Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 19th February: The strange case of the out of place Hume’s Warbler.
The snowdrops are out, as are the first of the daffodils and the primroses; all of which can be seen in their glory from the walking paths around Enbrook Park. The weather has continued to be predominately dry, and although chilly it really feels like spring is on the way at last. On walking through the park this week it was interesting to see so many people with cameras on tripods and binoculars, all looking to see if they can catch a rare sighting of a Hume’s warbler. This bird seems to be way off course as apparently it should be spending winter in India, and breeds in the mountains of inner Asia. It certainly caused a kerfuffle for several days as it flitted amongst the trees by the brook.
Our tool box got a good spring cleaning during one of the sessions this week and is now looking spectacularly tidy – woe betide anyone who messes it up any time soon.
With the passing of St Valentine’s Day, it is time to sow the very first seeds of the season to be grown outdoors. Still too cold to sow directly outdoors, seeds are allowed to germinate indoors, then spend their first day or two on a sunny windowsill before being put into a cold frame until the plants are strong enough to be able to cope outside. We have sown sweet peas, peas for pea shoots, spring onions, beetroot, spinach, radishes, early cabbages, cauliflowers, kohlrabi, calabrese, coriander, flat and curled parsley, plus about ten different varieties of lettuce, some French marigolds and thyme. The beds are waiting for them as soon as they are ready!
We had to start watering things already. Not anything planted in the ground, but the various pots we have around the garden, plants in waiting, as pots dry out before you know it as soon as the sun starts to shine.
We continue to monitor what grows well in the garden and what struggles. We have not had much success with our autumn raspberries, so decided to take up one of the beds and move them to other places to see how they fare there. We are disappointed with the goji berries performance so far, and decided to cut them right back to see what they make of that. We have also cut back much of the rosemary and a bit of the fig tree, but will be leaving some plants to start sending out some new shoots before we cut back much else. One plant which has coped well despite the heavy frost has been the Claytonia or winter purslane. With such little leaves, it is hard to believe it grows so well in the cold, and there have been some welcome green salad leaves. Another winter salad leaf, lambs lettuce, is just starting to be big enough to pick but has also managed to survive.
What’s next?
- More seeds to be sown
- Might need to repot some things
- Sort out some of the things in the cold frames
- Keep checking the brassicas for any pigeon damage
This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.