Sandgate Community Garden

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 4th December: A rubbish place to bury your acorns.

The Christmas lights are all up and on in the High Street and at last the weather is starting to be seasonably as cold as it probably should be.  The rainfall for November was recorded locally as being 196.6 mm which is the most ever recorded for our records.  We always report that just north of Sandgate there seems to be more rain, and indeed Pent Farm, Postling, where the Touchbase garden is, had a recorded rainfall of over 250mm.  It is extremely soggy out there however the Sandgate gardens are not at all muddy because the beds are covered in compost and the paths with wood chips – we never have to scrape our boots after working in them. 

In spite of some showers, a few of the men from the Napier Barracks came out to help with some physically demanding chores.  The small orchard at the Sandgate Park needed clearing of weeds and liberally mulching with compost which had to be bagged up, transported and carried to the site.  Once that was done we planted some spring bulbs and it is all looking much tidier.  In October we had reported that the Bramley apple tree there was in full flower, presumably thinking it was spring, and now it has several small apples pictured below.  We will have to see if it can start again when spring really does return and send out more blossoms.

When we went to the compost pile to start putting it into bags, you could see that parts of the pile had been disturbed and on investigation it became clear that all the local squirrels had been busy doing what squirrels do best this time of year, burying their acorns for them to retrieve at a later date.  Unfortunately these squirrels will be disappointed to find their stash will be gone but luckily they usually play it safe and deposit food stores in more than one place.  Forgotten acorns put out some roots having been conveniently planted. 

On Wednesday at Enbrook Park a huge bumble bee was seen in the garden looking very drowsy, luckily one of our gardeners spotted it and put it carefully onto some Calendula flowers so that it could get to some nectar and be revived.  We discovered that surprisingly there is one bumblebee species, the buff-tailed Bombus terrestris, which is active during winter, even when there is snow on the ground.

At the garden sessions, we often share any gluts from other gardens.  It was a complete surprise to find that there were some massive celery plants at Fremantle, which had to come out to make way for a few broad beans.  The ground at Fremantle Park is far wetter than at the Enbrook Park garden site where the celeriac and celery suffered from being dry during the late part of the summer.  However the same plants at Fremantle survived well with no water, going on to produce some fabulous vegetables.  It just goes to show when you are looking over that fence to eye up what is being grown by somebody else that growing some decent vegetables is not just about how much care and attention you have given but also about the environment.

What’s next?

• The alley needs clearing between Meadowbrook and Chichester Road

• Finish planting the last of the bulbs

• Have we finished potting up the strawberry plants?

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 27th November: The Christmas Tree has arrived before the first frost…

The Sandgate Christmas tree arrived this week and was promptly hoisted into place on the village green outside the chip shop.  It seems hard to believe it is that time of year again, but here we are, time is hurtling on towards the shortest day of the year. 

You may have noticed that the Christmas tree is not the only tree on the green this year; we also have a banana tree in front of a rather enormous tomato plant, still producing tomatoes.  We do, and have planted a few plants and bulbs on the green, but it has to be said that we did not plant the banana or the tomato!   Interestingly we seem to have a guerrilla gardener in our midst, and their identity is a complete mystery.  This is not the only garden they have added to either, the alleyway garden between Chichester Road and Meadowbrook also had some additions of Achocha vines.  We think this guerrilla gardener or perhaps gardeners know their stuff and so far are keeping their identity a complete secret.  Well, community gardens are all about the community and the inhabitants, so it is a great thing that there are other people out there in the locality wanting to make the area green and fruitful.

(As a matter of fact, the banana tree is not actually a tree but an herb, closely related to ginger, with a succulent, soft stem compared to the wood of the tree.)

The wet weather continued this week, and yet another gardening session missed because of it on Wednesday.  It seems to follow a pattern of torrential rain and high winds followed by some glorious sunshine, and then the pattern continues over again.  The problem is to catch the sunshine when it happens, before the rains appear once more.  In our green spaces, the grass is still growing and is long, but the ground is too saturated in places to be able to take the weight of a mower.  We would have liked to have finished putting all the bulbs in this week, but have had to cancel other gardening sessions and try again next week if the weather should be kinder. 

We did manage to clear lots more fallen leaves and add to the leaf mulch compost pile which is growing taller and taller, however in spite of all the strong winds there are still plenty of leaves stubbornly clinging onto the branches, probably due to the lack of any frost so far.  We also pulled up more of the Jerusalem artichokes, some of which will be planted into pots to plant out in the spring.  The new rhubarb was also due to be planted out at Fremantle Park but instead they have also been put into pots, the reason being that such saturated ground followed possibly by much colder weather can stress and kill a thick, newly planted root before it gets the chance to take proper hold, and indeed last year we lost two newly planted rhubarb roots this way, although others survived.

Our last plantings of broad beans do not seem to mind this weather and are suffering more from being picked on by the wildlife, probably birds, which pull them out of the ground, then lose interest leaving the bare roots exposed.  If found quickly enough the beans can be replanted, and once they have put their roots out into the soil they will be fixed in place.  This can also happen to onion and garlic sets too.  Luckily at Enbrook there was only a couple of missing plants which have been replaced from our spares. 

What’s next?

• Bulbs to plant at Sandgate Park and trees to mulch

• Nasturtiums to thin out

• Brambles to clear from under the fig tree

• Pot up plenty of Jerusalem artichokes to plant in the Golden Valley in Spring

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 20th November: Fortune Two and Combo have landed.

When the Bewick’s swans arrive in the UK from Russia it is said to mark the beginning of winter.  This year they have arrived later than at any time since 1965 probably because their Arctic home is getting warmer or perhaps they have been trying to dodge the missiles in their mission to seek out warmer weather.  Nineteen year old Fortune Two and Combo were the first to arrive, they have been together since 2005; long may they migrate here!

The theme of unusual weather patterns continued this week in Sandgate.  It has now gone mid-November and no sign of even a slight frost.  Instead we had more of the same howling winds and lashing rain, and although it feels chilly to be out in all of that, the temperatures continue to be high enough for plenty of plants to put on growth.  It is astonishing to see that the wild garlic at Enbrook Park is really high already when it should perhaps only just be starting to poke its head above ground.  The flower and herb section continues to look lush and full of flower including the most attractive dead nettle, Lamium, from the Greek word ‘lamia’ meaning ‘devouring monster with open jaws’.  Indeed the flowers do look quite menacing, especially if you are the insect trying to navigate those jaws in search of nectar.  None of the garden hive bees would have been attending to those flowers on Wednesday, and neither were there any gardeners as the heavy rain kept us all away.  As a result, not all of our tasks for the week got completed so they will get put back on the list for this coming week and with all being well.

Now all the broad beans have been planted, we have kept extra plants just in case there are any casualties.  None of the planted out beans have been tampered with, but the spare beans still growing in module trays have unfortunately been found by the local rodents, probably mice, and even though the beans have already sprouted, they have been pulled up and gnawed.  They were moved to higher ground in an attempt to put the mice off, but they were attacked again; so now the remaining few beans have to be taken in at night time until they can be finally planted. 

We were fortunate enough to get some help with some tasks at Fremantle Park and the Golden Valley shops this week.  Some of the men from Napier Barracks came out to plant spring bulbs and clear some of the old summer growth, plus brambles and ivy which was starting to creep across the ground again from the fence lines.  They are always so enthusiastic and hardworking that we were quite exhausted by the time it got dark and we had to tidy away.  They are booked to come out again next week to help with more tidying and mulching of the community orchards, plus planting even more spring bulbs.  We bought bags and bags of spring bulbs this year, but they seem to have gone nowhere when you stop to consider how large the areas we are planting up are.  The only difficulty was trying to get across that the best look for a natural garden is to throw the bulbs up in the air and plant them where they fall – not to plant them in straight lines, equidistant from the last!  We are certainly looking forward to seeing the results in the spring that is if the bulbs know when it is spring!

Last but not least, we are delighted that some of our gardeners were at the sustain Sandgate meeting at the Old Fire Station.  It was a most interesting and very positive gathering, with plenty of ideas already being looked at and tackled.  The next meeting should be in January, and the Sandgate Society will be sending more information before then should you be interested in getting involved with your community.

What’s next?

• Still need to tackle the overgrown nasturtiums and pot some up for other areas

• Still need to pot up more strawberries

• Still need to harvest all the Jerusalem artichokes and replant them

• Plant out the rhubarb plants

• Mulch the orchards and plant spring bulbs

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 13th November: Badgers One, Strawberries Nil.

We had escaped the strong winds and storms this summer but they have been back with a vengeance this past week.  The last of the seedlings for this year had to be rescued from a cold frame in danger of being toppled despite being strapped to a fence.  It would have been a disaster to lose 120 broad bean seedlings but happily they were planted out over the week at Enbrook Park, and the last of our planting for this year is done.  The seed trays will be put away along with the collapsible cold frames until mid-February 2023.  Now is the time to take stock of what went well or did not, and to take a look at all the seeds we have for next season and see if there is anything else we need to buy.

Some things have surprised us this year.  The few strawberry plants we had as a ground cover under the gooseberry bushes seem to have had a great time sending out runners all over the place and were in danger of taking over.  We must have potted up at least thirty new plants, with plenty more still to be had.  Having decided that because of the badgers we might not be growing them any more at the Sandgate Community Garden in Enbrook Park, they will be taken to Fremantle Park instead and see how they fare there.  Of course we will leave a few plants for the badgers.

The other surprise crop was some Jerusalem artichokes which have been quietly growing up against the brick wall, flowering well in the summer, and recently just starting to die back.  Now is the time to dig up the edible roots, and we were amazed that there were quite a few.  The original roots were given to us by the Incredible Edible group – just a small handful.  We will collect what is left and replant some for next year, then plant more in other gardens as they are decorative as well as edible.

We have been collecting a by-product of food deliveries or parcels.  We had noticed that sheep fleece/wool is being used as packaging, pressed flat into wide sheets.  Always keen to reuse and recycle, we have been using the wool as capillary matting under seedlings or potted plants.  When it starts to break down, it is perfect for the compost heap, and will not therefore be ending up in landfill. 

As you may know, we are always promoting the wonders of composting and compost bins, however this week an issue was spotted with one composting area at a garden some of us are associated with in Postling.  We often have to reassure folk new to composting, that a well looked after bin should cause no problem, perhaps the biggest concern is attracting rats.  It has to be said that rats are never far away from us; it is just that they are good at hiding and are seldom out during the daytime.  This compost bin was showing signs of harbouring rats, which is rare, so we knew something was amiss.  The compost was in fact too dry, having been started during the dry, hot summer, and therefore of interest to rodents looking for a home.  Not wishing to encourage them to stay, the thing to do is to bang the side of the bin to let them know you are around, and start to unpack or turn the compost.  By noticing an issue quickly, the rodents do not have enough time to make a nest and therefore scarper to find somewhere else.  The only time a compost bin is left undisturbed is if there is a grass snake or slow worms taking up residence and have already laid eggs.  Having turned and hydrated the compost, there should not be any interest from rodents, and an active, hot composting area is too warm for them anyway.

Last week the rainfall was 45.4 mm and this week we are at 89.1 mm, and still only half way through the month!  The forecast for next week shows that more rain is on the horizon and although Sandgate was never subjected to a hosepipe ban this year, parts of Kent are still under a ban and in need of even more rain for it to be lifted any time soon. 

What’s next?

• Still need to thin out the nasturtiums

• Finish pulling the Jerusalem artichokes and set aside some for replanting

• Keep checking the pond for leaves and the cold frames for slugs and snails

• Pot up some more strawberry plants, and runaway sea buckthorn seedlings

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 6th November: Keeping our cabbage white butterfly caterpillars well-fed, fat and healthy.

Are you interested in your local neighbourhood, the environment and how we as residents as well as visitors, interact with our facilities and businesses? Are you interested in the impact of globalisation on us all and how the growing worldwide movement of localisation and sustainability is fighting back to become more self-sufficient, resilient and stable in an uncertain world?  Then you need to come along to the Reading Room at the Old Fire Station in Sandgate, on 17^th November at 7pm where the Sandgate Society will be starting work on ‘Sustainability in Sandgate’.  If you are interested in looking at how localisation and sustainability has helped in many villages, towns and cities around the world then check out this website:

The Economics of Happiness Film

This fascinating collection of videos and articles cannot fail to inspire, and at the very least make you think about what is happening around the world to the environment, nature and people.  It can be depressing viewing some of the videos, but there are solutions if you are prepared to get involved in your locality and join the movement.  Hope to see you there.

There has certainly been some rain in Sandgate these past few days.  The rainfall for all of October was 43.9 mm however by 4^th November the rainfall within just a couple of days was 45.4 mm.  At the Touchbase garden where some of our volunteers lend a hand, a massive 1000 litres of rainwater was saved in those two torrential days from just one large shed roof – incredible. 

Below is a photo of a rather bedraggled looking Heron standing on top of the moorhen house in Enbrook Park, spotted following the downpours.  All very well for us tucked up inside our cosy homes, but for nature, this week of high winds and rain must have its toll. 

As for the community garden in Enbrook Park, we kept a watchful eye over how the plants fared with the battering.  There was a gathering of volunteers on Wednesday, however the session on Saturday was cancelled and we all opted for the comforts of home instead.

It has to be said that we have not been quite so vigilant at looking after our plants as we might have thought, with the issue being netting over the plants concealing all that is going on underneath.  Netting is a wonderful thing to keep off marauding pests of all shapes and sizes, fob off the high winds and lull you into a false sense of security that all is well.  One day the cauliflower plants were looking sturdy enough and growing well, and what seems like the next day, all the leaves seem to have disappeared, leaving a straggly excuse of a plant loaded with well-fed fat and healthy cabbage white butterfly caterpillars happily feasting away obviously safe from marauding predators and high winds, all cosy under that net.

In another area of the Sandgate Community Garden, some purple sprouting broccoli had sent up a broccoli head which was missed, probably because of the netting, and was now starting to evolve into the yellow flower head.  It just goes to show that out of sight is out of mind and netting over a crop can complicate matters.

One plant we do not need to net which has performed well this year is the sea buckthorn.  We have used sea buckthorn as a barrier against the winds, and is a plant that can cope with the sea salt.  We are trying to keep it tight against the fence so that it will thicken up with time and not take up too much space.  The downside of a hedge is that it will take moisture from the ground which you need for growing vegetables, and this hedge is prickly!  In this third year of growth it has rewarded us with bright orange berries, which some of our volunteers have collected to be dried and crushed into a powder, or simply used fresh in recipes.  Sea buckthorn is a superfood, but is an acquired taste with a most intense flavour.  We often pot up some of the runners from the hedge which are making their way either across the plot or outside, so do get in touch if you would like a plant as we will certainly be able to oblige.

We were recently contacted by a Saga employee with a gift of five seed trays complete with clear covers and reservoir trays.  We will certainly be able to make good use of them; and although seed sowing is finished for 2022, it will not be too long until we reach mid-February, and the seed sowing season starts all over again.

What’s next?

• Get ready to plant the broad bean seedlings

• Keep checking cold frames

• Cut back the amaranth plants and compost them

• Thin out some of the nasturtium plants

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 30th October: Anyone for Slug Fritters?

Oh dear oh dear, with temperatures of 20 degrees this week and plenty of moisture, the slugs are having a wonderful time and have turned the Chinese cabbages to something resembling paper doilies, they are so full of holes.  Our new routine of checking the cold frames for slugs has been most fruitful with several being caught each time.  It is such a shame that slugs are not on the menu as we would have a fine crop.  Apparently they are edible; and the flavour is a cross between chicken and calamari.  Something to bear in mind but perhaps times will have to be really bad before we would choose to make a meal out of them. 

Still there are plenty of caterpillars around, and a fine dusting of blackfly, the poor plants are being attacked from all angles.  Below is a photo taken of a sighting of some ladybird larvae.  You would certainly not be expecting to see them in late October and the hope is that they will have time to transform into their adult form as they are generally supposed to be hibernating from October until February and certainly not reproducing.

Where the summer annuals we grew from seed this year were planted, they have flowered, gone to seed, dropped their seeds, the seeds have germinated, grown, and now about to flower, all around the parent plants still flowering.  We have never known anything like it.  Looking forward to next week, temperatures will be lower, but with a promised minimum of 8 degrees, it will have little effect on the current situation.

One of our weekly newsletter readers, Rita, got in contact having read about the amazing array of fungi forms appearing in great numbers all around the park and garden.  Rita sent in a photograph of what is believed to be a basket stinkhorn pictured in SW France where she is currently staying.  You can see the picture she took below, and it has to be one of the strangest and most amazing structures to be seen in nature.  On researching the distribution of the fungi, it has been found as close to us as East Sussex; perhaps we may get to see it in our county yet.

There was a little flurry of excitement when the Hythe Hops scheme treated its members to a gift of two beer glasses printed with the Hythe Hops logo, and a can of the new brew by the great Docker brewery, and made from hops grown by locals.  All the names of our volunteers went into the ‘hat’ to draw out the winners of either a glass or a can of the brew itself, and with our two memberships of the scheme, six of our volunteers had a happy surprise – thank you Hythe Hop scheme!

What’s next?

• Water all pots, plus cold frames, check for slugs, clear leaves on plot and in pond

• Continue to make new plant labels

• Continue to pot up strawberry runners

• Keep checking on the broad bean sowings.

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 23rd October: Planning forward and planting for 2023.

We are just coming up to the ideal time to be preparing the ground for next year and to be thinking about cutting back old growth and getting the gardens tidy.  However the warm weather continues, pushing back the dormant time for plants.  In the Meadowbrook alley garden, the globe artichokes had been cut right back at the end of summer, but the new shoots for next year have already grown tall and are producing artichokes – in October. 

We have been keeping up the routine of fishing leaves and duckweed out of the pond, picking up the fallen sycamore seeds and leaves, and remembering to water the various pots around the plot.  We now add the task of checking the cold frames each and every session to check for slugs.  They seem to have made a direct pilgrimage to the cold frames where they can spend uninterrupted and safe time feasting on the lettuces.  They are safe until we search them out, remove, and relocate them to pastures new.  In the meantime the lettuces are disappearing fast, and it will be a miracle if the rest survive much longer.

We did start to tackle the list of tasks for this week, but this period of clearing and weeding will probably be with us for some time to come, and so the list continues into next week for sure.  We have started work on making some new plant labels for the plots, and are continuing to pot up lots of new strawberry plants that keep popping up in some of the paths.  They will be useful to relocate to some of the other gardens.

Our bird watching, visiting couple came by the garden again this week to let us know their house purchase is close to completion and they will be moving away from Sandgate.  We will miss the informative discussions on local wildlife.  This week we heard about the sighting of a raven (although we never knew they were a rare thing here) and three firecrests.  The firecrest is a tiny, brightly coloured bird, which apparently was once only a visitor to the south but is now starting to breed here. 

On Friday we completed the mulching of the Queen’s Jubilee Orchard in Fremantle Park.  In the spring this year, we only had enough time and compost to spread between half of the trees, which we then planted in late spring/summer with fruit bushes, rhubarb, herbs and flowers.  We organised a day to collect four truckloads of compost from our friends at Hope Farm in Capel who kindly allow us to take it.  The compost they produce is used on local farms and not sold commercially, but their generosity has meant that we have been able to get on with various tasks that would otherwise have used much of our funding – compost is an expensive commodity.  It has also meant that we can practice the ‘no dig’ method, and take care of the soil first, which will then take care of the plants.  We used two truckloads of compost on the lower end of the orchard, with a little left over to replenish some of the soil on the opposite slope we are developing, as well as some parts of the orchard where the compost has worn thin.  The plan is that in the spring we will plant the newly mulched area with more fruit bushes, herbs and flowers.  In-between truckloads, the volunteers started planting spring bulbs, and we will continue to plant more around Sandgate in the next few weeks.

In the afternoon of the compost run, we delivered two truckloads to Enbrook Park for use on the community garden plus of course the alleyways and various planters, not forgetting the other orchard area at Sandgate Park.  We are grateful for help from Saga volunteers that day plus volunteers from the Napier Barracks.  It would have been an impossible task without them, and we certainly would not have managed to complete as much as we did.

What’s next?

• Water all pots, plus cold frames, check for slugs, clear leaves on plot and in pond

• Continue to make new plant labels

• Continue to pot up strawberry runners

• Sort out the bay tree planters

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 16th October: Comparing notes, know your mushrooms and the flight of the Sandgate Storks…

We have all sorts of interesting people come up to the garden at Enbrook Park to have a look around and to chat.  Many visitors to the area and local residents drop by; some of them on a regular basis to see how the garden is doing; to look at what is in season and perhaps compare how the growth is in their own garden or allotment.  So we compare notes and talk about the effect the weather had this summer on the growth now, as well as how many things are desperately trying to catch up or getting a ‘second wind’ and surprising us in mid-October. 

As mentioned last week, there are plenty of fungi appearing all over the plot, and it is interesting to note how different people react to it.  Unfortunately most of us know so very little about it, and when it appears in its many forms it is often viewed with suspicion and maybe a little bit of fear.  Perhaps the best thing to be learnt about fungi is that it is to be respected and cannot be collected and eaten unless you really know your stuff – it can be lethal.  However, just as it is possible to know one or two berries that are safe to forage from the wild (for example blackberries and elderberries), it is also wise to begin foraging for fungi by really knowing just one or two safe examples.  Needless to say, none of our gardeners know a thing about our fungi, so we just leave well alone.  What we do understand is that fungi in a garden is a good thing, and generally is helping to bring food and moisture to the plants.  As a subject there is so much to learn about it, and was probably something our ancestors knew much more about than many of us do today.

One of our returning visitors is the elderly gentleman who gave us the little lemon tree which he planted up against the brick wall.  He likes to see how it is getting on and to give it a few words of encouragement.  He was pleased to observe this week that it was happily flowering away and had a tiny lemon too.  The plant is only a mere 15cms tall but is really trying its best and certainly gives much pleasure for its stature.  The gentleman was also comparing our banana tree to one in his garden which has produced a flower and now bananas!  Well, who knows, maybe next year our banana tree might produce some fruit too.

Another interesting visit was from a couple who are temporarily living in Sandgate until their house purchase goes through in another part of Kent.  They are avid bird watchers or ‘twitchers’, always armed with binoculars, as they walk around the area, and constantly on the alert to catch sight of migrating birds.  They relayed how one morning whilst walking along Sandgate seafront, they caught sight of an entire flock (or muster) of storks flying across from the channel and inland.  We are aware of storks nesting at Knepp in Sussex, so maybe this was where they were heading.  It is an experience of sorts to have seagulls nesting on your roof, but just imagine if Sandgate had storks…. not too sure we are ready for that just yet.

What’s next?

• Finish weeding the outside edge of the fence

• Keep picking up leaves and fallen sycamore seeds

• Fix the leaf compost area

• Keep up the weeding of all areas

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 9th October: Keeping the garden tidy, a full pond and late growth.

After all the rushing around of the last few weeks, getting all the plants into the ground and settled in as quickly as possible, it has suddenly gone very quiet now in the garden, giving time to catch up with a few things and to actually sit down and spend time having a good chat to volunteers and visitors.  There is not much to harvest at the moment.  Daylight hours are so much shorter, and this has an impact on the speed of growth, or lack of it, and once something has been raided, it takes that much longer to recover than it might have done in high summer, to be at a point where it can be raided again.

The leaves are now continuing to fall along with bountiful amounts of sycamore seeds which always keep us busy when they start to sprout in the spring, so it will be lots of picking up and constantly tidying from now on.  Where leaves cover any seedlings, they cut out the light and the slug and snail population quickly move in.  Keeping a tidy garden helps to keep problems at bay.  The damper cooler weather has encouraged the fungi to appear all over the plot, and there are some rather large spectacular displays appearing just outside in the grassy areas as pictured below. 

The pond is full again at last, something we have not seen for many months.  We have been clearing the fallen leaves and duckweed, however looking at the amount of scum on the top of the water; it is evident that many birds and perhaps mammals have been enjoying taking a dip in the deeper water.  There is always a kerfuffle and commotion when you first enter the garden as the birds bathing take flight and fly away.

Now is the time for some of the flowers to look their best having got through the drought, stressed and attacked by blackfly, the dahlias and fuchsias are now making a spectacular show and really having a final fling before any frosts finish them off. 

The last of the rather large purple sprouting cages were completed this week as the broccoli was straining to burst out of their hooped netting and grow taller and wider.  You can sense the relief; looking at those plants released from their confines last week, already seeming larger and healthier for having the space.

One of our garden friends, Rosemary (from the Marsh community garden, and Napier Barracks garden volunteer) got in touch to say she had been collecting many seeds that we could have, as well as an electric garden shredder.  We snapped up the seeds, but having no electric power on any of our sites, the shredder was passed on to one of our sister groups, the Incredible Edibles in Cheriton.  We know they will be able to make good use of that, thank you Rosemary!

What’s next?

• We still need to cut back the foliage that is growing into the pond.

• Keep on picking up leaves from all over the site

• Weed, weed, weed

• Water the pots and cold frames regularly

• Still plenty of seedlings to pot up and move to other sites.

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 2nd October: From the Brockhill walled kitchen garden to a more sustainable Sandgate.

We are into October already and still in the process of getting out as many of the autumn plants as possible, either in the ground, or under cover in the cold frames.  The rainfall for September was a fantastic 84.1mm which is the most we have had in one month for the entire year.  The tree leaves had already taken on some autumn colour and might have managed to cling on to their branches for a little longer had the high winds not persuaded them otherwise on Friday.  Enbrook Park was littered with leaves and a few broken branches, and many of the sweet chestnuts in their prickly cases had been blown down and were rolling around the car park.

We had recently been commenting on how our banana tree had managed to keep its leaves whole, but all that has changed and it looks more like a palm tree where the leaves are now shredded.  Some of our netting was displaced, but otherwise we did not seem to have much damage at all within the garden.  Many tree leaves had fallen into the pond and had to be fished out with a net whilst tackling the duckweed at the same time.  

The lettuces had finally put on enough growth to be large enough to be planted out.  Compost bin one got turned into compost bin two, to make space for the courgette plants, tired of life at last.  We have been remembering to water the cold frames, and were pleased to note that the mustard plants are already mature enough for a first picking.  Each time we visit the garden there are new seedlings popping through which are being put into pots to take to other projects.

Last week, the vegetable plots at Fremantle Park had a sprucing.  It had been difficult to grow much this year due to the drought conditions and there being no water on site.  But as soon as the rain came along, the beds got a good weeding and a generous mulching of compost to set them up for winter plantings. 

One project we have been following is the new walled kitchen garden at Brockhill School.  The renovation of the period greenhouse has been started, as has the ‘no dig’ mulching of the vegetable beds.  We went along to have a look at the progress so far, taking some of our self-sown seedlings, some mustards, bulb fennel, coriander and parsley.  Some of the year groups at the school have already been helping with the work of putting down the card, compost and wood chips.  The hope is to start a gardening club soon, and the long term plan is to teach agriculture.  Such an exciting project, and one we are delighted to follow and help with any advice we can give. 

Talking of new plans – it was very exciting to hear that the Sandgate Society have arranged a meeting for Thursday 13^th October at 7pm in the Reading Room at the Old Fire Station to discuss ideas and explore ways forward to make Sandgate more sustainable.  There are already many suggestions being made from a tool library to improving local services and facilities, with just about everything in-between.  Simply email sandgatesociety@gmail.com if you would like to attend the meeting, and if you have any suggestions for discussion, everyone is welcome, and you do not need to be a Sandgate Society member.

What’s next?

• Continue to remove leaves and duckweed from the pond

• Cut back foliage falling into the pond

• Start to pot up the strawberry plants going everywhere!

• Put up more brassica structures

• Check on the condition of our fleece nets

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.