After the frantic activity of the last few weeks to redeisgn the garden and establish the Olympic tyres this week has been more of a stroll than a gallop; a chance to draw breath and appreciate all the progress we have made.
The Olympic tyres are OK, perhaps not fantastic; the bought plants for the blue and red rings are doing very well, and suprisingly the black basil has put on quite a growth spurt and is looking good. The ‘problems’ are the marigolds, very lush but no flowers yet so rather green, and with lots of buds coming they should be good in the next week or 2. Its the spinach that is not working well. The plants are bolting – going to seed, and to try to stop them we are pinching out the seed heads, but they look lanky and leggy and quite poor compared to the other tyres. We slipped some spinach seed in to the gaps in the hope they will germinate quickly and fill up the gaps. Otherwise I think we’ll be raiding the herb bed for some thyme or mint to give an immediate green carpet for the final tyre.
Elsewhere we planted the school initials TFS (The Ferncumbe School) with the spares from the Olympic garden and they are doing well.
Last week I went to the Schools Gardening event t Coombe Abbey where I was helping children to make paper pots and plant seeds. As they were planting Peas and Sunflowers for September, we decided to do similar in the Ferncumbe Community Garden and have planted peas, runner beans, carrots, beetroot and pumpkins in the hope they will be ready to harvest when the children return for the autmn term too. With all our lovely raised beds, its great to start using them.
We are hoping the school classes will get planting too, so they have fresh vegetables to welcome them back in the autumn.
Lets hope the rain keeps off this weekend so we can all enjoy our gardens, Happy Gardening!
The Ferncumbe Garden 