This hot and dry weather has brought things on really fast, and it is a race to get as much as possible into the ground and keep up with the watering.  It is very interesting the differences between the planting zones we have in the garden.  We have the very fine silty, sandy soil up against the wall, where the water rolls off the surface and runs away; we have some zones that have not had any compost added, or very little, and when dry is as hard as concrete; and then there are a  few improved areas which are easy to plant into, soaks up and retains the moisture but unfortunately attracts the badgers and probably foxes as they are great areas to find some good fat juicy worms, and so we replant after every wildlife foraging session!  The badger has just turned its attention to the strawberry patch, and frustrated by the netting, formulated the plan of sticking its nose as far into the mesh as possible and straining the ripe strawberries through the strands of net.  How very resourceful.  It will probably be a fact that we can kiss goodbye to the sweet corn too when that ripens.  We just have to appreciate that we are creating a restaurant for the wildlife, and will be sharing certain things.

We have now started putting up some signs around the garden so that there is more information about what is being grown, and when a gardener is definitely going to be there, (although somebody is around at some point during the day).

The broad beans and garlic did mature this week, and have made way for more summer plantings of squashes, beans and tomatoes.  The courgettes and cucumbers did get planted, and there were more sowings of salad leaves and beans.  The leeks sown in April have been potted up and are on standby for when the potatoes finish maturing which will be in June or July depending on the variety.

Can you believe there is actually a frog in our wildlife pond/puddle?  That is one brave frog considering the current low water situation and lack of pond plants!  Even though we know the pond still needs working on, there are always birds in there having a bath, as well as queues of honey bees having a drink, and we have this week been seeing dragon flies having a look too.  It is great to think that it has attracted some wildlife already, and no doubt the badger has been in there too!

What’s next?

• More signs to be put up to give more information on the garden.

• Plant out very last of squashes and cucumbers etc.

• Water, water, water…. But in a smart way

• Prepare the ground where the garlic was, for planting

• Stop putting off getting the wheelbarrow wheel fixed and the last of the fence post wires being put in!

We swapped the cold windy weather this week for warmer windy weather.  We bit the bullet and started the changeover from spring, to summer plantings of courgettes, beans, squashes and sweet corn.  The Zinnias and cosmos are in their bed, and the dahlias next to them.  We have put in runner beans again this year, but the way the poles were being rocked about in the wind this weekend, we have to be realistic that they might find the plot too harsh to thrive, and stick to dwarf beans instead.  The courgettes and squashes have had covers put over them for a while until they establish a few roots and will not be ripped out by the wind; however the fencing is definitely helping.

We have been overwhelmed by community kindness this week.  Upon reading about our unknown nocturnal visitor in our last newsletter, Chris (one of our beekeepers), set up a camera in the garden to see if we could capture on film just what was going on.  We got film clips of one of our gardeners doing some late evening watering (well done Theresa), a few cats, birds, a fox, and then amazing footage of a badger strolling around and generally having a great time.  He was there the next night too and confirmed just what we had thought. There is a picture of the badger attached, and a short film has been uploaded to our Instagram and Facebook pages.  Chris has since kindly donated the camera to the garden and so we will be able to keep an eye on local wildlife when we are generally not around.

A local gentleman brought some spare wire fencing, up to the garden for us to use, and five people all came along at various intervals loaded with their spare tomato plants, having heard the plight of ours that were lost to the cold last week – thank you Erica, Sheila, Gill, Andrea and Rosie, how amazing and wonderful you are!  Thank you. 

We had a few of our own spare plants that went to new homes on Wednesday, and we were donated a total of £30.65 to buy more seeds/plants.  As well as having many people drifting by to pick up new stock, we have had plenty wandering past just to have a look at what is growing and to have a chat about all things fruit and veg.  We have had so many compliments, which is a great tribute to our gardeners and the hard work they put in, planting, weeding, watering and staking.

What’s next?

• We appreciate that there is not enough information on display in the garden, and so one of our gardeners has been busy making chalk board notices which we will start to display around the garden.  There is also a new sign kindly being supplied by Saga which will eventually be situated outside the fence.

• Keep an eye on the broad beans and onions/garlic for signs of going over.

• More plantings of courgettes and maybe cucumbers if the long term weather is settled

• Keep checking the watering situation

• Sowings of more beans plus lettuces for summer

• Still need a wheel kit for the wheelbarrow and fencing fixings