Community Garden News 

Well, we have just about recovered from the excitement of being part of the Martinborough Medical Centre’s, Community Health Award, awarded last week by the Minister of Health. It is a good time to acknowledge Pam Shackleton, and her dedication to health initiatives, including the  Community Garden.

We would also like to thank Andy Sutherland for the very generous load of top soil that has enabled us to complete the filling of our new planters.

As depths of winter approach, there seems little of great excitement in the garden. That is, if you are not enthralled by the formation of Brussels sprouts; the heartening of cabbages and the ‘blooming’ of caulis. All of these vegies now need a good feed, if you have not yet given them one. We will hopefully be planting a second brassica crop in our newly prepared beds over the next couple of weeks.

We have spent some of the colder days working to improve our compost, which is fundamentally the life blood of the garden.

 If you are thinking of setting up compost here are some tips:

1. Start by loading a bin with a balanced mixture of ‘brown’ carbon rich material, like dried leaves, straw, and wood chips, and ‘green’ nitrogen materials like fresh grass clippings and kitchen scraps.
2. Firstly, a layer of chopped (coarsely), twiggy wood in the bare grass or soil.
3. Add alternate layers of green matter (nitrogen rich) and brown matter (carbon rich) in layers about 5-10cm deep.
4. Limit all materials, including grass clippings, to thin layers.
5. Leave enough space in your stack or turn it, and keep it moist and warm.
6. A well maintained compost bin will produce compost in 3-4 months in summer and up to 6 months in winter. Compost feeds the soil, helps with water retention and encourages earthworms into your garden.

For health, hygiene, and ease you shouldn’t compost meat, fish, dairy products, oils, pet waste, coal or coke ash or disposable nappies. You can, however, add coffee grinds: but not too many as this can create a burning effect.

Over time you might add to your compost bins. Currently at the Community Garden we have three bins – one with mature, usable compost: one decaying, and one for feeding with new material. We also have a “heap’ of matter, including weeds, which we leave to dry and rot a bit before adding the ‘feeding’ bin: this ensures that we don’t get weed seeds in the compost.

You are always welcome to join us at 51 Oxford Street at 10 am Wednesdays, for a couple of hours and Sundays at 10 am ( although this is a bit more variable in the middle of winter, due to weather and availability of volunteers).