Peggy says: “If you’re short of courgettes and want to get your seeds to germinate quickly, wrap them in a piece of kitchen towel soaked in water, place in a plastic bag and hang in the airing cupboard. When the seedlings emerge, transfer to pots to grow on.
- We are very pleased to have this tip from Chair of Maidenhall Allotments!
Kevin says: “If you don’t want the mice to pinch your pea seeds, dip them in paraffin before planting.”
- Kevin is a Maidenhall plotholder of long-standing and a volunteer with the People’s Community Garden
Growing news
The People’s Community Garden is bedded down for the winter
The garden is taking a break from Monday 19 December until Tuesday 3 January, when it re-opens. Volunteers have put in a great year’s work and the vegetable plots are looking neat and tidy – cabbage and sprouts are still going strong, although the salad has migrated into the warmer polytunnel. Maz and Pat have been busy planting lettuce and rocket in there. There’s nothing nicer than to pick a fresh leaf to spruce up your sandwich at lunchtime. Linda is sad now all the Nasturtium have been taken up – she used to like a peppery flower or two in her lunch. The Welcome Space raised troughs are bare, but the tinest points of green in the earth are promise of the spring bulb display to come. In the Sensory Garden, the grasses and seed heads look beautiful on a frosty morning. The pond is completed now, and we have already found animal footprints around it – fox and muntjac deer have been down to drink. This really enhances the Wildlife Area. The Insect Motel is packed with sunflower stalks from the African Garden to provide cosy hideouts for spiders, ladybirds, woodlice and earwigs over the winter. The permaculture forest garden/ heritage orchard bore its first fruit this year (scrumped by we know not who), and its beds are as weed-free as they will ever be. Plot 244 – our most recent plot – is being heroically dug over by Colin and former SAM Project volunteers, who continue to come down. We have plans for 245 – the African Garden is to become an Olympic Garden next year, involving schools and the many communities of Ipswich. On 243, Ric hopes to transform a humble allotment plot into a Town Garden as part of his design course. Keep visiting us for details.
week commencing 14 March 2011
Leafy goodness aplenty
We have mizuna, lettuce, rocket, corn salad and all sorts of continental salad leaves ready to pick - come along and help yourself for a donation. Or put in a couple of hours at the garden in exchange for a bag of healthy salad. Salad packs will also be available next week to grow on, on your windowsill or to plant out on your plot.
Organic seed potatoes have landed!
Ipswich Organic Gardeners Group have donated their spare seed potatoes to give away free to volunteers, schools and community groups. There are some unusual varieties, such as Apache, and potatoes in pink, puple and blue. Please get in touch if you'd like some. They are available at a very reasonable price - all funds go to help our project grow.
Budding permies enjoy their day
Ten students attended the People's Community Garden's first ever Permaculture Course, led by Hannah Thorogood. The day gave a good grounding in the subject of "permanent agriculture", founded by Bill Mollison in Tasmania. Bill was inspired to develop different systems of growing when he compared the rich ecosystem of the forest where he was working with the monocultural wheat fields which surrounded it. So the idea of the "forest garden" was born.