Sandgate Community Garden

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 26th February: Seasonality, and the mole in our midst.

No, we do not have any tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries or bell peppers growing in the garden at the moment, and it seems the supermarkets do not have any either.  The global market has told us that we can have any fruit or vegetable we want at any time of the year, and so we have come to expect that.  When the far away countries that grow those things to be brought here suffer the effects of bad weather and the crops fail, the fact we cannot get such things creates some panic as happened this week across the country.  We will and can grow such crops, but not until late summer will we be able to eat them, for a time of maybe between two and ten weeks if we are lucky; and what a treat that will be – something to look forward to.  What a pity it is that many of us no longer know what is in season in the UK and are probably buying whatever is on the supermarket shelf little realising that these foods have travelled halfway across the globe to get there.  What a cost to the planet, what a cost to our own UK food production and the loss of many untried seasonal and local dishes.

We have been sowing more seeds this week, and many have now germinated, and are being put outside to shiver in this winter sunshine under the protection of cold frames.  The increased daylight hours are all important, the sunshine is a bonus, but the protection from the cold blasts of wind is what saves them.  Probably the most frustrating conundrum is trying to find a suitable seed and general compost that is fit for purpose.  It is almost impossible to recommend or stick with any one brand as the content varies all the time and basically you never know what you are going to get or even if it is any good – sometimes they can be so diabolical that nothing wants to thrive in them.  It continues to be a constant problem and guessing game.  However, so far, so good, and most of our seeds are growing. 

Talking of compost – a couple of us went all the way to Horsham in West Sussex by invitation of the head gardener of a huge spa and hotel, boasting three restaurants, serving fruit and vegetables from the walled garden and extensive grounds.  In the garden there is a ‘Tidy Planet Rocket aerobic composter’ which is capable of composting all food scraps, peelings and general food waste from the premises; producing a fine compost within a matter of two weeks which is later put back on the gardens to grow even more food.  Our mission was to see this composting beast in the flesh as up to now we had only read about it, and wanted to speak to somebody who actually has and uses the thing.  It was most interesting, the machine does do what it says it can do, and we had a great time seeing the kitchen garden and talking to the head gardener about all things to do with compost and vegetables – in particular the trials and tribulations of working with demanding chefs with little notion of the job of the gardeners, together with some of the amazing dishes they can produce that most of us will never see the like of at £90 and upwards per head! 

The February meeting of the Sandgate Environmental Action group was held this week in the Old Fire Station.  There was a talk from Nikki Gammans of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, which was absolutely fascinating.  There is nothing that Nikki cannot tell you about bumblebees, and we are hoping that the trust will come out to Pent Farm where some of us are volunteers, to record the bees in residence there. 

Wildlife was something we were concerned with during the week when one of our volunteers spent some time removing more leaves from our pond.  We always make sure the leaves are left at the side of the pond so that any creatures can crawl back into the water.  We were pleased to see that there were many interesting creatures amongst the leaves, and helped some of them to get back to their home.  One of them is pictured below.

The Sandgate Park in Military Road also has a new addition to the wildlife population – a mole; in fact it seems a rather massive mole as you can see from the picture below, the mole hills are rather spectacular in size and are in evidence around the newly planted trees as part of the ‘Queen’s Green Canopy’ and now making their way right across the park.  Cheeky!

What’s next?

• Prick out the other half of the lettuces

• Put down some more wood chips

• Keep picking the kale sprouting flowers

• Weed around the asparagus beds

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 19th February: The strange case of the out of place Hume’s Warbler.

The snowdrops are out, as are the first of the daffodils and the primroses; all of which can be seen in their glory from the walking paths around Enbrook Park.  The weather has continued to be predominately dry, and although chilly it really feels like spring is on the way at last.  On walking through the park this week it was interesting to see so many people with cameras on tripods and binoculars, all looking to see if they can catch a rare sighting of a Hume’s warbler.  This bird seems to be way off course as apparently it should be spending winter in India, and breeds in the mountains of inner Asia. It certainly caused a kerfuffle for several days as it flitted amongst the trees by the brook.

Our tool box got a good spring cleaning during one of the sessions this week and is now looking spectacularly tidy – woe betide anyone who messes it up any time soon.

With the passing of St Valentine’s Day, it is time to sow the very first seeds of the season to be grown outdoors.  Still too cold to sow directly outdoors, seeds are allowed to germinate indoors, then spend their first day or two on a sunny windowsill before being put into a cold frame until the plants are strong enough to be able to cope outside.  We have sown sweet peas, peas for pea shoots, spring onions, beetroot, spinach, radishes, early cabbages, cauliflowers, kohlrabi, calabrese, coriander, flat and curled parsley, plus about ten different varieties of lettuce, some French marigolds and thyme.  The beds are waiting for them as soon as they are ready!

We had to start watering things already.  Not anything planted in the ground, but the various pots we have around the garden, plants in waiting, as pots dry out before you know it as soon as the sun starts to shine.

We continue to monitor what grows well in the garden and what struggles.  We have not had much success with our autumn raspberries, so decided to take up one of the beds and move them to other places to see how they fare there.  We are disappointed with the goji berries performance so far, and decided to cut them right back to see what they make of that.  We have also cut back much of the rosemary and a bit of the fig tree, but will be leaving some plants to start sending out some new shoots before we cut back much else.  One plant which has coped well despite the heavy frost has been the Claytonia or winter purslane.  With such little leaves, it is hard to believe it grows so well in the cold, and there have been some welcome green salad leaves.  Another winter salad leaf, lambs lettuce, is just starting to be big enough to pick but has also managed to survive.

What’s next?

• More seeds to be sown

• Might need to repot some things

• Sort out some of the things in the cold frames

• Keep checking the brassicas for any pigeon damage

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 12th February: The huge Saga quandary.

It was with great sadness that we heard this week that Saga is to close their office and children’s nursery at Enbrook Park with effect from 17^th March.  With our main garden being on site, it meant that we were in a quandary as to what this would mean for us and the Community Garden – do we bother to sow any seeds from now on?  Do we need to take up some of the plants straight away, as right now would be the best time to move them.  It left us with many questions, let alone the thought of how much work we had put into the garden over the years, to have to leave it behind us.

Later that day we had a message from Saga:

“As you have already seen, today we announced to colleagues that we have taken the decision to close Enbrook Park, our head office. The building will be mothballed while we consider options for the site, which will be closed from 17^th March.

“I would like to reassure you and the rest of the community garden volunteers that the grounds will remain open and maintained as usual and we will continue to keep you updated with developments as they progress.”

So it was that we decided as a group to carry on and grow as normal for the spring, and sow seeds for the summer.  With no fixed date in sight, we shall have to take a gamble and see what happens.  Not an ideal scenario, but also to remember that some people will be losing their jobs with this decision.

As for the public access to the grounds, as long as Saga owns the property, we can all still enjoy the wooded area, the various paths and lawns.  After that we do not know.  Who or what sort of company would be able to buy such a site in a prime location there in Sandgate?  It has to be said that Sandgate’s green areas are rapidly disappearing to accommodate more housing.  Just this week there was an invitation from a housing company to view the proposal to build eight houses on an open space in the Golden Valley area.  The Government is telling us that we need our green spaces, but how does that fit with the pressure of building yet more and more homes?  Just how big will that green space be that is left?  It will probably not be big enough for a community garden.

What’s next? 

• Start to sow the very first seeds of the season

• Water the pots now that warmer weather has appeared

• Cut back the goji berries

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 5th February: From repotting strawberries to space planning in Singapore.

So now we are into February.  The rainfall for January was a mere 63.9mm, something nearer to what we are used to, and the ground is starting to dry out.  No frosts this week, and even a day when the temperature was in double figures, however it looks to change to being much colder but brighter next week. 

On Monday a small group of volunteers came out from the Napier Barracks to help move compost from the lower wall, up the hill to the community garden.  We then all bagged up a few bags of compost to take to the Incredible Edible group at All Soul’s Church in Cheriton to help top up the planters along the High Street where the levels have dropped over the year.

It is that time of year when all manner of ailments seem to be rumbling around amongst our gardeners and garden friends.  Luckily not Covid, but everything else that has not made an appearance for some time, has suddenly decided to pop up and remind us they are still around.  Somehow a few hours spent outside gardening on a freezing cold dull windy day, when you are feeling under the weather, is not as appealing as it might be on a warm sunny day.  That is surely the time to give in and keep warmer indoors.

This week has been all about getting the last of those strawberry plants up out of the ground and potted up ready to be replanted in other areas – that certainly took some time.  The soft fruit bushes also got a thinning and pruning, and all the plants under the netting got looked at to make sure all was well there.  We had four rhubarb roots that needed potting up and protecting until the spring, and we were kindly given three hazel whips which we can use in another one of the gardens.

We have a couple of garden friends (Rita and Eddie) who have been visiting Singapore and sent back some really interesting pictures and information about parks, community gardens and even rooftops filled with trees and herb gardens.  It is quite inspirational that Singapore has only 400sq miles with a population of about six million yet from the 1970’s the ‘ministries of environment and development’ have worked hand in hand to create a city garden habitat which has brought nature into residential urban spaces where birds and insects share the same places.  All it takes is a little imagination and education.

What’s next?

• We need to remove some of the raspberry canes

• Cut back some of the shrubs

• Little more mulch required around the soft fruit bushes and over the artichokes

• Move a plant near the smoke bush

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 29th January: life is very slowly starting to awaken in the garden at Enbrook.

Hooray!  There has not been quite so much in the way of rain this week.  Plenty of dull and freezing cold days but the sunshine has made an appearance once or twice. 

Although the gardens are quiet this time of year, there is certainly plenty going on in the background with all sorts of new projects, events and garden growing plans, and not just in our gardens either.  As a community group, one of our aims is to help and support other community groups, charities and individuals to grow food and flowers (to help the pollinators).

For a while now we have been working with the Nepalese community in Cheriton with a very exciting new project they are about to embark on, growing fruit and vegetables on a large piece of land just outside Hythe.  Many of the Nepalese come from a farming background so there is no doubt they will make a great success of this project. Our role is to advise on growing in the UK, and what needs sowing and planting throughout the year.  It will be very exciting to see if the community can grow many of their well-loved vegetable varieties here in the UK, and are sure we will pick up many interesting tips as well as delicious cooking ideas from them. It will be a fascinating experience and there will be so much for us to learn too.

In the meantime life is very slowly starting to awaken in the garden at Enbrook.  The birds are certainly starting to perk up a little when the sun shines and our garden robin is singing loud and clear so it must be time to start those nests.  We have been wrapping wool around branches and shrubs for the birds to take to line their nests.  The daffodils are already up and showing flower heads, and happily our earliest rhubarb variety has already started to push some new growth through the compost mulch.  Daylight hours are noticeably longer, and Spring will come eventually.

The raspberry patch got a good prune and lashings of new compost, the path to the bench weeded and mulched with wood chips.  It is quite unbelievable how many new strawberry plants we still need to pot up and remove to other gardens.  They multiplied all over the place and caught us by surprise.  Just another session spent taking them out and potting them up should do the trick, and they will be ready to plant in some of the other gardens as soon as it is warm and dry enough to do so. 

The countdown is on….. February begins next week, and that means just a couple more weeks to wait and the first sowings of the year begin!

What’s next?   

• Compost to be moved from the lower to the upper wall

• Check on the plants under the netting

• What is going on in the pond if anything?

• Need to start making new signs for plots

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 22nd January: PSA – It is way too early to start planting your seeds.

It has certainly been a great deal drier this week with much more in the way of sunshine and bitterly cold.  As usual in Sandgate we missed the snow which was a feature inland and across the country.  It was so cold that many of the gardens had become frozen quite solid which made it impossible at times to do anything, except admire the flowering gorse by our pond at Enbrook Park.  During our Wednesday morning session the sun was shining and just managed to warm the ground enough for us to be able to put down some more compost on the empty beds as well as lay more compost along the wall where there are permanent plants and trees growing. 

We are motoring through much of our compost stock in our quest to get it down before the spring arrives.  On Monday a volunteer group came out from the Napier Barracks to help move some compost from our stock pile up to the garden. That’s uphill, this time with the addition of slippery grass.  We are really grateful for the extra help with heavy tasks, which most likely would have taken us twice as long to do.  Afterwards, and with time left, we took two barrow loads of compost down the hill to the village green outside the chip shop and mulched the long border there.  We then tidied some of the debris and planted a few spare primroses. 

Chris and Theresa got stuck into the emptying of the last of the compost needing turning in the composting bins.  No mean feat, it can be a smelly and stomach turning job in high summer. Fortunately in this cold and with noses being frozen, it proved a little easier.  We now have a completely empty first bin ready to be filled once more with waste from the garden and kitchen peelings.

Already some folk are champing at the bit to start sowing seeds.  IT IS WAY TOO EARLY!  Far better to wait for the slightly warmer and longer days when new sowings will catch up with and often overtake anything sown too early.  It is time to practice some patience.  The only thing we could prepare for in the way of seeds was to buy some seed potatoes.  Now is the time to consider the varieties on offer and decide.  This year we have, as usual, first early varieties, three in total, plus a few Pink Fur Apples to harvest at a later date.  They are all sitting in front of a window in cardboard egg boxes ‘chitting’ away (the term used for sprouting potatoes) until later on in March. Hopefully it will be warm and sunny enough then to plant them out.

What’s next?

• The raspberry patch needs weeding

• Has everything been mulched?

• The path up to the bench needs weeding

• There are still strawberry plants to take out

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 15th January: Compost, wild garlic, weeding and sustainable futures.

Another week has flown by with yet more wind, plenty of rain, and the odd bit of sunshine in-between.  We managed to catch a good day on our Wednesday morning session, but Saturday morning was a complete washout once again so not all of the tasks for the week got done.  Already it is still daylight by gone four o’clock in the afternoon which is most promising and good to see.

Compost bin three got emptied and spread onto vacant beds making room for compost bin two to be turned into it, hopefully in readiness to use by April with luck.  This leaves a rather full to bursting compost bin one to be turned into bin two, and a job to put forward into next week, and so refilling bin one starts all over again.   

We pulled up a few of the leeks to share and a large clump of the wild garlic which had self-sown into a wood chip path and had become so large that the stems looked as big as the leeks.  We have to keep a check on the garlic and use as much as we can, all of it being edible from the leaves to the bulbs, as it is thriving and will quickly take over given the chance.

Rita, our queen of the Golden Valley area spent quite some time tidying, weeding and pruning the planters at the shops as well as litter picking at Freemantle Park.  Before we know it, Spring will be with us once again.

There was a meeting this week with the Folkestone and Hythe Sustainable Futures Forum, and we registered an interest in taking part and to keep up with new developments in the locality.  On 26^th January at 7pm, the Sandgate Environmental Action group will be meeting again in the upstairs Reading Room of the Old Fire Station in Sandgate Road – all are welcome to attend.  Chris Turnbull, a prominent member of the Hythe Environmental Group will be there to give a talk on the history of the group and all the many projects it is now involved with.  I (Leonie) will be attempting to follow his talk with an introduction to fast aerobic composting on an industrial scale, which could be used by all of us, including our cafes, pubs and restaurants – the pros and the cons, plus a look at how it is currently being done around the world.  So, put the date in your diary and come along if you are interested.

What’s next?

• Finish turning compost bin two then start on bin one

• Still got a couple of empty beds needing compost

• Put wood chips down on some of the paths

• Weed the bed with the honey berry plants

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 8th January: Happy New Year!

Looking back at the archive Sandgate Community Garden updates on the Parish Council website reminds us that the New Year newsletters for 2021 and 2022 both commented on the very high winds. This year seems to be no different.

The rainfall for December was 88.6 mm, the second highest recording for 2022.  November had the most rainfall of 194 8mm, whilst July was the lowest at 5.4mm.  It seems that our total rainfall will be close to the yearly average, just that it is arriving all at once and the ground has become saturated.  At the Enbrook plot, this causes few problems as the drainage is very good, however all our other sites are well and truly squishy underfoot and damage to the soil structure can occur by working it or keep walking over it so it is best to wait until it dries out a little.

We had a good turnout in the garden on Wednesday and the weather was kind, however there were high winds and rain on Saturday.  We cleared some of the beds at Enbrook, and put down some fresh compost layers of around two to three cms which should be all that is needed to keep the plots going all year.  The idea of a ‘no dig’ plot is that the ground should be covered all the time with either a crop or failing that a good sheet of new compost.  We are gradually emptying compost bin number three which is our own made compost, to make room so that bin number two can then be turned.  The original cap of old carpet we had to keep in the warmth and keep out the rain had all but disintegrated after a good couple of years, but luckily one of our members had renewed some carpet in their house and had a few spare pieces – and so our compost bins are looking quite presentable with new carpet in place.

Clearing some of the old vegetation revealed two pairs of secateurs that were lost.  This is a common occurrence, and we often find lost items either in the compost bins or amongst the foliage somewhere.  Happily the secateurs can be revived with a bit of TLC involving plenty of WD40, but we do not invest in expensive tools exactly for this reason.

We have a little purple sprouting broccoli which was ready for a picking this week, as well as a bit of kale, and surprisingly a little winter lettuce and chard.  Our main purple sprouting crop is a later variety and will not be appearing until probably the end of March or Early April. 

Much of the food for the next couple of months is about relying on stored harvest that is if you are eating seasonally and local.   However, way back in the distant past, and now experiencing something of a revival, foragers find fresh vegetation to eat all year round, and there is a great deal of information out there about this.  A huge amount of salad burnet can be seen growing just outside some flats in Golden Valley, and there are plenty of fungi examples to be seen both at Enbrook Park and in the woodland above Sandgate.  Below are pictures of two examples found just this week.  The brightly coloured turkey tail fungi is very common throughout the world, packed with antioxidants, enhances gut health and is said to help in fighting cancer.  The other is aptly named ‘jelly ear’ used in the past for sore eyes and throats.  It is edible, but is not highly prized, as eating it is apparently a bit like chewing on a ‘pencil rubber with bones in it’ – think we might give that one a miss for now.

What’s next?

• There is still a little to clear and compost to put down 

• A few paths could do with some fresh wood chips

• A bit of weeding to be done near the herb garden

• Finish washing and drying some of the nets/fleece

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 18th December: A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from us all at the Sandgate Community Gardens.

Most of the week the theme has been freezing cold frost and ice, and on Saturday the thaw began, and we will be back to warmer, wetter and windier weather.  It certainly does not look like it will be a white Christmas in Sandgate, more like a soggy dull one. 

It seemed like a good idea to keep warm at the garden, and so we tackled the very full and ready to be used compost in bin number three which had been topped way back in the summer with a generous amount of cow manure collected from a local farm.  By now the manure was looking good enough to eat and very reminiscent of the Christmas cake mix or even the mince pie filling.  It was only the worms in there bringing us back to reality as we barrowed it to the rhubarb patch and the hops by the wall. 

The timing for the thaw was perfect, as the aim for our meeting on Saturday morning was to consume mince pies and swig mulled wine, all in the company of our lovely gardeners and catch up with who is doing what and where over the festive period.  We have been saving the pulling of the leeks and parsnips up to this point as it seems to have turned into a tradition in our short time of being a community group, to save some for the Christmas dinner.  We knew the leeks were not much more than spring onion sized, as it could be easily seen; however the parsnips were going to be a surprise as of course, the bit we are interested in is out of sight.  We are assuming the lack of growth has been due to the dry summer and plot, mainly because the very same batch of leek seedlings were planted in two other local areas, and they are MUCH larger.  It has to be said, we are looking at quality and certainly not quantity.  The roots of the parsnips tapered deep down into the soil, presumably looking for that illusive water.  As they emerged you could see the lighter brown of the deeper soil at the end of the root and the black compost at the top.  We were pleased to see so many worms too, as was the garden robin patiently waiting and quietly singing to itself in the hedge until we moved away and it could find those worms too.

It is always a milestone (when you spend time working outdoors), to get to the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice, coming up this week.  After that it lifts the heart to know that the days are getting longer again and the cycle towards the first seed sowing of the New Year will soon be upon us.  One of the photos below shows the very first sighting this week of the spring bulbs pushing their way up through the wood chips at the edge of the path – a tiny hint of the busy spring season to come, so in the meantime we shall enjoy the break over this festive period, and be back in the garden on Wednesday 4^th January.  Although the suspicion is that the garden will probably see a few of us taking a break from the feasting madness to find some peace and work to combat the Christmas belly fatigue. 

A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from us all at the Sandgate Community Gardens.

What’s next?

• Believe it or not there are still leaves falling from the trees to be picked up
• Continue to empty compost bin three
• Clear most of the long bed near the hedge
• Keep a close eye on bird damage to the brassicas and net situation

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 11th December: We’ve got chills – they’re multiplying…

At last the first real hard frost has arrived which still seems to have caught us unawares with a flurry of searching for enough lengths of fleece to cover the broad beans which are the only plants that need it.  Being warmer here than it is inland, we are holding our breath that it stays that way and the beans can survive minus three degrees, but probably not much less than that for a prolonged period.  Such is the gamble that you have to take. 

During the morning the garden is sagging and bowed over with cold, but as the sun begins to warm, the plants unfurl and stand upright once more.  Of course most are used to winter temperatures, and have their own form of antifreeze to prevent them turning to a mush when the frost sets in.  Sadly lacking in antifreeze was the ladybird pictured below, which should have been hibernating already and got caught out.

The first half of the week was milder, and we were able to carry on with business as usual in the community garden, but the end of the week, the colder snap appeared and put a stop to planting anything, and putting down any compost mulches.  Luckily some volunteers from the Napier Barracks came out earlier in the week to bag up more compost from our compost reserves, as well as wood chips, to transport to the alleyway garden off Meadowbrook.  The space was cleared of the summer debris, and mulched with fourteen bags of compost and six bags of wood chips.  We had a few spring bulbs remaining which were planted, along with some primroses.  Once finished, we moved on to the planters outside the shops in the Golden Valley, mulched the last of the planters outside the Beauty Boutique, and planted more of the primroses.  The remaining time, or until it gets too dark to see was spent weeding all around the outside edges of the brick planters, where all the plant debris gets collected and composted at Enbrook park. 

Coming back to the subject of primroses, these we planted this week were given to us through a friend of a friend of a friend.  All donations of any gardening kind are always gratefully received, but it goes to show that it is about who you know in this instance. 

Looking at the forecast, this freezing weather is due to remain with us into this coming week and so it is unsure if we will be able to do very much until there is a thaw.  Christmas is on the horizon, and with it falling at the weekend, and the New Year the weekend after, we will not be meeting from 24^th December until January 4^th 2023.  We shall be celebrating with our now customary mince pies and mulled wine on Saturday 17^th and Wednesday 21^st December.  There will be a newsletter next Sunday 18^th, with the next instalment not due until 8^th January!

What’s next?

• Finish planting the last of the donated primroses

• Finish potting up the last of the artichokes

• Check compost bin three for turning out in the New Year

• If not frozen, mulch hop area and rhubarb patch

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.