Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 22nd September: We harvested our very first and precious lemon from the tiny lemon tree
We are now officially into autumn and the weather pattern changed once again after our last newsletter, to dry, sunny and humid. Perhaps it is summer having a final fling, as it seems the coming week will be giving plenty of rain and cooler temperatures. It will certainly be a relief to see the rain again, as the plants we are currently establishing are suited better to less heat. It will also be easier on us too as we have had to start watering again, having thought we could put away the water pump and hose pipe – however it was not to be.
There have been plenty of reports confirming that the butterfly population is very much depleted this year, and we agree with that although the cabbage white butterflies are certainly around on the plot, constantly flapping around the brassicas and trying to lay eggs through the mesh in the netting. Happily they have plenty of alternative plants ready to sacrifice themselves for the benefit of the caterpillars, being the nasturtiums, of which there are oodles.
The spent broccoli plants got taken out and composted, and space was found to plant spring onions and more spinach which should carry over into winter and spring. The coriander seedlings we planted just over a week ago have completely disappeared, leaving no trace, but as we make a habit of bringing on more plants than we have space for, luckily we had plenty of plants waiting in the wings for such an occasion and so we hope these may survive.
It was no surprise that we found the first signs of blight on the tomatoes. We decided to cut our losses and immediately take them out, rescue what we could of the tomatoes, ripe or green, and compost the plants being a perfectly safe thing to do. Many of the tomatoes have been lost to the blight, but the rest have been put into the greenhouse at Pent farm to hopefully ripen over time. This same week blight appeared in the outdoor tomatoes at Pent Farm and so they have been removed too.
After what we believe must be an entire year, we harvested our very first and precious lemon from the tiny lemon tree hugging the brick wall. We had waited and watched whilst the single lemon had grown then turned from green to bright yellow over the summer months until at last it was picked. Having passed it around the gardeners for a scratch and sniff to take in all the lemony wonderfulness, it has gone to make many a lemon and ginger tea – and they were very good too! It is reassuring to note that the little tree has more flowers just appearing, and so with any luck we may be presented with another lemon next year.
What’s next?
- Clear out some of the older borage plants and squashes
- Put fresh compost down on cleared plots
- Clear a path to the bench in the garden
- Clear the lettuces going to seed
This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.