Sandgate Community Garden

No more procrastinating this week, and glad to report that jobs like repairing the flat wheelbarrow tyre and finishing the post wiring is under way and getting done, always satisfying to complete tasks that nag at you to get them finished.

At last the weather has broken and the much welcome rain will do wonders to loosen up the soil and bring long awaited relief to plants that we choose not to water, in preference to those that really do need it.

The new signs seem to be working well for us, and Saga has added their own just by the first gate, and very smart it is too.

Our experiment to find out if any of the horse manure added to the compost bins is affected by Aminopyralid (a herbicide which remains active) seems to be going well, and happily nothing seems to have happened to the tomato plants or cucumber planted into it.  If Aminopyralid was present, the leaves of the plants would curl up, and they would fail to thrive – so far so good.

Just to add to the mix of wildlife evident on site, a mole has decided to come over and rummage around too.  The best dining place for our friend seems to be the compost bins where there are always juicy worms, and mole hills have appeared all around the composting area.  Our constant companion never afraid to show themselves is a very friendly robin.  Always there singing loudly just as soon as we start any work, they dive into the cloches as soon as they are opened and quickly pick up anything they can find to eat.  We had a blackbird caught in the strawberry netting which was most upsetting.  Luckily we are on site every day and the bird was quickly released and was happily uninjured.  With the strawberries proving irresistible to all the wildlife, maybe we should just consider removing the netting and leaving them to it, or filling the entire plot with strawberries in the hope of getting a few to eat ourselves!

The warmer weather and rapid new plant growth has brought the arrival of aphids, the predators that feed on them are slower to appear, and so we have had to use a mild soap solution to deter the pests until, we hope, the cavalry arrives to help us out.  Luckily we are just starting to see a few ladybirds and their larvae around.

Most striking this week has to be the fragrance that wafts around the garden from all the flowers currently on show, just delightful.  Sheer pleasure is to take some time out, sit on the bench, and take it all in…….sea view, flowers, wildlife; a little piece of heaven right here in Sandgate.

Bee news – Ray and Chris have reported that the new Buckfast bees have really been busy and now have a ‘super’ added to their hive for them to move into.  They are probably enjoying the flowers just as much as we are.

What’s next?

• If more of the onions have started to topple over, they are ready to be lifted and dried.

• Check to see if any of the first early potatoes are swelling

• Tie in plants as they grow

• Pinch out tomato plant side shoots

• Re-pot mint

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This hot and dry weather has brought things on really fast, and it is a race to get as much as possible into the ground and keep up with the watering.  It is very interesting the differences between the planting zones we have in the garden.  We have the very fine silty, sandy soil up against the wall, where the water rolls off the surface and runs away; we have some zones that have not had any compost added, or very little, and when dry is as hard as concrete; and then there are a  few improved areas which are easy to plant into, soaks up and retains the moisture but unfortunately attracts the badgers and probably foxes as they are great areas to find some good fat juicy worms, and so we replant after every wildlife foraging session!  The badger has just turned its attention to the strawberry patch, and frustrated by the netting, formulated the plan of sticking its nose as far into the mesh as possible and straining the ripe strawberries through the strands of net.  How very resourceful.  It will probably be a fact that we can kiss goodbye to the sweet corn too when that ripens.  We just have to appreciate that we are creating a restaurant for the wildlife, and will be sharing certain things.

We have now started putting up some signs around the garden so that there is more information about what is being grown, and when a gardener is definitely going to be there, (although somebody is around at some point during the day).

The broad beans and garlic did mature this week, and have made way for more summer plantings of squashes, beans and tomatoes.  The courgettes and cucumbers did get planted, and there were more sowings of salad leaves and beans.  The leeks sown in April have been potted up and are on standby for when the potatoes finish maturing which will be in June or July depending on the variety.

Can you believe there is actually a frog in our wildlife pond/puddle?  That is one brave frog considering the current low water situation and lack of pond plants!  Even though we know the pond still needs working on, there are always birds in there having a bath, as well as queues of honey bees having a drink, and we have this week been seeing dragon flies having a look too.  It is great to think that it has attracted some wildlife already, and no doubt the badger has been in there too!

What’s next?

• More signs to be put up to give more information on the garden.

• Plant out very last of squashes and cucumbers etc.

• Water, water, water…. But in a smart way

• Prepare the ground where the garlic was, for planting

• Stop putting off getting the wheelbarrow wheel fixed and the last of the fence post wires being put in!

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We swapped the cold windy weather this week for warmer windy weather.  We bit the bullet and started the changeover from spring, to summer plantings of courgettes, beans, squashes and sweet corn.  The Zinnias and cosmos are in their bed, and the dahlias next to them.  We have put in runner beans again this year, but the way the poles were being rocked about in the wind this weekend, we have to be realistic that they might find the plot too harsh to thrive, and stick to dwarf beans instead.  The courgettes and squashes have had covers put over them for a while until they establish a few roots and will not be ripped out by the wind; however the fencing is definitely helping.

We have been overwhelmed by community kindness this week.  Upon reading about our unknown nocturnal visitor in our last newsletter, Chris (one of our beekeepers), set up a camera in the garden to see if we could capture on film just what was going on.  We got film clips of one of our gardeners doing some late evening watering (well done Theresa), a few cats, birds, a fox, and then amazing footage of a badger strolling around and generally having a great time.  He was there the next night too and confirmed just what we had thought. There is a picture of the badger attached, and a short film has been uploaded to our Instagram and Facebook pages.  Chris has since kindly donated the camera to the garden and so we will be able to keep an eye on local wildlife when we are generally not around.

A local gentleman brought some spare wire fencing, up to the garden for us to use, and five people all came along at various intervals loaded with their spare tomato plants, having heard the plight of ours that were lost to the cold last week – thank you Erica, Sheila, Gill, Andrea and Rosie, how amazing and wonderful you are!  Thank you. 

We had a few of our own spare plants that went to new homes on Wednesday, and we were donated a total of £30.65 to buy more seeds/plants.  As well as having many people drifting by to pick up new stock, we have had plenty wandering past just to have a look at what is growing and to have a chat about all things fruit and veg.  We have had so many compliments, which is a great tribute to our gardeners and the hard work they put in, planting, weeding, watering and staking.

What’s next?

• We appreciate that there is not enough information on display in the garden, and so one of our gardeners has been busy making chalk board notices which we will start to display around the garden.  There is also a new sign kindly being supplied by Saga which will eventually be situated outside the fence.

• Keep an eye on the broad beans and onions/garlic for signs of going over.

• More plantings of courgettes and maybe cucumbers if the long term weather is settled

• Keep checking the watering situation

• Sowings of more beans plus lettuces for summer

• Still need a wheel kit for the wheelbarrow and fencing fixings

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The very first newsletter documenting the beginnings of the garden was dated 17^th May 2019, and so we are now one whole year old!  Seems incredible as so much seems to have happened in that time, and so the story continues to develop!

It has been a fight with nature this week.  It started with a turn in the weather from warm sunny days to an arctic blast of wind and cold that ripped the fleece from our tomato plants, shredded and froze them.  Some of them will survive but it goes to show you can never be complacent and take things for granted.  It would be interesting to be able to set up a camera in the garden to log it’s visitors as it seems we have a fox or possibly a badger that enjoys getting into the net cloches and running amuck, digging holes and throwing plants about, possibly looking for worms to eat.  We often have to replant, although they do not seem to care much for the turnip patch.  Nature has a great way of reminding that we are not the masters of all things, just to keep you on your toes.

Happily we still managed to move onwards, and have planted some sunflowers.  Last year we had three plants close to the wall, and they towered over the garden.  We have planted over a dozen outside the garden and up against the wall and hope they will put on a fabulous show this year.  We also planted some zinnias, for cut flowers, a few more turnips and celeriac plus some sweet corn, with the view that we might have turned the corner in the weather now.

We brought our spare plants along on Saturday, and had a steady trickle of people looking for an addition or two for vegetable plots.  However we still have a variety of squashes, summer and winter, plus a few cucumbers and bell pepper plants available this Wednesday from 10am to midday.  So avoid the huge queue at the garden centre, and come to the garden instead.

Bee news

Ray and Chris are happy that the bees are settling into the job of increasing the colonies and collecting plenty of pollen.  They make regular inspections, but never if it is too cool as this would be detrimental to the temperature inside the hive.  The bees can often be seen drinking from the pond, and if not very careful, swimming in it too!  Luckily there are various places they can escape.

The pictures attached are of massacred tomato plants and a reminder of last year’s sunflowers.

What’s next?

• Watering new plantings and seedlings as no rain is in sight yet again

• Plant cosmos and dahlias

• Might be able to plant bush and runner beans this week, and a few courgettes

• Check onions and garlic for flowers

• Finish mulching the hedge

• Get some more fixings for the wired posts, and a new wheel for a wheelbarrow!

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We had a delivery of compost which was able to be tipped straight into the garden, so there will not be any complaints about having to barrow it up the hill, what a result!   We have also made some compost storage areas so that compost we make can be stored until the winter, as well as any we might be able to get our hands on over the next few months.  Concerned about aminopyralid arriving in horse manure which has been added to the compost heap, we have created a trial bed and will grow some tomato plants in it over the summer to see if this nasty weed killer is present.    Aminopyralid is sprayed onto grass to kill broad leaved weeds, the grass is made into hay, horses eat the hay, and when the manure is collected, the weed killer is still active and can kill or seriously affect whatever is grown in it.  The problem is that horse owners buy in much of their hay and will have no idea if it has been sprayed.  We will let you know if our trial bed is clear of it!

Compost is probably the most important feature of a ‘no dig’ garden, it is what makes the health and vigour of all that is grown there, and it will take at least another year of adding lashings of the stuff until we can say we have decent enough soil.  Our five compost bins were all full and were turned into the first wooden container this week; always interesting what you might find inside!  This time it was a silver spoon.  We are always losing secateurs, pairs of scissors and pen knives in the garden, so we are constantly on the lookout, but the spoon must have come with some kitchen waste.  Happy to say, something we do not find any more in the compost is tea bags.  It has taken a long time for it to sink in that they are made with plastic, and would be forever present amongst the vegetables, unable to break down into the soil – now we know!

Talking about soil health, we won a prize from the Permaculture magazine – a 20kg bag of volcanic rock dust!  A remineraliser, It will not go very far, but is another organic way to add that extra bit of vitality.

The other half of the asparagus crowns arrived this week, and they were quickly planted.  We now have another three years to wait until we can harvest just a few spears.  It certainly is a waiting game, but definitely worth it.  We were given some primo raspberry plants, thank you Anna and Eddie, as well as a few more strawberry plants.  Celery and celeriac got planted, Hamburg parsley (it has a root like a parsnip, with leaves that are similar to parsley) was sown, and the galloping potato plants got another covering of compost which they have already burst through.

We have enough cardboard to have covered most of the garden it seems, so many thanks for those of you that have kindly been bringing piles of it to us.  We might just about have enough now but will be making the odd patch or two if any weeds manage to work their way through.

All the cucumbers, courgettes, cucamelons, summer and winter squashes have been potted up, and spare plants will be at the garden on Saturday 16^th between 10am and 12 noon.  So if you are looking for any of these, fancy trying something different, or……. murdered your own plants – come along and pick something up (but not coronavirus, so remember about the distancing and keeping safe!)

What’s next?

• No rain in sight, so keep watering certain areas

• Keep picking

• Find some grass cuttings to mulch the potatoes one last time

• Get together any compost currently outside the garden and move it to the holding area

• Mulch the rest of the hedge with the old compost

• Pinch out any flowers appearing on the onions and garlic

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Next release of spare plants will be Saturday 16^th May, from 10am until 12 noon at the garden.  We have several outdoor cucumber plants, as well as some courgettes and a few squashes, maybe even a few cucamelon plants if they get a rift on!

We would like to say a big thank you to the Sandgate Society, for giving us another £100, which has already been put towards a lorry load of soil conditioner and improver.   There is only one part of the garden which has not been covered so far, and that is where the garlic and onions are growing.  Once they have been harvested, we will get to work and prepare the bed for planting up straight away with sweet corn, courgettes and squashes.  Thanks also to Tina for the pond weed and a couple of bee friendly plants for around the pond – much appreciated. 

We have had a little flurry of enquiries from a few people wishing to join us in looking after the garden.  Currently we are managing to work via our WhatsApp group by posting pictures and videos, and so it is difficult to integrate new members, but we hope they will bear with us until restrictions get lifted. 

This week we have been putting down even more paths with wood chips, and potting up lots of seedlings.  The potatoes have started to show themselves above ground and so we have covered them up with soil, or earthed them up, to give them extra growing depth.   Frustrated at the two month delay in the asparagus crowns delivery, and in spite of complaining that it was too late, half of the asparagus turned up in the post on Saturday morning and had to be transplanted to the prepared plot.  It will need some tender loving care for sure and we will certainly not be ordering from that supplier again.  Goodness knows when the other half of the order will appear!   One of the pictures below shows what a one year old asparagus crown looks like.  They are very large and these were more than 60cm in diameter.

Bee news

What a busy week in the bee section of the garden.  Ray has brought another colony of bees, kindly donated by his father Tony, with another queen and hive!  The bees are known as Buckfast bees, lighter and yellow in colour compared to the other dark bees already in situ.  So very exciting to have this new addition and it is interesting to see bees and work out if they are the honey bees, and if so from which hive, or if they are wild bees.  Ray and Chris will be spending some time making sure the new queen has settled with her colony and is starting to lay eggs inside the new hive.  From their last report, there were encouraging signs of this already happening.

What’s next?

• Might be able to remove all the fleece coverings if the weather is settled

• Might be planting the other half of the asparagus

• More weeding and path making if we have enough cardboard to put down first

• Check for any flowering onions and garlic, remove flower heads

• Compost bins are full again and will need turning.

• Bit more potato leaf covering required

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Considering our current situation it has been a busy week.  Many thanks to those of you that came along to the garden to get some tomato plants and apologies for those that made the trip in vain, as the plants got snapped up as if they were hot cakes.  We were donated an astonishing £72.20 which will go towards our immediate wish list of extra fine mesh to keep insects at bay, more compost or soil improver, and of course seeds.  The next spare plants will be cucumbers, courgettes and autumn/winter squashes, but not for at least two weeks.

We have been busy weeding, and planting more lettuces, a tray of Florence fennel and oca (the South American tuber, or New Zealand yam).  We also had a packet of butterfly, bee and bird attracting flower seeds to throw about, so we did just that! 

Our pond is currently looking a little sad, the plan was to get plenty of oxygenating pond weed and pond plants from a garden centre to help encourage the wildlife into moving to their des res.  Well, we have various pigeons and magpies dropping in for a bath, and a big fat water beetle has been seen in the murky depths, but that is about it.  If you have a thriving pond and can spare us some water weed or non-invasive pond plants, please get in touch as we would love to be able to get the pond to a healthy state.

Bee news

Ray and Chris have been checking on the bees and it has been really interesting to get updates and information about hive life.  Below is a pollen colour chart for the month of April, and a photo of one of the bees with some pollen in its ‘pollen basket’ on one of its legs.  There is also a picture showing the components of a bee hive.  We are learning something new about bees all the time!

What’s next?

• Grrrrrr…… The asparagus ordered in the winter has still not turned up and is now very late!

• More picking,

• More watering

• More weeding!

• More potting on of seedlings.

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We have over fifty tomato plants needing homes, so if you have not got yours yet, come up to the garden on Wednesday 22^nd or Saturday 25^th from 10 am until noon to collect some.  A small donation would be most appreciated, and help towards our running costs.

Thank goodness for some rain, it will make a world of difference; Sandgate often seems to miss any promised rain compared to other parts of Kent, so it was most welcome.  Temperatures have not dropped too far and some fleece covers have stayed off, and because of lack of greenhouse space, many plants now have to cope outside to make space for the courgettes, squashes and cucumbers!

This week, there were more sowings of carrots and parsnips between other established plants so that they will be ready to take pride of place once the first crop has gone. Some cauliflower plants got planted, but weeds got a good tackling too in the fight to keep space and soil goodness just for the fruit and veg being grown.  The posts did get wired, until we ran out of parts and the drill broke!

The first strawberry flowers have appeared, and so the strawberry bed has been mulched with straw to keep the anticipated fruit clean.  They will have to be netted to keep pests at bay. Talking of flowers, the wild/flower area around the banana tree is looking particularly good, and a picture has been included below.  Last autumn a lovely lady came up to the garden armed with a few anemones which she planted.  This lady works in Nepal for much of the year, and comes back to Sandgate every now and then, so we hope she sees the picture of how her flowers are now looking – absolutely beautiful.

Bee news

Bee keepers Ray and Chris are pleased with bee progress at the garden so far and the site has been registered officially on the government database for notifications of any diseases identified locally.  Astonishingly there are 115 registered apiaries within a 10km radius of our site!  Wow!

What’s next?

• Annoyingly late, the asparagus plants may turn up this week and need planting

• Salad to plant and sow

• Might have a first picking of salad and salad spinach leaves

• Pot on sown squashes, courgettes and cucumbers.

• Keep watering and weeding.

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These warm sunny days have started to bring the plants on at full speed and we are juggling with greenhouse/window ledge space.  All the plants that can cope with the cooler spring weather have been sown or planted, and we are now looking to starting to sow the warm loving plants such as courgettes, squashes, cucumbers and sweet corn.  There have also been new sowings of leeks and sunflowers, and planting of sweet peas, parsley, wild rocket, peas for pea shoots, and potatoes.  The first radishes planted March 1^st were picked this week as well as a few pea shoots – the taste of spring!

Rain promised in the weather reports failed to materialise, and so we had to start the laborious but now necessary job of hand watering with watering cans.  The trick is to water thoroughly but not that frequently, rather than a sprinkle every day…..  Water what needs it because of fast growth at a particular time, or is trying to get established, instead of watering everything at the same rate.  No rain in sight this week either, when there was so much of it not that long ago.

If you fancy growing some tomatoes this year and have not been able to get some seeds or have managed to murder your own already – we will have plenty of spare plants suitable for outside growing in pots or in the garden available in a couple of weeks.  We have cherry, beef, and yellow plum varieties, and a picture below shows just how strong and healthy they are looking.  More information next week on how and when you can get yours. 

Bee news

There are some pictures below of the bees inside the hive taken by Ray on his first inspection of the year.  It seems all is as it is to be expected at this point of the year which is reassuring, and the queen is in residence; she is the bee with the yellow spot painted on her.  Ray has observed, eggs, larvae and pollen stores within the hive, and in order to give the brood a good chance to grow into the season, has reconfigured the colony into a nucleus box which is sitting next to the hive.  He then set to work on some new super frames in anticipation of an expansion……

What’s next?

• Keep an eye on the weather as we have removed some of the fleece covers and they may have to go back on again if it gets too cool.

• Watering and weeding

• Sow carrots and parsnips direct

• Grrrrrrrr!  Still need to wire the posts for the plants to climb up, ran out of time this week again!

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So far so good at the Community Garden, managing our time and work amongst ourselves, using technology to communicate and get things done.  It can take longer, and more energy, but we have an enthusiastic and hardworking team, keen to make it work.

We are making sure we are following the guidelines given by the Government and the Council during this challenging time, and continue to refer to the Councils website about Allotments and their use:

‘We recognise that Allotments provide both mental and physical benefits to its gardeners and wherever possible that should continue.’

This week, the pond got more plants around the perimeter, and the wall is fully planted up with permanent trees and vines, to include this week, four Kiwi vines and a Tayberry.  We shall see how the Kiwis cope with our seaside climate!  All these vines, shrubs and trees will take up to six years or so to come to maturity, and so for a while we can interplant with a few seasonal  vegetables and herbs so as not to waste the space.

The broad beans are in full flower so it will not be long until the first pods appear.  Turnips, beetroot and coriander got planted, more sowings of celeriac, plus first sowings of welsh onions, lemon grass, basil, marigolds, nasturtiums, cosmos, chives, sorrel, and even woad!

Just a few more days to wait until the first sowings of cucumber, squashes and courgettes can be made.  It is tempting to sow them early, but a little patience often gives better results, and anyway, the greenhouse is full up!

Bee news

Ray seems confident that the bees are settling in to their new seaside address.  He has deliberately avoided opening the Langstroth hive so as to avoid the brood getting chilled, however this warmer weather will allow Ray to make his first of the year inspection, and to see just what is going on inside.  He will be looking to see if the old queen is still there, or if she has been usurped, and assessing the health and vitality of the colony.

What’s next

• Rain due Monday, but might have to water if not enough rain arrives.

• More seedlings to go out

• Sow leeks and some leaf beet

• Make more of an effort to get the posts wired!!

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