Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 17th December: We would all like to wish you a very happy Christmas.
We are fast approaching the winter solstice and the shortest day of the year. This gives plenty of hope to know that the days from then on will become longer as we make our way towards spring and the start of the growing season for the new year. There have been some spectacular sunrises in Sandgate recently, mostly to warn us of bad weather to come – on Wednesday when we have one of our usual gardening sessions, there was no sign of rain on any weather apps, however it did rain significantly enough for us to abandon any thought of doing any work outside. Happily Saturday was quite fair and we all commented on how good it was to get outside and get on with some worthwhile chores.
We are still occupied with clearing some beds and putting down more compost. Some of the beds were treated to a sprinkling of bokashi bran and biochar just a week or so ago and this week we noticed that there is a white bloom that has appeared over the surface of the beds as they start to grow beneficial fungi and bacteria. In general, with the cool temperatures and the shorter days, life in the garden has pretty much come to a standstill. We were impressed to still be picking broccoli florets this week from plants that first cropped in mid to late summer.
Upon clearing the beds we came across a few hangers-on from the year such as the odd potato, a couple of turnips and a rather large winter radish. Not much in the way of wildlife whilst we are in the garden except for our ever attentive and excited robin that you just catch in the corner of your eye as it flits about the plot looking to see what we have unearthed which might be edible for a robin. We did find a fairly fat caterpillar amongst some of the broccoli leaves but put it back to fend for itself.
We have only been able to continue with our mulching of the beds because we had six volunteers come out from the Napier barracks to help wheelbarrow soaking wet and heavy compost all the way up the hill to the garden from where it has to be dropped off and stored. With daylight fading fast, we just managed to fill the compost compound within the garden before most volunteers were worn out and ready to get back to the camp to dry out and warm up!
This will be our last newsletter of 2023, with our next edition being Sunday 7th January 2024. We would all like to wish you a very happy Christmas and look forward to relaying more garden news in the new year.
What’s next?
- Clear the last of the beds and mulch with compost
- Sprinkle more bokashi and biochar
- Even up the hedge
- Clear some of the growth near the pond area
This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.