Sandgate Community Garden

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.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 26th May: Stake them, tie them in and remove the first of the side shoots.

There has been less of the wet stuff and more of the sunshine this week.  Everything in the greenhouses at Pent Farm has suddenly exploded into life and trying to climb out of their pots and so it has been the mission to get as much into the ground as possible, and as soon as possible

We planted the dwarf beans and the summer squashes – well we think they are the summer squashes as yet again we have had trouble with our labelling system so that we are totally unaware of which plants are which out of all the squashes we have sown.  The trouble is they pretty much look the same but of course as they grow we will be picking only the summer squashes but leaving the winter squashes to mature until the end of the summer.  We will be able to work it out as they grow and produce some fruit, but it would be good to be able to separate them out at planting stage.  Oh well we shall be observing them closely and making another mental note to take more time at the labelling stage to prevent such a mix up!

Having already planted the tomato plants, it was our job this week to stake them, tie them in and remove the first of the side shoots.  So far so good but as they start to really get growing, the keeping up of this chore is quite challenging.

We have been treated to a show of red and blue damselflies flitting around the pond and laying their eggs into the water.  Hopefully it will not be too long before we see the much larger dragonflies emerging.

The very wet conditions seem to have helped out the snail population no end and they are seemingly hiding, or not even trying to hide, all over the plot.  One of the Kiwi plants is coming into flower and you can see in the picture below it is full of snails.  So it was that we have spent quite some time this week getting to grips with the weeds which are helping the snails to find cover, and remove them at the same time. 

The fruit trees have finished flowering some time ago, and now the fruits are beginning to show themselves and swell.  Our trees are still very young and small and so we will be taking off some of the fruit very soon so that they only get to grow a few that are of decent size. 

What’s next?

• Plant out what we believe to be the winter squashes!

• Keep tackling the bindweed

• Plant out the beetroot

• Keep watering the new plantings regularly if there is no rain

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 19th May: The whole park is looking very lush and green with most plants larger than usual.

This past week has been full of sunshine and showers.  One day it is wall to wall sunshine and the next day it just rains and rains.  Consequently the whole park is looking very lush and green, most plants are just larger than usual, including our foxgloves which are currently full of flower.  Unfortunately the bindweed, mares tails and nettles have also had their growth accelerated, and having spent time lost at the base of other plants, have now started to emerge, tower over everything and make their presence felt.  It looks like next week will have to be spent concentrating on doing battle with the weeds and keeping them in check

After a recent delivery of fresh wood chips, a group from Napier barracks were booked to come out and help haul barrow loads of the stuff up the hill to the garden and lay them down on the paths.  The job was done in no time at all.

We have been commenting on how many lady birds there are on site, and last week about the first appearance of blackfly on the elder section of the hedge.  It seems from the photo below that the ladybirds are having a great time chasing after the blackfly but also each other in order to make yet more ladybirds.   Last week there was no blackfly on the broad bean leaf tips but by the end of this week we could see there were plenty of ants which means the blackfly have arrived.  The ants will collect the ‘honeydew’ which the aphids excrete, and will later defend the blackfly from the hungry ladybird larvae.  Sex and violence is going on at a truly epic scale right under our noses when you stop and take a close look.  We spoilt all the fun by pinching out the tips of the broad bean plants in order to discourage such behaviour.  Great steamed and eaten, that is the leaf tips not the ladybirds!

The tomato plants have all gone into the ground as have some companion plants in the shape of French marigolds.  We have taken a chance and have planted some giant sunflowers, always a risk as there are plenty of slugs and snails hoping to make a good meal of them and in the past they have been killed by the first strong winds that come along.  However we like to be optimistic and hope for the best!  We sowed three varieties of kale, some beetroot and more spinach.  The dwarf beans have just emerged in their trays and so it will not be long before we will need to plant them.  The greenhouses at Pent farm were bursting with so many seedlings last week but already we have made good progress in getting plants into the ground so that the greenhouses can be planted up with tomatoes, aubergines and peppers for the summer months in the next week or so.

We were very lucky to be invited to Shelvin Farm just outside Canterbury, to meet the farmer, Rupert.  Rupert is a real compost nerd and collects all kinds of waste from his farm to make tons and tons of the stuff which is sold and is also used on the farm as part of an experiment to study how runoff is reduced when compost is used to cover the fields, capturing the rain and holding it there for the benefit of the crops.  It was a fascinating visit, and it will be interesting to hear how the experiment goes.  We took away a couple of bags of his compost which has been tested and shown to be full of life and the sort of bacteria needed which plants love to get their roots into.

What’s next?

• We really need to get to grips with the weeds this week

• Get a few more marigolds planted

• Keep the hedge in check

• Get out some of the squashes

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 12th May: Finally we have got out the watering cans and had to seriously start watering.

It seemed inevitable that as soon as the warm and sunny weather arrived the garden would literally explode into life and start growing really fast.  Plenty of sunshine meant that it was a real pleasure to be in the garden, and now there are literally hundreds of plants sitting in the greenhouses at Pent Farm waiting to get their roots into the ground and to get out of their restricting pots.

This is the first week that we have got out the watering cans and had to seriously start watering, especially the tiny seedlings and pots.  However the broad beans are now starting to swell and so they could do with a watering too.

The rush of new growth has meant that we can see the blackfly population has suddenly shown itself.  Parts of the elder hedge are covered in them and of course this means that sooner rather than later their attention will turn to the broad beans.  In view of this, our next task must be to pinch out the tops of the plants which is no bad thing because it also means fresh tasty bean shoots for dinner sometime soon.  We reported some weeks ago that we were inundated with ladybirds, seen emerging from the crevices in the fence and it seems that they are still around as if anticipating there was a great feast to be had if they just hung around for a while. 

With the broad beans practically ready to start harvesting, it was our job this week to sow the dwarf, runner and borlotti beans.  The tomato plants are just about ready to go out now, and the summer and winter squashes will not be much further behind.  In preparation for this we have just started to put out some marigolds which brighten up the beds as well as make good companion plants. 

When most of our tasks were completed we turned our attention to the lemon balm which had seeded itself all over the place in one section of the garden.  It was a case of making a concerted effort to get to grips with the stuff, get it out and composted before it had the chance to start flowering and trying to start the process all over again.

What’s next?

• Pinch out the broad bean tops and check they are inside the string enclosures

• Move the small pots to the raised bed

• Take out and pot up more buckthorn runners

• Start to plant out the tomatoes

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.