Pembroke Pocket Garden

It's been raining LOTS this week so I am well-watered.

Kathleen and Shelagh came by on Saturday 27th August and we were hoping for a sunny day.

Here's Shelagh having a think about what to do first while enjoying one of Kathleen's lavender biscuits - made with my lavender!


They decided that some of my boxes have grown as much as they can. This purslane has already cropped and we need to use the box for a new plant, so this one is going to help by going on our compost - to help make soil for next year.


 But what's this hiding under my courgettes?


Are they edible?


Kathleen harvested some marrowfat peas


What a delicious crop


We were going well and then the skies opened and monsoon style rain forced my friends to take shelter.

Oh well, the rain is very good for my boxes

 And took some photos of the insects our plants are attracting, like this bee on the borage...





 Drinking tea and chatting (an important part of any community garden!)

 But in order for the community to reap the fruits (and vegetables) of my harvest, they put in some work!

Look here at Dave, our local carpenter. Today he finished putting the compost bin together.
 

Here the little Tangs are helping to pot on more plants by filling containers with the magic soil mix.




After tending to trellises, pots, compost heaps and more, we finally got onto harvesting...

Here are some of my tatties and tomatoes! Don't they look delicious?



And mixed british salad leaves


But before they are eaten, they need to be washed!




And then prepared into salads...

Here is some mixed italian leaves complete with cherry tomatoes and spring onions - all home grown!





And here is some kohl rabi and yellow carrot coleslaw!



What a feast eh...?

 Can you tell a kohl robi from a yellow carrot and some curly Kale?

 My neighbours also helped to build me a compost bin and fill it with plants that were past their 'eat by' date....like this shaved Kale:


  When plants like this are removed from their pots, it is important to remember to sieve through the soil left behind to remove stones and roots so that new plants can grow better in it.

Shelagh worked hard doing the sieving.


  The session was entertaining and even involved a bit of a murder mystery....

Who ate this strawberry and how did they manage to leave this part behind?


Whatever next, eh?

http://wonderfulwalworth.org/

Today was a day of Novelty.

First of all, we had 3 new little gardeners  (Timothy, Hannah and Jospeh) working on me. I have rarely seen such keen beans - they were so full of life, I almost felt they were plants themselves!

Here they are getting their hands deliciously dirty making my magic soil mix...

                                                                    
                                                 And finally, we made our first sale! Today the rambling restaurant bought 15 bags of salad and served it up to 60 people at the Urban Physic Garden - http://www.physicgarden.org.uk/

What a day eh? Whatever next...