Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 10th April: Our helpers are unstoppable by weather, lorries and fuel shortages.
The changing weather continued to bring challenges this week. We had to cancel a working party from the Napier Barracks as the weather was just simply too wet and cold. The following day we were being joined by a working party from Saga. Saga are keen for their work force to volunteer to support and work with local groups, so we made plans a couple of weeks ago to organise a compost collection from Hope Farm, and for the Saga volunteers to help us unload.
It was not the weather that caused issues, but the ongoing problems we are experiencing on our roads, affected by the thousands of lorries stuck at the crossings. Ever optimistic that all would be fine and we could continue with our plans, in reality it was not going to happen. Once it also became clear there was no fuel either locally, it was game over! In the meantime, our enthusiastic team from Saga had battled their way to the meeting point and raring to go so we changed tack and resorted to plan B.
Plan B happened to be plan A from the soggy day before, so all was not lost. Thank goodness the weather was fine, sunny but breezy, not too cold. We started by mulching part of the new orchard at Sandgate Park, then moved on to Fremantle Park where we planted perennial flowering plants and fruit bushes in the orchard and in the sloped flower border on the other side of the park. We had a most delicious lunch made in the kitchens of Touchbase Care in Tontine Street, which we ate outside at the park making good use of the lovely new picnic benches recently installed there…….. brilliant. After that outstanding lunch we made our way to the Golden Valley shopping car park to weed all around the planters and in them too. In the autumn we had planted some bulbs which are now flowering, the most popular being the sweetest and tiniest narcissi ever seen, certainly by all of us. We are grateful to Saga for their hardworking volunteers, and look forward to working with more of them sometime soon.
Some of our ‘to do’ list from last week did get done, but several other tasks came along which needed tackling. The first compost bin was full to bursting and needed to be turned into bin number two in order to make some room; however to be able to do that, bin number two had to be turned into bin three. Another pressing task was the fact that we have many plants waiting to be large enough to be planted out, and needing potting on into larger pots to enable them to be able to get larger. However we did manage to make a start on sowing the courgettes and summer squashes. More spring onions got planted as did parsley, and more new rhubarb roots in a new bed. The carrot seedlings have made an appearance at last but we are still to welcome the parsnips.
What’s next?
- Rebook another compost run
- Make new signs for Fremantle and Golden Valley
- Transfer tomato plants to the cold frames when it is warm and sunny, but keep indoors at night still.
- Sow annual flowers
- Start sowing cucumbers and winter squashes.
This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.
