Community Garden News  

 We are  just cleaning up the last of the summer tomatoes, probably our best season yet, even though they were a bit late starting and took their time ripening. We have managed to take a good harvest of them down to the Larder for the last 2/3 months and hope that people have enjoyed them.

Lessons learnt . Small plants in large pots work well. Because they were small when we planted them, they adapted well to the conditions and produced high yields of tomatoes. Those planted in the garden boxes , while they had good yields tended to “wander” requiring constant tying back and trimming in order to expose fruit for ripening. Both benefited from being netted, which is now our standard practice for most planting. The sites from this production are about to be cleared, limed, covered with pea straw and left for a long rest before hosting some midwinter crops.

The cucumber invasion seems to be persisting. Both green and apple cucumbers just don’t seem to want to rest.

If you are a fan of aubergine (eggplant), the harvest should commence this week , so keep your eye on the larder. Flowers are dying back on the Jerusalem artichokes, so they too, should be hitting the Larder over the next couple of weeks. We are hopeful of a kumara crop this year. Finally, we have had a “Kumara Queen” who has nurtured a patch with us, teaching us all the intricacies of kumara growing…watch this space, we will certainly be sharing any success.

Ironically the artichokes and kumara look to be very successful, but this seems to be at the expense of the pumpkins! Grrrrrrr… the patience of the gardener has to be so great! However, we will have a few, and will definitely relate the pumpkin patch for next season.

Please remember you can enter the Medical Centre to access the Larder. Just ring the bell to gain entry.

Drop by and visit the garden. We are there every Wednesday 10-12. 51 Oxford Street.