On Sunday 21st November, a team led by Sandgate Community Garden planted 12 fruit trees in Sandgate Park as a part of Sandgate’s contribution to the Queen’s Green Canopy project for the 2022 Platinum Jubilee.
The orchard will be officially dedicated in June.
It continues to be mild, and the garden is still confused. There are many things that would have been cleared or finished by now in the depths of November with Christmas being advertised as just around the corner; but the cosmos, nasturtium.and marigolds are still in flower, being visited by many bumble bees. We have been pulling leeks and black radishes, and there are still salad leaves, kaibroc and plenty of chard and spinach if you do not mind the holes!
The mustards we planted in boxes in the cold frames are proving most tasty but can only harvest a couple of leaves from each plant per week as the short daylight hours restrict the growth rate, and it takes time for them to replenish themselves. The autumn leaves continue to fall and we have quite a full leaf compost bin already, Unfortunately whilst fishing fallen leaves from the pond, our net got broken having been well used, so we will need to invest in another before all the leaves have eventually fallen to try and keep the pond clear.
Although there are no new seeds to sow or seedlings to plant for a while, there are plenty of tasks needing to be done to maintain the structure of the plot, and since our amazing gift of green waste compost, we will soon begin on the mulching of many of the beds and permanent plantings. We bagged up some of the new compost, several bags were used to mulch the alleyway between Chichester Road and Meadowbrook, and the rest is to be taken to Sandgate Park and Fremantle Park for the great fruit tree planting on Sunday 21st.
Later we will start to replenish the paths at Enbrook with our store of woodchips too. The paths are just as important as the beds as many of the plants send their roots into the paths where they can still find moisture and space to grow. The quieter months are a time to think about getting organised for next year, and our fabulous tool box got a proper sprucing and sort out. It now looks so good we are a little afraid to use it and risk making a mess. Other jobs included cutting down the finished hops, weeding and keeping all the brassica plants free from yellowing and trailing leaves which encourage slugs and snails to hide amongst them.
On Saturday the ‘Disco Soup’ event in Radnor Park happened. Morrisons donated large crates of root vegetables and leeks – ideal soup making ingredients for such an occasion. The Hythe gleaners brought potatoes, squashes and apples, then with plenty of herbs, plus lots of pairs of willing hands, some amazing tasty soups, stews, crumbles and jars of pickles were created all with a party atmosphere helped along by the DJ adding the disco sounds. It was a fabulous day, good food and great company, what more could you want?
What’s next?
After the great excitement of announcing the big plant up of several fruit trees in the Sandgate and Fremantle Parks, the bad news is we got let down on the readiness of the trees for this weekend, and so the planting had to be cancelled. Apparently they should be ready this coming week and so we are hoping to plant the trees in Sandgate Park on Sunday morning at 10.30 am, and in Fremantle Park on Sunday afternoon at 2 pm. Here is one of the pitfalls of buying bare rooted trees in that they have to be planted soon after collection or risk drying out the root system. Let us hope there are no problems this week!
Get in touch if you would like to help, through our Instagram or Facebook pages, via this email, or text Leonie on 07840138308.
The good news is that we have COMPOST from Hope Farm in Hawkinge! You may recall we had a setback in being able to receive the compost as the tractors on the farm are simply too large to be able to access the dropping off site, so we had to hire a drop side truck for the day and go and collect it ourselves. It was incredibly interesting at the farm especially if you are a compost nerd, and appreciate the processes required in the making. Hope Farm takes in all the green waste from several council re-cycling centres, and processes the waste themselves into compost; 50% is spread on their own farm, and the rest is taken to several farms around Kent. None of the compost is sold commercially; it only goes to Kent farms.
Hope Farm have been most kind in agreeing to support the garden and allow us to have compost free of charge, and we are indeed most grateful as although we make as much of our own compost as we can, we cannot make enough for our needs and have to buy supplies which have been spiralling in price over the past year or so.
The compost making farm is constantly busy, with huge trucks delivering garden waste where it starts the conversion process by being taken into a huge shed with a conveyor belt and large stones, plastics and metals are removed – basically everything that is not going to break down. Large bits of wood are shredded, and the material, now made smaller, is laid out in a massive yard in long, mountainous lines where it gets turned by machinery, and the moisture content monitored. It was a cool day when we visited the farm, and the heat given off by the compost could be seen in large plumes over the top of the buildings. The finished product takes eight weeks, but it is still too active for our garden. When we went to move and bag up some of the compost on Saturday morning, following collection, it felt very warm in the middle of the pile, and when bagged up, the bags were very warm to the touch. We can use some of the compost now on older or mature plants, but not for young plants or seedlings. We will need to leave the compost to mature over the winter and early spring in a pile, just to let it finish the natural chemical reaction of decomposition, and allow the bacteria and minibeasts to multiply there.
The drop side truck we hired for the day had a 1.5 ton limit, and so the farm workers had to calculate how much compost to drop into the back from a gigantic bulldozer. Our truck was weighed on a weighing bridge before and after the collection to make sure we were not overloaded, and we were issued with a ticket, a requirement so that we can prove our load has been monitored. We were able to make three collections until we ran out of muscle power back at Enbrook Park. All very easy to collect the stuff, but back at the park it was a case of having to shovel and push the stuff off our truck. There were six of us in total to help with this task, but special thanks go to Greg, Antony and Ed who answered the SOS from the Sandgate Society to lend a hand, which was very much appreciated. We are now the proud owners of a rather large pile of lovely compost which will be put to use already this coming week for a couple of jobs!
All that only took a day to complete, but other things did get done too this week. The alleyway between Chichester Road and Meadowbrook got cleared, more bulbs planted, particularly at Golden Valley; the last of the broad bean seedlings found themselves in a comfy bed, and just a few more sown in case of any casualties. The last of the garlic and onions got planted, lots and lots of fallen leaves picked up and composted. Weeds got weeded although this will be ongoing as now the hops and raspberries have diminished, those cheeky weeds hiding amongst their stems are suddenly in view and larger than life so will have to go before they take over!
Remember, plenty going on next weekend, 20th and 21st November – Disco Soup at the Bowls Club at Radnor Park, a great day out for all the family, and a fabulous, community orientated way to use excess food which might have ended up as landfill. On Sunday we hope to be planting fruit trees subject to them being ready, get in touch if you are interested so we can keep you informed.
What’s next?
This seems to be the first week we have started to feel the cold whilst working in the gardens, and late autumn is really upon us. The rainfall for October was 106.6mm, a fair amount which mostly seemed to arrive just when you are busy outdoors! So it was at the dismantling of the planter at the Re-rooting exhibition, and by the time we had transferred it to Cheriton we were soaked. A big ‘thank you’ to Erica for using her car to transport the planter, and all the time she spent helping.
The rain does come in handy when you are planting beds however, and the broad beans are in their new homes, as well as some of the garlic, with more to be planted out next week. Some tulips and daffodils for spring colour got planted in some of our large pots, the hedge got a trimming, and we are starting to cut back many of the perennial plants in the flower garden. One of our volunteers decided the banana tree should be wrapped up for the winter, and time will tell if it needed it or not!
Even though we are into November, we are seeing the brassicas still being eaten by new hatchings of caterpillars – unbelievable! The kale bed was looking somewhat diminished and it became clear that it was under attack from pigeons as the leaves were showing the tell-tale signs where the flesh of the leaves is stripped leaving the main veins behind, and so it will be sensible to start netting all the brassicas before they disappear. On Saturday it was noticed that there were a great many ladybirds around too, possibly making their last searches for food before they find suitable crevices to hibernate for the winter.
Some of our volunteers love the community garden WhatsApp groups, and have been sharing pictures of what they have made using some of our produce, as well as recipe ideas. A couple of the pictures are featured below. It is always interesting to see what different people come up with.
It is with great excitement that we can now mention a project initiated by the Sandgate Parish Council for the Sandgate Park off Military Road, and Fremantle Park, in Fremantle Road. To commemorate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022, as part of The Queen’s Green Canopy (QGC) our community is being asked to help plant an orchard of 12 trees within each park mentioned, on Saturday 13th November at 2pm in Sandgate Park, and Sunday 14th November at 2pm in Fremantle Park. * We will be planting apple trees, pear, cherry, plum, and cob nut, so if you would like to come along and be a part of this community event, then contact us, Sandgate Community Garden, through our social media platforms, via email sandgatecg@gmail.com or text Leonie on 07840138308.
[ * UPDATE 11/11/2021: The Fruit trees will not be available from the supplier for this weekend, so the planting is postponed until further notice. Thanks to all those that said they would help, and we’ll update again when we have the trees!]
Many hands make light work, and before we know it we will be enjoying and sharing the fruit from the trees hopefully for several years to come, so get in touch and be involved.
What’s next?
We have always agreed in our garden WhatsApp group that should it be blowing a hooly or tipping down with rain on one of our designated gardening days then we would throw in the towel and not turn up. On Saturday it was blowing and tipping at the same time, so that was that. The site being rather exposed, at the far end of the park with no shelter or even anywhere nearby to take cover and wait until the worst passes, means you have to take the plunge and make a decision when the weather is dodgy. All the same, the garden is always open for anybody to access from dawn till dusk and so if the gardening urge is too great to resist, then some of our gardeners can be found therapeutically weeding or deadheading whenever they feel compelled to do so.
Happily, the Wednesday session was reasonably fair, and there was a great number of volunteers making short work of our ‘to do’ list. We picked kale, salad leaves, chard, spinach, winter radishes and leeks, moved compost around to prepare some of the empty beds for re-planting, and the leaf compost bin got emptied. The leaf compost was collected last autumn – fallen leaves were raked up from the grass and picked up from the plot and the pond, to be left to rot down for the year in the assigned compost area.
This seems to be the first week that the autumn colours have started to show on the trees, that is the leaves that are left, as there are few leaves to compost so far, most seem to have been blown away! Someone somewhere must be piled high with our leaves wherever they have been blown to, and we may not have many to compost this year.
The climate is quite different at Fremantle Park, with shelter from the wind, and the ground seems to collect more moisture sitting within a dip. All the gardeners that volunteer there met up last Sunday to weed and tidy the plots and pathways, put fresh compost down and share which crops did well for them. It was interesting to find we have a phantom planter, as nobody confessed to establishing a line of fabulously flowering osteospernum plants along the outer path edge. So obviously we have a secret and shy gardener who would be welcome to join us if they made themselves known!
We are still establishing the slope within Fremantle Park, and gradually removing brambles and shrub runners as they try to reappear, with the view to putting some fruit bushes and more flowering plants there in 2022. The strip of annuals we planted in the spring have made a lovely display and on looking to see if it needed cutting back and removing, although a trifle battered, was still full of flower and alive with bees, so we have left it and probably will not remove anything now until the first frost or the plants give up the ghost themselves, whichever comes first. Rita, our queen of plant propagation and flower seed sowing, planted some donated iris roots and perennial wallflower plants she had grown from cuttings – something the bees just love!
Talking of donations, the Hyth Hops group got in touch with offerings of free beer from Hopfuzz and Docker brewery, a can or bottle from each brewer to all hop growers to say thank you for the donated hops grown within the collective. In true community spirit, all the gardener names were entered into a lucky dip, and two were chosen to be the lucky recipients. There are cans of ‘red-green hop’ available in the Sandgate village shop if you are still yet to sample some of the fresh ‘green hop’ brews.
Still on the subject of donations and especially community spirit, we are pleased to advertise and take part in an event on Saturday 20th November 11am to 3pm at the Radnor Park Bowls Club, called ‘Disco Soup’. The idea is to take part in transforming surplus food into a community feast, and activities will include apple pressing, learning how to fement food in jars, and various craft stalls. A great day for the family, and a wonderful way of using food which may otherwise have gone to landfill. See the poster below for more information and how to take part.
What’s next?
This week seems to have been all about ‘almost’, ‘not quite’ and ‘maybe’.
It is difficult to pinpoint, but along with the changing of the weather and the season, there is a shift in how our volunteers are having to arrange their free time to fit in with a change in work patterns, trying to grab a holiday before winter sets in, visiting or being visited by friends and family. There has been a sprinkling of ill health, medical procedures, and various ‘jabs’ of one sort or another topped with a bit of COVID ‘pinging’ just to add to the mix. We have had some new faces too, which is refreshing, and always interesting to know why people seek us out and want to come along. The good news is we are a friendly bunch!
We have been in talks for some time to try to get access to a supply of good compost. We established contact with a farm just outside Folkestone where they actually make compost to put on their own fields and sell the remainder to other farms in Kent. The farm owners are keen to support us by bringing a large trailer load of the ‘black gold’, however, at the last leg we got scuppered by the fact that their enormous tractor is too large to gain access to the tipping site. Not knowing anybody in the locality with a spare smaller tractor or transport happy or able enough to help us out, we find ourselves back to square one until we can find a solution to the dilemma. Oh well!
We have managed to complete the ‘what’s next?’ list – the onion sets and garlic all got planted, the remaining mustard plants were nestled into some mushroom crates and housed in the cold frames, and will now be spending their time under cover until the spring returns. The flowering plants and seeds are being looked after with the view that they will be planted or sown and in place for next year, wherever that may be, in Sandgate. The tree leaves are starting to fall in greater numbers now, mostly bypassing the autumnal riot of colour and simply dropping. So begins the prolonged clear up, not forgetting that they are a useful resource and go straight to the compost bin as lying around on top of some of the leafy growing crops like spinach or chard can make them start to rot and encourage slugs or snails which we have in plentiful supply as it is. In fact the appearance of many a hole in the various crops verifies just how warm and wet it continues to be. It all goes to show how organic we are though, and accepting that you have to share your food with insects, wild animals and molluscs, although it is never good to find something sharing at the same time!
Talking of sharing, we are sharing our words of wisdom and experiences in the garden with Explore Kent. Their website can be found here Get Out and Explore Kent – Explore Kent and we were asked to send some pictures of the garden and contribute autumnal and wintery ‘blogs’ on what we are up to and all that can be done in the garden. There is always plenty to be done during the colder months and quite amusing when the assumption is that we will be ‘shutting down’ for the winter to then re-open again in the spring.
What’s next?.
Have you ever wondered what happens to the town’s bedding plants when the season is finished? We certainly have, and made some enquiries with Folkestone and Hythe horticultural department that carry out all the summer and winter floral displays all around the area from the parks to the street planters.
Most of the plants are annuals, which means after their display, they are literally exhausted and finished, fit only to be composted. Some of the plants are perennials and can survive all year and come back to flower once again. These were the plants we were interested in, as there were quite a few of them from dahlias to verbenas, gazanias and salvias. It seems that most of the plants are removed from the beds and reused which is good news. We were concerned that these plants might also end up on the compost heap and were keen to rescue them if that were indeed the case, and put them to good use in some of the areas we are looking after.
However, having removed all the plants the council decided that they did indeed have a few too many perennials left and offered them to us. Always keen to save valuable resources, we jumped at the opportunity, and liberated several plants which we shared with the Incredible Edible team. Many thanks to Folkestone and Hythe Council for thinking of us for these spare plants, and you never know, after planting out the winter bedding, there might be the possibility of a leftover plant or two – you never know! The great thing about gardening is that nature is the master of recycling, and nothing is wasted. Plants give their all by flowering or providing fruit/vegetables, and even when finished make the best compost, and the cycle continues.
Talking of compost, our compost heaps all got turned this week, which was warm work! Bin 3 which contains the finished compost got turned out and put onto empty beds, whilst bin 2 was turned into the now empty bin 3. Bin 1 was full to bursting with all the new waste from veg peelings to finished plants, and got turned into bin 2, leaving an empty bin 1. By Saturday, bin 1 was half full again, but you can be sure that by the time we return for our garden session on Wednesday the compost will have started to rot down and make some more room! Turning the compost gives an opportunity to mix the ingredients together for a perfect end result – too wet, then add some brown or dry ingredients, too dry then mix with green (wet) ingredients. Always interesting to see the compost wildlife, especially the worms, hard at work.
As well as flexing some muscles turning the compost, the onion sets and garlic got planted, and hundreds of broad beans sown in anticipation of an early crop next year. Planting or sowing into modules has given us time to empty some of the beds over the next month or so and cover them with a new layer of compost to benefit all the plants in that bed for the next year.
As the days are starting to shorten, the garden is entering a new phase in preparation for the winter to come. The dominant summer planting making way for the hardy autumn and winter crops. Leafy chard, spinach, cabbage, kale and sprouting broccoli alongside the roots of swede, celeriac, and parsnips. Their time is about to come, and some first pickings have been made. These plants enjoy a slower pace unlike their summer predecessors, often maturing at different rates with an ability to be left in the ground or on the plant until required. A useful state in a family allotment, but probably not appreciated in a community garden where the demands on fresh vegetables is at a premium – no time for storing or biding time, unless the destination is a jar of chutney or frozen meal of course!
What’s next?
The return of some warmer and drier weather was certainly a welcome relief, and on Saturday the garden was alive with butterflies, bees and dragonflies, as well as gardeners and visitors all making the most of it. Such a contrast to the previous Saturday, with lashing rain and high winds, After the garden session, there was a migration to the harbour to at last sample the green Hythe Hop beer and very good it was too.
Here is some information from Hythe Hops about where you can sample the green ale from Docker and HopFuzz but you will have to be quick as it will not last long.
“Official launch of 2021 Docker and HopFuzz Green Hop Ales made using our hops takes place at Docktoberfest at Folkestone Harbour (East Yard) from 12 noon Saturday (9th October).
“The same Green Hop Ales (Red Green Hop Ale and HopBuzz) are to be/have been distributed to the following local pubs:
Beer Shop – Folkestone
Docker Tap Room – East Yard, Folkestone Harbour
The Goods Shed – Canterbury
Unit 1 – West Hythe
Bouverie Tap – Folkestone
Broken Drum – London
Duke William – Ickham
Freed Man – Deal/Walmer
Hidden Treasure – Dymchurch
Inn Doors – Sandgate
Larkins Alehouse – Cranbrook
Lighthouse – Deal
Smugglers – New Romney
Tankerton Arms – Tankerton
Three Mariners – Hythe
Unit 1 – West Hythe
Waterworks – Rye
“We cannot guarantee precisely where and when beers will become available or sell out so if you’re planning to make a special trip to any please check with the pub first.”
Very busy as usual in the garden. Some spare plants, seeds onion and garlic sets were handed over to the nursery children at Saga so that they can get planting and sowing. We always look forward to seeing what they are growing in their playground. We took down the last of the tomato plants, cleared the ransacked beetroot bed where the badgers had helped themselves, and removed the dwarf beans. We now need to get the cleared beds prepared for new plantings, and make space for the compost heaps to be turned as our current bin is really full to bursting.
On Wednesday after the garden session, some of us made our way to the Folkestone Fringe event ‘Re-Rooting’ to set up our planter and plants. The planter will be there until the 30th October. We enjoyed setting it up and being able to take part in something different, and hope that visitors will enjoy seeing what is looking good in October.
Below is a picture showing some of the fungi that has suddenly appeared on the plot and in some of the beds. Fungi is a welcome sight and we just let it be to do its thing as it does no harm. So much to understand still about the role of fungi in the garden, but as an organic ‘no dig’ garden it certainly encourages plenty of it.
What’s next?
Well, it has definitely all changed for wetter and cooler weather! The rainfall for September was at 3.9 mm for most of the month until the very endo when it surged to 40.5 mm. It has probably rained more than that in the first couple of days of October.
Docker brewery had to postpone the launch of the green Hythe hop new brew until Saturday 9th October for fear of losing their gazebo on the harbour to the high winds, let alone the lashing rain. We were only thinking how fabulous the banana tree was looking in the Enbrook garden with a full set of leaves, and took a photo before it was tattered to bits.
Unfortunately the leeks added to the plant confusion as to which season we were in and also started to flower, which is totally unheard of in October. With any luck the trend will be over and it will be clear we are now in autumn.
Arms full of herbs got collected this week and sent to a ‘wild remedy workshop’. Whilst collecting some rosemary it was interesting to see that there were several metallic looking beetles amongst the leaves which after research turned out to be the Chrysolina Americana or rosemary beetle becoming established in the 1990s apparently, and originating from southern Europe. Luckily it does not do much harm to the plants and seems to have scarpered since the rain started anyway. However the weather has not deterred the badgers from demolishing the entire beetroot crop in one fell swoop, another reminder that it can be a BIG mistake to remove netting sometimes.
Sections of the netting around the garden have been damaged by our nocturnal animals, and one of the pictures below shows the holes created. The squirrels (or is it the foxes?) have worked out how to get under some of the netting and have great fun digging about in the soil. Not to be left out, a mole has worked its way from the other side of the garden wall and is happily pushing up the soil all around the tool box and compost heaps where we hope it will stay! The badgers seem to have turned their noses up at the winter radishes so far which we have just started to pull up, and very tasty they are too. Much larger than the spring varieties, they can get as big as a turnip and withstand winter temperatures although it is doubted they will last that long. The cheeky late sowing of winter lettuces had been safely tucked away in a cold frame making plenty of growth until the wetter weather encouraged just one snail to find them and make a meal of all but six – it only takes one snail.
The nursery children at Saga are keen to be planting up their pots and planters in their playground now that the summer is over, and we will be supplying them with a few cloves of garlic and onion sets to plant, along with a few broad beans and mustard plants. They have visited the garden to see what is growing there as part of their educational walks around the park grounds.
This coming week we are pleased to have been asked to take part in an exhibition as part of the Folkestone Fringe, called ‘Re-Rooting’. We will be installing a large planter in the window of the venue at the Shakespeare Centre in Sandgate Road, full of plants with information on their medicinal uses and any associated folklore. Six volunteers from the garden have stepped up to the plate to get the job set up and eventually dismantled. The exhibition will run from 8th to 30th October (Thursday – Sunday 11am to 4pm) just incase you happen to find yourself in that vicinity and feel in need of a cultural experience as apparently there will be four artists exhibiting their work at the event too.
What’s next?
The unseasonable weather has continued this week with a possible break coming soon of cooler and possibly wetter conditions.
It has been interesting how the autumn plants have fared under unusual circumstances. Used to thriving in a typical autumn, the Chinese cabbage has bolted, and the mustards are trying to do the same. You begin to wonder if the sowing dates may have to be altered, however the daylight hours remain the same, and such plants need to be able to put on growth in the shorter days available before it gets simply too cold. It is a constant juggling act trying to get the conditions right, luckily most of the time we manage it. The cheeky sowing of some winter lettuces shot up within a couple of days – again, another gamble of taking chances.
We have started to think about the clearing of some of the beds, beginning with the Golden Valley Planters. Rita has been working hard over the months sowing collected seeds, taking cuttings, and nurturing lots of plants at home for putting out eventually in Golden Valley and probably parts of Fremantle Park too. The first job is to clear, cut back and pot up some plants, put down new compost and replant parts with new stock. A start has been made but now we are waiting for a decent downfall of rain as mulching a dry bed is not a good idea.
The new cold frames we had made this year have been languishing at the end of the garden being used every now and then in the earlier months to shelter a plant or two, but will now soon be starting to do their work. They are mighty heavy to move from one end of the plot to the other,so it was a case of waiting for some strong willing volunteers to be in the garden at the same time to be able to shift them into a space with the chance of getting some winter sun. They will need a bit of a clean up, but will soon be protecting those new winter lettuces and mustards so that we may have a few salad leaves even in the deepest darkest depths of winter.
Following on from last week – the Hythe Hops scheme made a second and final collection of the hop cones, making a grand total of 110 kg. Docker brewery have announced that the green brew from themselves and HopFuzz will be available from noon on Saturday 2nd October at the East Yard on the Harbour Arm. Some of us will be rushing over there straight after our gardening session that day to try it before it sells out!
The Hythe Environmental group were in the centre of town on Saturday 25th for their annual seed and plant swap with apple pressing going on at the same time. We took some of our spare seeds for exchanging, admired the apple press at work and tried some of the amazing fresh juice.
We would like to give a mighty ‘THANK YOU’ to the Sandgate Society for organising the walk and talk of the Sandgate Community Gardens and for donating the money raised to us, after expenses – we are indeed very grateful for £64.30 which will be going into the kitty towards all the seeds and numerous other things on our current wish list.
What’s next?
