent farm instead.  This is a much safer environment but means they are further away.

This was a week of courses for me (Leonie).  The most mind blowing of all was a course looking at soil on a microscopic level with Eddie at Rhizophyllia in Wootton Bassett.  Eddie explains that unfortunately the principles of ‘no dig’ gardening are only half of the solution to good healthy living soil, and that basically we need to reproduce the right conditions in our compost for the beneficial microscopic life to thrive and take care of our plants.  The lack of this life is why plants are prone to being attacked by pests and disease, and as a result the nutritional value of our fruit and vegetables is compromised.  So now it is that as gardeners we will be disappearing down another rabbit hole to understand how to remedy the situation – it will take some time.

On Saturday there was a delightful course held by the Sandgate Environmental Action Group with the Bumblebee Conservation Trust.  This course was a beginner’s guide to identifying bees, starting with the most common to be found here in Kent.  Of course the practical is usually harder than the theory, and a picture below shows a sample of five deceased bumblebees which we had to identify.  Fortunately they were easier to deal with than live samples which were unlikely to be making an appearance anyway in this weather.  However as some were missing legs, antennae or sometimes even heads, it proved something of a challenge to work out if they were male or female at times!  It was a most enjoyable session, and we are looking forward to going out on future walks with the Trust soon.  The Trust will be taking a trip out to Pent farm next week to carry out a survey of the bees there which will be really interesting.

Talking of bees, the community garden beekeepers were deep in discussion this week following a report from the British Beekeepers Association that an Asian hornet has been discovered in Folkestone.  This arrival can spell disaster for beekeepers, and so there is a need to consider how to best protect the hives.

On Friday, I (Leonie) had the absolute privilege of being invited to the Nepalese New Year celebrations.  It was a real joy to have been included, to share some amazing Nepalese food and meet even more of the Nepalese community.  It was such a colourful, happy occasion and I was made to feel so welcome.  The Nepalese follow a lunar calendar and so it seems we are now in 2080.  Happy New Year!

What’s Next?

• Sow the courgette and squash seeds

• Sow the leek seeds

• Plant the mange tout and put up the net frame for them

• Dismantle the compost compound

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 9th April: Happy holiday y’all!

Well, not too sure that we are out of the woods as regards the frosty weather but it seems that the plants are just starting to wake up and do something at last albeit a little tentatively.

The little orchard in the Sandgate Park got weeded and some more herbs planted.  The bulbs there are just starting to flower, and there are new leaves or blossoms which have just appeared over this last week. 

At Enbrook Park we planted a bed with broccoli, and another with lettuces, whilst yet another sixty plugs of radishes went to join the radishes planted the week before.  We sowed plenty of flowering plants in anticipation of catering for the bees on site, and pricked out over one hundred and twenty snapdragons, as well as some cornflowers.  The sweet peas got planted at last around their wigwam frames, and the broad beans got staked as they are now rapidly growing and flowering.  We had managed to rescue most of the purple sprouting broccoli plants from the pigeons and that meant we picked the first spears/shoots/flowers this week, and what a beautiful colour they are too.  We even had a picking from the earliest rhubarb type, whilst the other varieties are still just starting to wake up.  However we are amazed this week that we still have any garden left at all at Enbrook as we have had a visit from a determined badger.   There were several great holes dug along many of the paths and into some of the beds, and can only imagine that they were searching for some of our juicy fat worms!

The Nepalese community project at Pent Farm has been held up by the weather.  The members of the growing project have been growing all their seedlings indoors on the ample window ledges of their community centre in Cheriton; and have now had to repot them until such time as the ground works have been done.  It will probably be another two weeks until their patch of ground will be dry enough to work on.

There has been much admiration of the Golden Valley community garden patch this week as the flowers are looking fabulous, and the plants have put on lots of new growth.

We were interested to learn from one of our regular garden visitors that it seems our humble newsletter even gets an airing in America of all places.  So, we would like to wish you all in America or Sandgate, a very happy holiday!

What’s next?

• Take out some brambles appearing amongst the base of the fig tree

• Plant some cauliflowers if we can find room – maybe interplant with spring onions

• Plant more lettuces alongside the others

• Sow courgettes this week

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 2nd April: Ten varieties of tomato, coming soon.

That sunny warm spring seems to still be eluding us, with a continuation of yet more rain and stormy days.  The rainfall for March was 109.3mm, double the monthly average.  In March last year the total was just 29.5mm.  

Sandgate is filled with the sounds of chainsaws felling trees and the loud crunching of the wood chipping machines.  It has been going on all week from Romney Avenue in Golden Valley in one direction, and from the woods in Military Road, making way for yet more housing.  There is an empty sky where there used to be a canopy.  When you read that trees are capable of sensing when their neighbours are under attack and can send signals of alarm further afield to other trees, it just makes you sad.

Let us dispense with the misery and consider happier things.

We did manage to dodge more rain, and weed the rest of Fremantle Park.  We just managed to put in a couple of dozen strawberry plants before we gave up and let the rainfall water them in. 

We finished planting the seed potatoes and directly sowed the carrots and parsnips.  The parsnips will not mature until the first frosts so we could be being a little optimistic there, considering our possible time left at Enbrook!  The peas for pea pods got sown and the spinach planted.  The cabbages, calabrese and thyme seedlings got pricked out and potted on, as did some 250 tomato plants.  Now that amount of tomato plants will be more than enough even for us, so we are sure to have plenty to pass on later this month.  We have ten varieties to choose from, so something for everyone. 

We are battling with the sycamore seedlings as we do this time every year, but whilst searching them out we come across so many other seedlings that randomly pop up which we can use in other gardens or pot up in preparation for one of our events.  It is such a delight to benefit from plants for free, and always interesting to see them emerging and then puzzle over what they could be until they become large enough to recognise.

We have been observing the rhubarb patch as it has evolved over the last month.  Our earliest variety showed itself some weeks ago, yet most of the other plants are still to appear or are just revealing a first stem and leaf.

Last but not least, one of our vigilant gardeners spotted something called a bee-fly.  It looks and behaves like a bee, sipping nectar with its long tongue or proboscis, preferably from flowers such as primroses and wild violets, of which there are plenty in the Golden Valley gardens this time of year.  There is a photo of it below, so keep a lookout for it in your street.

What’s next?

• Weed at the Sandgate orchard and plant more herbs there.

• Plant another tray of radishes

• Might need to consider staking the broad beans as they are growing fast

• Pot up Goji berry runners for transplanting elsewhere

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 26th March: Time ticks on.

Crikey!  The clocks have moved forward an hour, how did we get to that point already?  The winds have been an issue this week with yet more downpours of rain; we had to cancel the Wednesday session following on from the previous cancelled Saturday session, which meant we had a fair bit to catch up with on Saturday.

We sowed more onion seeds, and a tray of spinach, mainly to replace the trays of seedlings we lost when one of our anchored and weighted mini greenhouses took off in high winds and spilt all the seedling trays inside.  Oh well, we just sow more and luckily we still have the time for the new seedlings to catch up.

Most of the potatoes got planted, as did around one hundred plugs of spring onions.  We potted up four donated bay trees from a local garden just before the heavens opened again and we all had to run for cover – we finished early with all things considered.

On Tuesday some of us went over to a Lyminge Gardeners’ Society talk which was all about looking at soil at a microscopic level.  It was fascinating to see slides showing many of the tiny creatures living right under our noses yet invisible to the naked eye.  We have so much to learn about fostering the  conditions to keep and nurture the right sort of microscopic beasties.  Definitely work in progress!

Although the weather was diabolical, we had a visit from the manager of the Muddy Wellies Community Garden, just outside Ashford.  We went on something of a magical mystery tour to all of the sites to show that we also have a fair amount of space to take care of; however it just happens to be spread about in lots of different places.  She was able to see how the spring flowers particularly in the Golden Valley are looking beautiful right now.  The hyacinths outside the shops smell amazing, and all the little daffodils are looking beautiful in Fremantle Park. 

On Saturday afternoon, the vegetable plots in Fremantle Park got a makeover, weeded and new wood chip paths put down, whilst the orchard area was weeded and tidied up.  Again we had to dive for cover when a rain cloud came over, but it soon passed and we could continue.  It was good to see that the pomegranate tree seems to still be alive in spite of the very cold spells we had this winter, and many of the flowering plants had sown seeds around the plot.  We still have lots of planting to finish in the two recreation parks, but they should look good this year.

The next meeting of the Sandgate Environmental Action Group will be held in the Old Fire Station, Sandgate Road, at 7.00 pm Thursday 30^th March – all are welcome.

What’s next?

• Finish planting the potatoes

• Finish weeding Fremantle Park

• Sow peas for pods

• Prick out the tomatoes, cabbages and thyme seedlings

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 19th March: A bee, or not a bee?

We had a touch of frost during the week but from then onwards the temperatures have started to climb, and although we are not out of the woods as regards the possibility of frosts, we can at least restart the sowing of seeds, and the current seedlings stand more of a chance of getting growing.  We had good enough weather for the Wednesday morning gardening session, however Saturday was cancelled as it was very wet and blustery and as much of the tasks are about sowing more seeds, it can be difficult when some of the seeds are as fine as dust and get transported all about the plot on a sudden gust of wind, and there are none to go in the seed tray.

Some of the blossoms are out in our hedge growing against the fence, not the sea buckthorn, but some of the other hedge plants of wild cherry, crab apple, and wild plum.  All the Sandgate wild plum trees are now in flower and doing battle with the elements so that it is always astonishing that they can manage to bear fruit after the severe battering they often get this time of year combined with a lack of insect life.  We were pleased to note that the two varieties of Pulmonaria we have growing close to the pond have survived the winter and are starting to flower – they will certainly attract the bees. 

Talking of bees, The Sandgate Environmental Action group is hosting a free Bee identification training day on 15^th April should you be interested in taking part in Bee surveys locally to help support the work of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust.  You can book by emailing sandgateenvironmentalaction@gmail.com or messaging Gemma on 07984694907.  The training will take place in the Old Fire Station, Sandgate from 10am to 2pm.

Not having a session to garden on Saturday has put us back a little this week as we had hoped to get the first early potato varieties into the ground; they will now have to wait until next week; however we did manage to get the peas for pea shoots planted, and a further half tray of radishes.  The structures for the sweet peas got put up, and the spare sweet pea plants got repotted as they were climbing out of their smaller modules.  A few plants were delivered to the Saga children’s nursery in the park which they will plant into their raised bed/pots, and we pruned their apple tree to keep it in good shape.

A little time was spent working through the compost compound as it seems that the bind weed has had a wonderful time travelling into the rich compost from outside, and sending out great long ‘bootlace’ roots which as we know will rapidly grow even if broken into tiny pieces.  The roots could be composted, and are frequently put in our large compost bins, but as there were quite a few, it was decided to put them in a compost bag and allow them to ‘cook’ for a while in there to start the breakdown process before they do eventually get put on the compost pile.

During the week there was a catch up visit to ‘Muddy Wellies’ community garden just outside Ashford.  Last year a few of us had helped to prune some of the trees in their lovely orchard, and it was good to see the group is still thriving and have new facilities as well as others in the planning.  Next week one of their managers will be coming out to visit us and our gardens.  It is always helpful and useful to be able to exchange ideas and sometimes resources with other groups.

What’s next?

• Sow more onions and radishes

• Sow some of the flower seeds

• Plant those potatoes

• Maybe plant the spring onions

• Prick out the thyme seedlings

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 12th March: A truck, six tons of compost and plenty of muscle

It has been avery interesting week as regards the weather.  There have been lashings of rain with cold icy blasts of wind, dismal grey skies with a glimpse of the sun every now and then.  It was bucketing it down with rain on Wednesday when we were due to have another gardening session at Enbrook Park, so it was decided to give it a miss; luckily Saturday was much drier and a little warmer.  However it seems that a large part of the country has been subjected to snow and so we are grateful not to have to contend with that!  We are so close now to seeing the spring, and you just know that when it does eventually arrive, everything is going to gallop ahead at a rate of knots and it will be really busy.  The hops growing against the wall are just starting to appear above ground which is a worry as we will have more frost this coming week. 

Thank goodness, it seems we had picked the best day to collect compost from our friends at Hope Farm, to take to the Touchbase Care Kitchen Garden at Pent Farm, Postling.  We hired a truck to collect around 6 tons of compost, and had plenty of muscle to help from some of the Touchbase Care members as well as some of the lads from the Napier Barracks.  It was a busy and exhausting day, getting all the compost off the truck and wheelbarrowed into place in the garden.  We are just getting to the point where we have almost covered all of the site with compost now, the process being started last spring, and so this year the vegetable plots should be bursting with plants.  We were grateful to Touchbase Care for providing a lovely lunch from their café based in Tontine Street.

It seems it is that time of year again when the youngsters at secondary school are looking for placements for their Duke of Edinburgh award.  We had some last year, and this Saturday we were joined by a willing volunteer keen to learn some gardening skills.  He planted some radishes, and learnt how to multi sow coriander seeds into modules.  Always interesting to host volunteers with little or even no liking for vegetables of any description, however this young man seems to enjoy eating them too which must be a bonus.

On Saturday 29^th April, supported by the Carbon Innovation Lab, the Folkestone and Hythe Sustainable Futures Forum will be hosting an event featuring TED x style talks – ‘to give businesses, community leaders, and individuals from the Folkestone and Hythe district area the chance to share and inspire the local community with their environmental and sustainability ideas, projects and stories.’  The event will be held at the Burlington Hotel Folkestone and should be a really interesting afternoon.  The tickets are free, and can be ordered here here.

What’s next?

• Sow more radishes, onions, etc

• Probably warm enough later next week to plant the peas for pea shoots

• Prick out the thyme seedlings

• Might need to repot the sweet peas

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 5th March: Good news from Thanet Earth.

Believe it or not we were actually short of rain for the month of February, with a mere 10.3mm of the wet stuff registered.  It continues to be chilly so the seedlings are still not moving much.  In the past we would have planted the radishes and the pea shoots by now, but they are still not quite ready, and with the threat of frosts to come this week, we have halted the seed sowing until it warms up a bit more.  We have been busy pricking out the lettuce seedlings, as well as the early cabbages and cauliflowers as they really needed to be moved into larger pots before they got too many roots to be able to separate easily. 

On Tuesday, some of us went to an event held by Low Carbon Kent at Brogdale Farm to find out about the possibility of being matched with a business or producer that has organic waste as a by-product which could be put to another use.  We would have been interested in being matched with a cob nut farmer who has loads of nut husks to dispose of which we could have used to make paths or simply to compost, however the farm was in Tonbridge and therefore too far a journey.  However the concept is a great one as we all know that one man’s rubbish is another man’s treasure.

On Friday the garden at Enbrook Park had a visit from ‘The Black Gardener’ Danny Clarke, garden designer and television presenter who has worked on various garden shows for the BBC, ITV and Channel 5.  He came with a film crew from Saga to talk about the garden, how it was started and the features within it.  He was able to recognise that it was a ‘no dig’ garden from the mounds of compost on the beds and the wood chip paths.  It was really interesting to hear about his career and the projects he is currently working on as well as his garden at the Chelsea Flower Show last year.  The film is to be put together and it is hoped that we may be able to send out a link on its completion so that you can see it too.

That was enough excitement for one week! 

Having got on the soap box last week to comment on the lack of tomatoes and cucumbers from abroad and suggesting it would be more environmentally beneficial to eat seasonal and local; it seems that if you really cannot do without tomatoes and cucumbers in winter, you can buy them from the visiting greengrocer at the Saturday morning market in the Folkestone West station car park.  They come direct from Thanet Earth, Kent; and happily, the cucumbers are not wrapped in plastic. Of course the great news is they have not travelled far but the cost has come from having to heat and light those massive greenhouses.

What’s next?

• Supporting Touchbase Care by collecting compost

• Keep an eye on the temperatures this coming week

• Might have to transplant more seedlings

• Keep checking the netting as there are hungry pigeons around

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.