Sandgate Community Garden

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.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 5th May: Gingerly Green – the polytunnel.

The rainfall for April was a respectable 65mm, definitely not as much as we have had in the past few months, but a good amount all the same.  We managed to dodge the rain for our two gardening sessions on Wednesday and Saturday, in fact those two days were positively spring-like, being warm and sunny.

The sprouting broccoli and the kale have all been removed and composted this week, as did some of the winter lettuce and some patches of nettles.  We love nettles and they have a place in a wildlife garden but not when they encroach on the beds and where we are directly working, so some of it had to go.  We sowed more lettuce seeds and calabrese to follow on from earlier sowings and have started to pull out some of the finished Spanish bluebells before they go to seed all over the place. 

We were most grateful to receive lots of flower seedlings from one of our friends of the garden Erica.  Erica has a beautiful ‘no dig’ allotment at Newington and every now and then we swap spare plants although it is probably fair to say that we end up with more from Erica than she possibly receives!  Some of the plants neither of us had any use for were passed on to ‘Gingerly Green’ during the week.  Gingerly Green has started a beautiful flower cutting market garden just outside of Densole on the Canterbury Road.  There is a polytunnel for growing indoors and many flower beds created outside which will be in full bloom during the summer and autumn months.  Gingerly Green is holding a plant sale next week to raise money for the Shed, the Folkestone Youth Project.  We took along some strawberry plants, pots of mint, lamium and lamb’s ears to boost the sale.

A couple of us went along to the Future Food Forum at the University of Kent in Canterbury on Friday.  It was a chance to meet local food producers, and to hear talks about the current state of the food industry from the issues of eating so many processed foods through to how food is presented to pull on our emotional intelligence.  It was very interesting – we are already aware of the issues created by our current food system but it was good to hear about how some of the smaller local companies are striving to support communities and to produce good nutritious food and what the cost of all that is to the consumer and the producer.  Again the big message was that change has to come from the bottom upwards and to form collaborations locally.  We are certainly doing that!

What’s Next?

• Start to sow the French dwarf, borlotti and runner beans

• Repot the squashes

• Sow more spring onions

• Keep weeding and do not forget to dead head some of the flowers

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 28th April: The wet and cold has been perfect for the slug and snail population.

How can it be possible that we will be in the month of May in a few days?  It managed to get even colder during the nights this past week, and it was not until the weekend that temperatures have improved a little but brought rain again. It will be good to be warmer, but it is the sunshine we really need to get the plants growing.  The wet and cold has been perfect for the slug and snail population, making short work of most of the calabrese, peas and cabbages.  Luckily we had a few spare plants, and having a network of other growers means that we can swap seedlings and hopefully help each other out if things fail.

Talking of friends, the ‘Friends of Napier barracks’ helped us out this week by bringing some volunteers to Fremantle Park to help start to clear the small orchard there.  It has been so very wet at the park this winter that it is still impossible to cut the grass there and our growing areas are also saturated making it difficult to do much there.  However the plants and especially the weeds are taking over.  We have our work cut out to make it presentable, but we have made a start.

We pricked out yet more seedlings this week so that the two greenhouses at Pent farm are full to bursting!  More courgettes and squashes got sown to replace those eaten by a rogue mouse, and we even decided to sow some sweetcorn, thinking that we might well give it a try again this year despite the badgers.  It was feared that some of the seeds not eaten by rodents might have rotted in their pots before they had a chance to sprout but we were pleased to see just this past couple of days that many have indeed survived and are just starting to appear.

Most of the rhubarb has been growing well, but a couple of them have started to produce flowers already which is not a good thing when it comes to the production of rhubarb stalks, and so they were quickly removed before they got any bigger.  Most of the flowers we are of course delighted to see within the garden however it seems we are inundated by bluebells this year, many of which we shall have to remove just as soon as they are finished.  Happily they are not English bluebells but of the Spanish variety.  Nice to see them but they are taking up precious space.  Other flowers in full bloom this week are the calendulas, honeywort or cerinthe, and borage.  The lovely bright green of the oregano leaves makes for a good display too, and we are amazed at how fast the hops are starting to romp their way up the strings and supports.

What’s next?

• There are still beds to clear and compost to put down

• There is lots of lemon balm to remove

• Last push to get out all the sycamore seedlings

• Might be time to take out the purple sprouting

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 21st April: We must have pricked out more than three hundred marigold seedlings this week.

We were all feeling quite optimistic last week that the weather had taken a turn for the better and it was going to get warmer.  Unfortunately that did not last too long before we were back to showers and biting cold winds again, with no respite on the horizon for at least a week!

We have the luxury of sheltering our tender plants such as the tomatoes in a greenhouse on Pent Farm, however the growing pace has slowed down and some of them are showing signs of being too cold as there is no heating.  At times the temperature has gone down to four degrees during the night.  You can see from a picture below that the indigo tomatoes (a black variety) on the left, are showing their true colour, which they would not do ordinarily.  Our fingers are crossed that they can survive and perhaps pick up again soon.  It makes you realise how precarious it can be growing food at times because to lose all of our tomato stock at this stage would be not quite disastrous, because we do not have to rely on the food we grow, but a real shame.  There is nothing finer than home grown tomatoes picked fresh from the plant.

Another issue with greenhouse growing is that mice have an amazing ability to be able to get inside somehow, and find the more substantial seeds such as squashes and courgettes.  So it is that we shall have to sow more seeds found and eaten in this way.  There is always something that wants to eat whatever you are growing.  Remember this fact when buying fruit or vegetables from the supermarket how much in the way of chemicals have gone into producing that perfect product and the cost to wildlife and the soil.

We must have pricked out more than three hundred marigold seedlings this week for both Pent Farm and Enbrook.  Used as a companion plant, they add great colour to a site and can be as tough as old boots once they get going, able to flower until the first frosts.  There were also lots of zinnias and cosmos to tackle too and still plenty more that need potting on later next week.  One of the pictures below shows a nasturtium plant growing merrily away at the end of one of our compost bins.  The seed must have been composted but had the conditions to sprout and grow on probably because of all the rain.

What’s next?

• Still jobs carried over from last week such as lemon balm removal and repotting the pot plants.

• Prick out more seedlings

• Take out the last of the celeriac

• Put some compost on a couple of beds

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 14th April: All hands on deck and only time to chat if we were busy with a job as well. 

Things have picked up at a great pace this week with some lovely sunshine and warm days; we managed to get in two whole sessions at the garden.   Where we used to have plenty of time to chat and pack away early if all the tasks had been completed, this week it was all hands on deck and only time to chat if we were busy with a job as well. 

One of our gardeners had a sort out at home and brought some garden chairs up to the plot so that it was sheer luxury to sit in the sun on a proper chair sowing the courgette and squash plants.  More trays of radishes and spring onions got sown as well as more pots of leeks.  The calabrese, lettuces, spring onions, bulb fennel, and a few onions got planted. We were delighted to see that the potatoes are showing through the soil. The gooseberry bushes are in full flower as well as the honey berries.  The time sped by this week and there are still outstanding tasks which will have to be moved into next week.

On Thursday there was a visit from two of the Green Councillors, Rebecca Shoob and Polly Blakemore to our hot composter situated in the grounds of Folkestone College.  They were interested in finding out how the composter works.  We are always pleased to show off our great composter and are looking forward to the day when we have lots of compost to share with the wider community. 

What’s Next?

• Repot lots of the pot plants

• Take up much of the lemon balm overtaking the orchard area

• Sow more seeds

• Lots of flowers to prick out and pot on

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 7th April: The rainfall for March was another massive number, 148mm.

It continues to be wet and windy with a few sunny periods.  We dodged the rain on Wednesday morning to plant out the early cabbages, beetroot, spring onions, and kohlrabi.  Saturday saw the planting of the coriander plants and the sowing of many zinnias.  The carrots and parsnips got sown in situ, being the only seeds we put directly into the ground unless you count potatoes as a seed!  With the amount of rain showers we have been getting, at least we are saved the job of having to water all the new plants in.  Some of the new plants got a covering of fleece to keep out the wind and give some protection from pigeons. 

Not surprisingly there is a massive amount of slugs and snails on the plot, hiding in all the nooks and crannies; however it seems we must have a thrush on site as there is a place strewn with many broken snail shells, so it is pleasing to know that nature is trying to help us out at times.

We had a small patch of celery which did very little last autumn and so we left it there as a cover crop, but it seems to have suddenly woken up and got growing again after a long winter slumber, and so before it goes to seed we cut it out and rescued what there was to eat.  It is surprising how some things have come through the winter and are proving to be still alive; even the lemon verbena has just begun to sprout new shoots.  The hops are really starting to climb, and so we have to pinch out many of the surplus shoots.  Instead of composting them, they will be steamed and eaten as apparently they are similar to asparagus which will be a bonus if true!

Apart from all the planting and sowing of seeds we are STILL tackling the millions of sycamore seeds.  Below is a photo taken of one sycamore seedling sprouting out of the wall at the brook end of the park, which only goes to prove quite how resilient they truly are.  The battle continues.

What’s Next?

• If the weather is good, start to sow the squashes

• Sow more spring onion seeds

• Sow more leeks

• Pot up and remove lots of lemon balm

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 24th March: Six Inches of Soil.

Happy Easter!

The clocks have changed and the Easter holiday season is upon us.  We have had less of the wet stuff this week and temperatures are gradually rising. That, combined with longer daylight hours, means the seedlings are starting to grow even faster.  This is of course a good thing – apart from the sycamore seedlings covering the plot which continue to plague us. 

We cut the very first asparagus spears which were really fat and juicy, unlike the pickings of the sprouting broccoli which are starting to lose some vigour, becoming smaller and more spindly with each harvest.  It will eventually get to the point where we cannot be bothered to pick the small offerings and decide to pull the plants up.  The Nero kale had started to flower and so they were removed and composted. The curly kale is showing no sign of flowering just yet. 

Wednesday was a particularly busy day with a ‘Green Impact Forum’ organised by the Kent Community Foundation.  It was a great opportunity to listen and contribute to discussions around green issues – to be able to catch up with acquaintances as well as meet new individuals and community groups. 

In the evening there was a showing of the much awaited documentary film ‘Six Inches of Soil’.  The film is about regenerative farming, following three new farmers over the year in 2022.  It was truly inspirational, and gives hope for a much needed overhaul of our farming and food systems.  The film is touring the country and the message will hopefully get to as many people as possible.  The film was paid for through ‘crowd funding’ and has been several years in the making from start to finish – it has been a long wait to eventually see it.

Talking of filmmaking, one of our gardeners, Theresa, has been awarded winner of the best environmental film at the Folkestone Film Festival for her story ‘I Am Tree’.  Theresa was so upset at the loss of several trees in Sandgate because of housing developments recently, that she felt inspired to write the script and get the film made.  The sky is the limit now as the film goes on to other film festivals and we eagerly wait to see how it fares.

It seems there is no end to our gardeners’ talents.  We were treated on Saturday to two different types of homemade sourdough freshly baked that very morning for us to trial.  Both loaves were absolutely delicious and won our votes!  We continue to swap recipes and share good food as the learning certainly does not stop with just the growing and sharing of the food we grow in the garden.

What’s Next?

• Keep attacking the sycamore seedlings

• Plant out some of the early cabbages

• Plant out the beetroot

• Check on the growth of the hops

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 24th March: Unleash the ladybirds.

We were lucky to be able to get along to our gardening sessions Wednesday and Saturday without being rained on although it seems to have rained for most of the other days.  On Saturday there was a biting wind so that sitting still for too long pricking out seedlings was not to be recommended.  However we did for a while so that the aubergines were potted up for the greenhouse at Pent Farm, and yet more tomatoes pricked out to go with those we did on Wednesday.

Wednesday felt warmer than Saturday, and it seems the ladybirds thought so too, enough to come out from their hibernation spaces which it seems are in all the nooks and crannies of the entire fence.  They were appearing in droves, sunning themselves on the fence, then flying off mostly into the garden.  We have never seen quite so many in one go.  We have seen plenty before but never as many as this.  It is a good job they are a friend of the garden or we would be in trouble for sure.

We have been rewarded with some sprouting broccoli, the bits that did not get eaten by the pigeons, and were somewhat bewildered to understand why what should be purple sprouting is actually white.  It is just another example of seed companies having free reign to mostly do as they like and you can never really be sure of what you are getting until you do the growing.  It tastes the same of course but it was not what we were expecting.

Talking of tasting – Leanne, one of our gardeners, has just completed a course to qualify in Nutrition in Culinary Practice.  Her final task was to create a five day menu, and needless to say she came top of the class with some of the most interesting recipes.  She brought along to the garden some pickled magnolia flowers, which it has to be said were delicious – who would have known unless you try these things.  As a group we are proud of her achievements and will be interested to see how her career develops as a result.

The potatoes got planted, although it was a case of having to remove yet more sycamore seedlings where they had previously been hoed just a few days before, to give space for the spuds.

Hard to believe it will be Easter this coming week, and the clocks will be going forward.  This year seems to be galloping by fast!

What’s next?

• Keep hoeing those sycamores

• Finish staking the broad beans

• Remove the last of the spring onions

• Label the potato bed

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.