Wednesday’s gardening session was a delight in full, warm sunshine. We planted a few random bulbs, pulled up the last of the finished French marigolds, mulched more beds, bagged up compost for other community garden sites, a spot of weeding and generally had a good time nattering and pottering about. Saturday on the other hand was a wash out, dull, dingy and generally soggy so we gave it a miss. Little point in trying to do things in the wet and cold, there can be no joy in that when there is always another day. The rainfall for December was 95.8mm and was apparently so overcast and gloomy that it was commented upon in the national news.
Our seed stock is currently being reviewed, looking at what can be used this year and what we need to buy. We know we are indeed fortunate to be able to buy the varieties we want, and continue to get to grips with what suits us. However it needs to be remembered that seeds can be very random, with surprisingly little regulation, which means you are at the mercy of the seed supplier and how good they are at creating quality products. Saving your own seeds is a good solution and is easily possible with some vegetables, but can be quite complex in others. We are looking forward to 22nd January when we will be finding out more from Seed Sovereignty UK.
This coming week we have been invited to visit Rebel Farmer Ed, at his market garden in Brook, just outside Ashford. What an incredible treat this promises to be. We met Rebel Farmer Ed at the Disco Soup event in Radnor Park way back in November. He specialises in edible flowers and microgreens, supplying to various markets, cafes and restaurants. We are very excited to be able to visit the garden and get an idea of what Ed does. Although we’re already quite pleased with the quality of our salad leaves, considering they are grown outdoors, maybe after this trip we could be lifted up to another level in quality produce!
We continue to work in other community spaces around Sandgate. This week the planters at Golden Valley got a good weeding and general overhaul. The plants are looking quite perky and healthy, some even flowering, with many bulbs starting to push through. We’re confident that they will look very pretty this year and give a good show. We would like to thank the mobility shop and the Golden Arrow pub for constantly offering us hot drinks and a warm up inside when we turn up to work. This is always appreciated.
Open minded to new pockets of unloved and dismal looking public land in our locality, work started on a small strip that needed some loving attention in another part of Golden Valley. So far it has been covered in thick cardboard and then compost on top in typical ‘no dig’ style, to weaken the grass and weeds beneath, plus enrich the soil. With any luck planting can begin in the spring, and it will most likely be a garden for pollinators where flowers are dominant.
What’s next?
- Keep up the bed mulching work
- One of the planters at Golden Valley needs some work
- Order new seeds for this year
- Review the brassica netting as they need more space to spread
Spring onions looking good in the January sunshine Flowers even in January at Golden Valley No dig mulching with cardboard then a good layer of compost After a few weeks, and needing some tweaking!
