Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 27th November: The Christmas Tree has arrived before the first frost…
The Sandgate Christmas tree arrived this week and was promptly hoisted into place on the village green outside the chip shop. It seems hard to believe it is that time of year again, but here we are, time is hurtling on towards the shortest day of the year.
You may have noticed that the Christmas tree is not the only tree on the green this year; we also have a banana tree in front of a rather enormous tomato plant, still producing tomatoes. We do, and have planted a few plants and bulbs on the green, but it has to be said that we did not plant the banana or the tomato! Interestingly we seem to have a guerrilla gardener in our midst, and their identity is a complete mystery. This is not the only garden they have added to either, the alleyway garden between Chichester Road and Meadowbrook also had some additions of Achocha vines. We think this guerrilla gardener or perhaps gardeners know their stuff and so far are keeping their identity a complete secret. Well, community gardens are all about the community and the inhabitants, so it is a great thing that there are other people out there in the locality wanting to make the area green and fruitful.
(As a matter of fact, the banana tree is not actually a tree but an herb, closely related to ginger, with a succulent, soft stem compared to the wood of the tree.)
The wet weather continued this week, and yet another gardening session missed because of it on Wednesday. It seems to follow a pattern of torrential rain and high winds followed by some glorious sunshine, and then the pattern continues over again. The problem is to catch the sunshine when it happens, before the rains appear once more. In our green spaces, the grass is still growing and is long, but the ground is too saturated in places to be able to take the weight of a mower. We would have liked to have finished putting all the bulbs in this week, but have had to cancel other gardening sessions and try again next week if the weather should be kinder.
We did manage to clear lots more fallen leaves and add to the leaf mulch compost pile which is growing taller and taller, however in spite of all the strong winds there are still plenty of leaves stubbornly clinging onto the branches, probably due to the lack of any frost so far. We also pulled up more of the Jerusalem artichokes, some of which will be planted into pots to plant out in the spring. The new rhubarb was also due to be planted out at Fremantle Park but instead they have also been put into pots, the reason being that such saturated ground followed possibly by much colder weather can stress and kill a thick, newly planted root before it gets the chance to take proper hold, and indeed last year we lost two newly planted rhubarb roots this way, although others survived.
Our last plantings of broad beans do not seem to mind this weather and are suffering more from being picked on by the wildlife, probably birds, which pull them out of the ground, then lose interest leaving the bare roots exposed. If found quickly enough the beans can be replanted, and once they have put their roots out into the soil they will be fixed in place. This can also happen to onion and garlic sets too. Luckily at Enbrook there was only a couple of missing plants which have been replaced from our spares.
What’s next?
- Bulbs to plant at Sandgate Park and trees to mulch
- Nasturtiums to thin out
- Brambles to clear from under the fig tree
- Pot up plenty of Jerusalem artichokes to plant in the Golden Valley in Spring
This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.