How extraordinarily lucky we were that the Sandgate Christmas lights switch on event did not get completely washed out by rain which had been promised. A great community event, where so many people associated with the garden were present. It was a reminder that the creation of the community garden has brought so many people together and it was a busy evening meeting more friends at practically every corner. We paid for the lack of rain the following morning when it did make an appearance, but fortunately it stopped and the sun came out by 10 am and we spent a happy couple of hours getting on with our tasks. The rainfall for November was just 31mm, which was not surprising as we had to water in many of our new plantings during the month when usually the rainfall would have done the job.
With some drop in the temperatures this week, it was important to get some of the beds covered in fleece so that they have a better chance of surviving the winter. This was the case for the broad bean beds in particular. There was a final tray of spare broad bean seedlings and a few late pea shoots that got planted. The broad beans were to replace any missing or failed beans in the beds. A friend of the garden had lost all her beans to what was probably rodents, always good at finding such large seeds that can make a great meal for them – they can destroy an entire crop in no time at all, but at least we were able to supply a few spares for another try. Same goes for the pea seedlings too, being just as vulnerable – ours got planted in some mushroom crates filled with compost and put into the cold frames, we shall have to keep our fingers crossed that they grow fast enough for the seeds to not be of interest to the rodents any more. The changes in the season have also attracted pigeons to the garden and they have been stripping the brassicas so we have had to net them quickly to put them off.
The fluctuating temperatures are not helping the wildlife, and Chris, one of our bee keepers is concerned that the bees are still out and about trying to forage, but with nothing or not much to find, they will eat their way through their winter stores and starve. Apparently during the colder weather the bees cluster together to keep themselves and the queen warm, but if it becomes too warm, then they will start eating. Below is a picture taken on 4th December of a red admiral butterfly taking advantage of the flowering mahonias in the park grounds.
More leaves got collected, and it looks as if we are nearly done with them for the year, the leaf compost bin is full to bursting and they will be left to get on with making compost. All these tasks and more have been written about in a further blog for ‘Explore Kent’. Now that we are entering into the start of winter, our blog described all the many labours that are perfect for carrying out this time of year. Unfortunately it seems it was more than there was space for on the website, and it got edited to a shorter version. You can read the cropped account here at
https://explorekent.org/blog/2021/11/30/winter-gardening-tasks-and-jobs/
Last but not least, we nearly received a Christmas present from Waitrose! We were contacted by our local branch in Hythe out of the blue to say that we were to be presented with a cheque as we had been nominated as a worthy cause. In our excitement and baffled enthusiasm, the precise monetary size of this cheque got overlooked, and just as we were about to have it placed into our hot, grubby hands, it got returned to the shop office as it was not correctly written. So near yet so far, the cheque has been returned to head office and we will not get to see the updated version this side of Christmas! Oh well, something to look forward to in the New Year, and we can still speculate as to just how much a difference it will make to our funds…….
What’s next?
- Pot up any useful self sown seedlings
- Continue to mulch the beds
- Keep checking on the plants in the cold frames
- Continue to weed the flower garden near the bench and cut back the herbs
- Start work on laying wood chip paths
Caught on camera! Christmas lights switch on Pea shoots planted in mushroom boxes Unexpected berries on the cut back asparagus ferns Red admiral butterfly in December
