Sandgate Community Garden

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 18th August: The sweetcorn is swelling fast and fingers are crossed that we get to them before the badgers find them. 

Most of the week was really warm and so the fabulous downpour of rain during the early hours of Friday morning was most welcome, and enough for us not to have to water at all on Saturday morning, therefore saving us a good deal of time.

At last the hedge got the tidy up we had on our list of tasks for several weeks, and much neater it looks for it too.  It is always the case that jobs have to be prioritised, and this one kept being pushed back every week in favour of watering, planting and sowing seeds.

Many winter radish, mustards, and overwintering onions got sowed this week.  This is the first time we will have tried sowing onions for growing on over the winter, and is in place of buying onion ‘sets’ which are small bulb onions planted in October/November to harvest in July.  Seeds are much cheaper to buy than the sets, and it will be interesting to see the results and if we think it was a worthwhile thing to do.  We have always grown spring onions over the winter and they have always been most successful, cropping early in the spring.

We planted out a few mustard plants we were given, and the first of our Chinese cabbage plants.  Chinese cabbages rely on plenty of water to get growing at the speed they like to grow, and so we will have to concentrate on watering them as often as we can.

We have mentioned many times the slipper gourds we are growing from the Nepalese community simply because they are new to us and they are most interesting as a plant.  They are now starting to grow the gourds or fruits, but not in the place you would expect them to grow.  The plants are flowering, but not fruiting anywhere near the flowers, and this week we have observed that the plants are attracting all sorts of different flies from hover flies to the tiny and the downright big fat whopper flies (must confess we know next to nothing about flies).  They seem to find the flowers absolutely irresistible and we can only assume they have some part in the pollination, as there are no bees or wasps to be seen anywhere near them.

The sweetcorn is swelling fast and fingers are crossed that we get to them before the badgers find them.  Most of the squash plants have now set their fruits and we will be interested to try out the smaller acorn squashes.  Apparently they are sweeter than a butternut squash, and can be used to make deserts – so quite versatile it seems.

Just a reminder that we will not be at the garden next Saturday 24^th August as we will be working hard on preparing our plants for our much awaited plant stall at the Sea Festival the following day, Sunday 25^th, on the seafront.  Therefore this is a final reminder to put the date in your diary to come and say hello and see if there is something we can tempt you with and take home.

What’s next? 

• Really water those Chinese cabbages

• Sow some winter lettuce

• Consider protecting the sweetcorn

• Sort out which plants we are taking with us

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 4th August: The Nepalese slipper gourds are clambering away through the cucumbers.

Having just complained last week that there was a distinct lack of summer so far, summer arrived this week, and now it starts to look like we are back to cloudy, windy, showery days with a glimpse of sunshine every now and then.  Oh well, as we keep being reminded ‘it is England after all’.  The rainfall for July was an impressive 49.9 mm with another 4mm falling during the night as we went into August.  However, we must not grumble as it is a doddle to water these days and most of the plants are appreciating a decent frequent downpour. 

It has been quite a busy week with more tasks than there was time for, and so it was a question of prioritising what needed to be done first.  The coriander got sown, the Chinese cabbages got pricked out into modules, as did the wallflowers.  The leeks got planted, pulled out by the birds and replanted again the following gardening session.  We had just one dwarf bean plant being plagued by blackfly for some reason, and so we gave it a gentle spray with some soft soap and will have to keep an eye to check that the pesky flies do not try to infest any of the other plants.

The Nepalese slipper gourds are clambering away through the cucumbers and up their climbing frame, they are now flowering and so we are hoping to see how the fruits develop as we have never grown them before.

This year we also experimented with growing onions from sets bought in the autumn and planted in October, and from seeds multi-sown in February, and planted out in March.  Sets are more expensive than seed, and it was interesting to note that the onion seeds almost caught up with the onion sets.  We have grown onions using both methods but not side by side before.  We conducted most of the experiment at Pent Farm where there is more space.  It was also interesting to note the difference in growth depending on which bed they were grown in too – the compost used also affects their progress, with some onions being quite large, yet others in another bed were much smaller.  There is so much to learn.

Whatever happens we always aim to grow more plants than we need just in case something happens, as often does to vulnerable seedlings, and an annoying space is created when something keels over and dies.  So it was that we had at least two dozen decent lettuce plants waiting in the wings with nowhere to go but happily with a little advertising in all the right places, they found homes and are probably nestling down in their new abodes right now.

What’s next? 

• Still need to tidy up the hedge

• Have we got time to sow more wallflowers?

• Sow lots of spring onions

• Take up the onions and leave the beetroot to carry on – net them.

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 28th July: A squash seems to be climbing through the hedge.

How can it be nearly August when you have been waiting for the summer to arrive?  It will be really interesting to see what the rainfall has been for this month, it will be more than usual, and the cloudy days add up to make the month quite disappointing so far.  Oh well, some things are certainly enjoying it like most of the brassicas, the squashes are setting their fruits, (one is even climbing through the hedge) and we have picked the first of the courgettes.  The sweetcorn has also suddenly started to lurch skywards, and of course the weeds…

We planted some cabbages for late autumn / winter, and managed to get the purple sprouting in too which will start flowering next spring.  We pulled a few of our onions which were from seed this year, and picked the first of the dwarf beans.  The cucumbers are trying hard to do something, and the Nepalese slipper gourds started to flower.  We sowed some Chinese cabbages and potted up some donated bearded irises in preparation for our plant sale which is now a mere four weeks away on Sunday 25^th August at the Sandgate Sea Festival.  We have been busy collecting and growing all sorts of things for the day, so please get in touch if you have something we can sell to boost the funds. 

We had decided several weeks ago as a group, to have a picnic at Pent Farm.  Some of us work there, but only a few have been there to see the garden.  We were extremely lucky because the weather was just perfect and it was great for us all to be together at the same time, to share some delicious food and enjoy the beautiful surroundings. 

What’s next?

• Plant the leeks

• Check the dwarf beans for blackfly

• Finish tidying the hedge

• Sow more Chinese cabbages and coriander

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 14th July: Everyone you talk to in the growing world is saying the same thing.

We are still stuck in this weather pattern, and it seems that the cloudier, showery weather is to stay for a while longer.  Everyone you talk to in the growing world is saying the same thing about their heat loving crops – that they are struggling and really slow in getting going, so at least we are all in the same boat!

We cleared some weeds from around the pond which were climbing up above the other plants, as well as the Quaker grass which needed to be stopped from dropping all of its seeds.  The beetroot bed was cleared and more compost added, as was the pea bed.  We had a good crop from the small amount of peas we planted this year.  Initially planted for pea shoots, and then developed mange tout pods followed finally with big fat pea pods with as many as nine or even ten peas in each one.  They were really sweet and delicious, totally worth the task of having to shell them.

The radicchio seeds got sown, and we are just about to embark on starting to sow the seeds for more autumn crops such as winter radish and Chinese cabbages.  It seems unbelievable that this is where we are in the season when it feels like we are still waiting for summer to make an appearance.

A couple of us were on a course this week looking at the role of microbes in the regeneration of your gut biome and the regeneration of soil.  They are so very tightly linked together that the conversations spilled over from one to the other.  There is so very much to learn about all of this, and it makes you realise just how little we really know or understand about this whole area.

We are into the holiday season and many of our gardeners are either away or about to do so.  There will not be a newsletter next week on 21^st July, but we will be back the week after for more updates. 

What’s Next?

• Cut back the strawberry runners or they will be everywhere!

• Check on the pot plants, if they are pot bound

• Need to clear the bind weed in the tool box area

• Cut back the shredded leaves from the banana tree

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 7th July: Parts of the garden are starting to take on a jungle appearance.

The rainfall for June was 17.5 mm.  We are now into July and most of us have given up trying to predict what the weather is going to do as it swings from being chilly and windy to bucketing down with rain to glorious sunshine.  It is a proper rollercoaster.

Most things in the garden are coping well, and currently the weeds are coping far too well, popping up all over the place.  In fact parts of the garden are starting to take on a jungle appearance.  The pond has nearly disappeared, surrounded by growth, and where the herb garden is we can no longer see the bench although we know it is there somewhere! 

The slipper gourds got planted with the cucumbers; the Siberian kale, cabbages and Romanesco cauliflowers also got planted out.  The purple sprouting got pricked out into modules, and more got sown.  The tomatoes have been throwing out loads of side shoots which had to be removed apart from the Roma variety which never seems to like to conform to being a cordon tomato and insists on doing its own thing.  The chives collected for seed sowing, got sown into modules, with plenty left to carry on into next year.  Swiss chard, more coriander and parsley got sown.

The sweet corn is growing well amongst the winter squashes and is currently of no interest to the badgers until they develop their cobs.  However the badgers have been in the beetroot patch and chomped the roots, neatly leaving the stalks and leaves in a pile where they were growing.  We are not going to let them know that the cabbages this year are so delicious and sweet, and luckily they have never taken any notice of the spring onions – thank goodness!

What’s Next?

• Sow some radicchio

• Clear the beetroot bed and pea bed – prepare for replanting

• Repot some of the pot plants

• Clear some of the Quaker grass from around the pond

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 30th June: Regenerative farming today, from the politics, to the science, to the everyday practicalities.

The longest day has gone and we are hurtling into July, but luckily it has begun to feel like summer and at last the summer plantings are starting to respond to the warmth and sunshine.  We have stepped up the watering, and so the sweet corn, beans and squashes are putting on new growth fast.  The netting previously put over the beans to protect them when newly planted has now been removed as the flowers are just starting to appear and the insects will need to get to them.

The broad beans have now been stripped and removed, then a thin layer of compost added to the surface of the now empty plots in preparation for replanting as soon as possible.  We planted a few more dwarf beans, spring onions, kale and a few lettuces.  The intention was to plant out the slipper gourds too but we ran out of time and that task will have to be put forward to next week.

On Monday a couple of us were invited to see a flagship composting site in Cambridgeshire run by Envar Composting Ltd.  We thought that Hope farm composting set up was huge enough but this was something else again!  We were grateful to some of the staff tasked with showing us around the site telling us about everything they compost there.  It is so very interesting to be able to see how waste is dealt with on such a scale compared to anything we compost.

Groundswell, the regenerative farming festival, took place this week in Hitchin.  There were two whole days of innovative, fascinating talks on the up to date situation with regenerative farming today, from the politics, to the science, to the everyday practicalities.  It can be difficult to imagine how farming at scale can be compared with our tiny gardens, however it was entirely relevant in so many ways, and in fact there were many of our garden friends we have met along our gardening journey there too such as the farmers from Pent Farm, Rupert from Shelvin farm where we got our last delivery of compost, Rebel Farmer Ed, and plenty of other compost nerds we have made friends with.  There are now many new ideas to investigate and consider trying.

One of our gardeners, Theresa, has been working extremely hard on a project to bring a festival of theatre and comedy to Folkestone.  There are 33 shows with actors and stand up comics throughout the weekend of 12^th-14^th July at the Quarterhouse theatre and Grand Burstin Hotel.  Check out www.folkestonelive.com for more information and to buy tickets.  Hope to see you there!

What’s next?

• Really must plant the slipper gourds

• Plant out more Siberian kale

• Prick out the purple sprouting

• Sow more purple sprouting

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 23rd June: The potatoes not eaten by the badgers, and the figs are swelling.

Well, it looks like we might have finally turned some sort of weather corner, and can finally look forward to a spell of decent sunshine and warmer temperatures.  Of course that always means that we have to get out the watering cans so it is a mixed blessing.

On Monday there was quite a gathering at the garden when we had a large visitation from the Napier barracks to celebrate volunteer week.  Luckily the ‘Friends of Napier’ brought with them oodles of lovely cake, so by the time the lads had managed to empty our two newly delivered ton bags of compost and barrow it all up the hill into the garden, the cake was out and waiting for them to finish.  It must have only taken them about an hour if that!  Thank goodness too as it would have taken us ages to have done, and it means we can start to empty some of the plots and put down new compost before the next crop goes in.

Apparently the badgers in the park are very active at the moment.  One of our gardeners living close by has had a badger getting into her compost bin, probably after anything edible plus the worms.  Badgers have also been visiting us and decided to have a go at the potato crop.  They crashed about in the foliage digging up several spuds, chewed up lots and left a proper mess.  So it was we decided it might be wise to take up the entire potato crop because no barrier will be enough to keep out a badger if their mind is set to get in there and make a meal of something.  Many of the crop were quite small and could have done with some more time to grow but it was either harvest now or possibly lose the lot.

We were delighted to notice that the fig tree is showing a good amount of fruit which is starting to swell.  We shall look forward to trying to beat the birds to them later on in the season.

We got some more beetroot planted and the first of the kale is in and netted from the cabbage white butterflies, not that there have been any to notice.  In fact many folk are saying that there is a distinct lack of insects, even worse than last year.

Thinking of the state of nature, it was reassuring to see so many folk from Folkestone boarding the train on Saturday morning to go up to central London to take part in a huge demonstration called ‘restore nature now’.  With an election just around the corner, it will be interesting to see if come 5^th July when it is all over, if any of the protests have been heard.

What’s next?

• Clear the broad bean beds and refresh with compost

• Plant out more kale varieties

• Plant out the slipper gourds

• Weed the tomato bed – be careful of the basil in there!

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 16th June: Just as you are beginning to think that the weather in June could not possibly get any worse, it does.

Just as you are beginning to think that the weather in June could not possibly get any worse, it really does!  There have been some interludes when the wind is calm and the sun is out, but then it starts to rain again and blow a hoolie. 

We got some work done during our usual Wednesday morning session.  The spring onions got put out and so did some more dwarf beans.  Basil got planted out with the tomatoes and some got repotted into larger pots, more dwarf beans got sown as did yet more spring onions.  We have stopped picking the asparagus and the rhubarb to allow the roots and the plants to grow strong and enable them to survive the winter.  If we were to continue to harvest them it can seriously weaken them.

We spent some time potting up some donated house plants very kindly sent our way by Rita and Eddie.  We do not usually take house plants, but our yearly plant sale will be at the Sea Festival on Sunday 25^th August (make sure it is in the diary!), so we are preparing well in advance.  We took several cuttings from our sage within the garden too, and hope to have a good variety of plants available on the day.  Please do get in touch if you have any items to donate which we can sell at our stall.  Fingers crossed that the weather is good for the August bank holiday and we can get some money back into the bank for buying seeds and potting compost next year. 

A couple of weeks ago our newsletter mentioned a visit to a fellow compost nerd by the name of Rupert at Shelvin Farm.  On Saturday, whilst the garden session was cancelled due to high winds and rain, we received a delivery of some of Rupert’s compost.  Having seen how Rupert makes his compost, we know this will be good stuff, and that he tests to ensure it has the right biology that we will need to grow more great fruit and vegetables. A couple of us had spent two days this week collecting something like 12 tons of compost from Hope Farm, we delivered a little to the community garden, but most was destined for Pent Farm in the ongoing battle to get to grips with the clay soil there.  So far, we think that particular plot has had something like 30 tons of compost, and we are just starting to get somewhere, making it easier for the plants to get their roots into the soil.

Last year whilst visiting the Nepalese Community Garden, we were given a couple of slipper gourds which are a bit like a cross between a cucumber and a green bell pepper.  There were 10 seeds inside them which were collected and sown a couple of weeks ago.  Happily they have all started to grow and we are looking forward to planting a few of them at Enbrook park soon – maybe just as soon as it stops raining and warms up!

What’s next?

• Still need to clear around the tayberry

• Still need to sow more seeds

• Check the tomatoes for side shoots

• Get some plots ready for planting out more beetroot and the first of the kale.

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 9th June: Waitrose had to find homes for some of their tomato plants.

It has been dry for most of the week; however it certainly does not feel like June, with lots of cloud cover and a cool breeze most days. 

We got the tomato plants out last week, and whilst those at Enbrook Park are not looking too bad, those at Pent Farm, being more out in the open, are looking very cold and fed up and it could be touch and go if they survive.  Luckily there are plenty under cover in the greenhouse. 

It seems that Waitrose had to find homes for some of their tomato plants, and contacted us to ask if we could find a use for them.  We took a few, then the rest we passed on to Touchbase care, and the Nepalese community garden where they will find good homes for sure. 

The cucumbers and calabrese got planted this week and so did the sweetcorn in amongst the squashes.  We decided to be brave and give the sweetcorn another go – a favourite of the badgers, of which there are plenty within the park.  We did manage to grow some beetroot to a decent size which they have obviously not found yet otherwise they would surely have been taken – this has given us some hope.

After this last push of getting in most of the tender summer plants from beans to squashes, tomatoes, cucumbers and courgettes, it is now time to consider the planting for the autumn and winter already.  We sowed four varieties of autumn/winter cabbages, Romanesco and cauliflowers, of course the kale is already getting to a decent size and next week we will be sowing the purple sprouting which will take us into next spring.

Whilst snail searching, we noticed that one of the Kiwi plants has flowers and we must hold our breath to find out if they may actually produce some fruits.  We can but hope!

What’s next?

• Still need to clear around the tayberry

• Sow some purple sprouting

• Plant some beetroot and spring onions

• String up the cucumber plants

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 2nd June: ‘Flaming June’ it definitely is not.

There was certainly no need to worry about having to water the seedlings this week.  We have stepped into ‘Flaming June’ already, and ‘Flaming June’ it definitely is not!  There was 59.4 mm of rain in the month of May – it felt like there should have been more rain than that.  Fortunately this coming week is looking a little more hopeful, with some promised sunshine.

There was a very interesting talk on the growing of heritage wheat that goes into the baking of our lovely local sourdough bread made by Docker bakery.  Hinxhill Fields is a small local farm inherited by a plumber from his grandfather a few years ago.  The decision was to grow heritage wheat which is more of a niche market, rather than try to compete with the modern wheat growing industrial sized farms.  The harvest is only about 8 tonnes, and Docker is the main customer for their bread and for their brewery for certain beers.  It was lovely to see and hear the enthusiasm this plumbing farmer has for his flour and how he juggles both jobs, but in particular the pride he has in the finished product having followed its progress from seed to finished flour.

A few weeks ago we were approached by Veolia, probably best known locally as the waste management company, although apparently they ‘design and provide water, waste and energy management solutions’.  Their sustainability department was looking for a community garden in the district to launch their ‘sustainability fund’ to support projects that ‘make a positive, sustainable difference to local areas and deliver long-term social and environmental benefits’.  It seems that our garden would fit the bill for their event.  The team arrived on Wednesday morning all the way from Bromley, and were apparently blown away by our garden which ‘far exceeded their expectations’.  Needless to say we were glad to be of assistance in their task, and have made sure to apply for a grant from the fund – we shall have to wait and see if we are successful.

In the meantime, we were also approached by Taylor Wimpey and given £300 to spend on whatever we needed.  We were quick to treat ourselves to some new tools to supplement some of the rather old and sad specimens we had, plus some new trugs as our old versions had been repaired several times and have recently seemed to have lost the will to carry on any more.  We still have some funds in the kitty, and our thoughts are now starting to turn towards the eagerly awaited Sandgate Sea Festival on August Bank Holiday weekend.  This is the occasion when we work our hardest to boost our funds with plants and all kinds of paraphernalia.  Make sure you have Sunday 25^th August in the diary to come and visit our stall.

Several of our gardeners are also members of the Sandgate Environmental Action Group.  We meet at the old fire station on the last Thursday of the month.  The group has started to get together a new website which should be online soon, and includes access to an app called iNaturalist.  The app will allow you to upload observations of the wildlife found in Sandgate for the purpose of recording exactly what wildlife there is.  Within the gardens we often report on our observations of flora and fauna, and so it is a natural step to go on to record what we see on the app too.  This week we have reported the sighting of the red damselfly from last week’s newsletter and a Ginkgo tree which is also inside Enbrook Park.  The Ginkgo is one of the oldest living tree species in the world, and has a ‘long history in traditional Chinese medicine’.  You can see a picture of it below – it has a most distinctive leaf shape, so have a look for it when you are next in the park!

What’s next?

• Separate and pot up the sprouting banana trees

• Clear some space around the tayberry bush

• Plant out the sweetcorn

• Make space for the cucumber plants

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.