Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 25th August: The heavens opened and stayed open for most of the day.
It was just as well we had cancelled being at the garden for Saturday morning as the heavens opened and stayed open for most of the day. It was torrential for much of the day, or just downright wet for the rest of the time, an amazing 22.5 mm in just one day. How fortunate we were not to have to fit in trying to water the garden at some point during the weekend – it was all taken care of. Just a bit of a shame about the timing as we had planned to use the time to organise all our plants for the Sea Festival.
We eventually managed to complete the task late afternoon when the rain began to subside, and gave us a chance to get outside. This newsletter will go out on the morning of the sale. For most of the growing year we have been planning this day, collecting plants, sowing seeds and taking cuttings. Unbelievably, the weather for the actual day is wall to wall sunshine, although not too warm.
However we will be watching the wind as it can be mighty blowy on the seafront at the best of times, and it looks like the wind will be a feature in the afternoon. Our fingers are crossed along with anything else crossable that the day will go well and with any luck we will sell most of our plants. Next week’s news will reveal all, however we hope to be seeing you all in person on this day to cheer us on and spend some money.
On the Wednesday session we cleared a bed ready for some winter radish, giving it a good layer of new compost. Winter lettuce got sown, and plants tidied. The squashes are really travelling far and wide, and either have to be turned around, or allowed to climb through other plants if it is safe for them to do so.
More amaranth has self-sown this year and popped up amongst the sweetcorn, and it was a surprise to find that our pear tree has been quietly producing some pears.
What’s next?
- Consider protecting the sweetcorn from the badgers if not too late!
- Remove some of the borage
- Check on the Siberian kale
- Sow some spring cabbage
This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.