May in the Kitchen Garden
Our kitchen garden officially opened on April 1st and nearly 6 weeks on crop production is well underway. Young and old, experienced and novice, it’s great to see everyone giving it a go.
Some of the plots are fabulous, a work of art, while others are a bit slap dash to say the least. I have had to remind quite a few people to keep their beds free of weeds. This is not only for aesthetic reasons but it also eliminates further weed seeds from developing and prevents competition for water from weeds. It’s a shame there are still one or two plots still empty ,We do not want to have to say “use it or Loose it” but it’s not fair to those on the waiting list, so please get planting or you may find yourself plot less.
The £20 Plot fee off everybody has gone towards buying plants, compost and fertiliser for the communal areas. So far we have planted rhubarb, black, white and red current bushes, two types of gooseberry and three different raspberries. One early, one midsummer and the one autumn. We have also planted some wildflower seed to attract the pollinators and beneficial insects.
We did intend to plant pumpkins, one in each gap between the apple trees but plans have changed with the appearance of the dreaded maires tail along the fence line that backs onto the railway. This weed is a survivor from dinosaur times which makes it very difficult to kill. The only hope we have is containing it along the one bed so it doesn’t spread any further. This will be done with spraying when the plant is at its most sceptical to absorb the weed killer. So please don’t touch the weed, snapping it off makes the problem worse. If it appears in your raised bed please let me know ASAP.
The beds up the side of the kitchen garden however seem to be free of this weed so we will still plant some pumpkins just not so many. Hopefully we will get a good enough crop to share out amongst the children for a pumpkin lantern competition in the autumn.
The centre bed around the mulberry tree has been planted up with herbs by Bradley our POBL apprentice who spent the day with us a couple of weeks ago. Keen to learn more and loving the experience, Bradley has asked to come back, so he will be spending another week with us later in the month.
Paul and I will be maintaining these communal areas for the first 12 months to get the plants established but from next year we would like all the plot holders to share the responsibility of looking after these extra areas themselves and of course they then reap the rewards which is to share the produce. The only jobs that Paul and I will carry on with is the pruning of the shrubs, hedges and apple trees and continue to train them along the wires as espaliers.
The water tank has run dry a few times so please only use as much water as you need, the water is there to share amongst every one.
All in all it’s looking great, It’s amazing what can be grown in a small space and We are really looking forward to some pictures of people gathering their produce to take home for dinner. You just can’t beat home grown organic veg , picked , cooked on the plate within an hour.
