September Community Garden Update
As the mornings become damp and dewy, and the evenings begin to creep in, the Community Garden is beginning to look a little raggedy
round the edges. Mushrooms are poking up from the woodchip paths, leaves have moved from youthful smooth green to mottled and veined, and many plants have gone to seed, marking the end of their short annual lives. This is a truly seasonal moment in a place where the seasons mean everything, and is nothing to be sad about, though I invariably am!
September has brought us tomatoes, courgettes, cucumbers, beans, beetroots, a second flush of salads, and an abundance of glorious and
riotous dahlias, as well as cosmos, borage, and sunflowers, which have been a feast for the bees, particularly with the prolonged sunny weather.
I hope in future years to be able to mention plums, damsons, pears, raspberries and figs, and perhaps even a little honey…?
We have had some real successes that you have seen in the shop, but also some real failures which you haven’t! Most of the tomatoes
succumbed to blight, the sweetcorn was a heritage variety that I will never buy again – floury and dry – definite animal fodder, and one of the squash varieties (Honeyboat) set masses of fruit, but the skins were not tough enough, and they have rotted before they can ripen – what a waste. The Cavalo nero was shredded by pigeons, and I have decided that brassicas will not have a home in this garden for the moment – they are too attractive to other species for too little gain. I have a lot to learn about successional planting and making the absolute most of a small space – serious reading required this winter!
Thank you to all those who have bought our produce – I hope it has been genuinely delicious (we know it is sustainable and nutritious!). We have generated close to £1000 in sales, all of which has gone to our wonderful village shop this year (to keep things simple, and reflect our gratitude for the use of the site). Next year we will be keeping a chunk of this income, and we aim to be self-sustaining if at all possible. I hope that we will have salad bags back on the shelves by April 1st 2022, and a productive and regenerative year ahead of us. In the meantime, do get in touch with ideas, questions, and suggestions – you can keep an eye on facebook (look for Sarratt Community Garden) for news over the winter, or get in touch with Flo (floragarveytutoring@icloud.com) or Alan (Alanmilsom456@btinternet.com)