Rain, rain and more rain

Slug enjoying a strawberry

It's been very very wet this season. We've lost many crops due to the invasion of hundreds of snails and slugs. The case for ducks and/or chickens is growing. Being organic we would rather not use any form of chemical based pesticides. Despite the slugs and snails taking many of our crops we were still able to harvest quite a bit of produce. The berries are flourishing, and we harvested some of our first crop of potatoes and beetroot. We also have onions, garlics and chives and the apples are now staring to add a bit of colour to them. The sun has been making it's presence felt a bit more over the past few days and many of the crops are now showing their appreciation.

May Project Gardens Stall at NT's
Green Day Out

Tow major activities we had going on in the past weeks were the National Trusts' Green Day Out held at Morden Hall park where we were a participant with stalls displaying and advertising the goings on at May Project Gardens. It was wet but very exciting. Despite the wet weather peoples came out in support of their local community projects. We had a D.I.Y solar panel workshop on the go (weather put a stop that later on in the day), seedling transplanting sessions, Indian head massages, and a talk on mushrooms given by Kalindi Idy.

Kayleigh Doughty with her lovely
pen art work

Kalindi Idy talks about edible
and medicinal mushrooms

There was a fair bit of activities going on on the day with many local and regional projects attending to showcase their efforts to build and/or promote a green future. We had a lovely young lady doing a bit of live pen painting art. The resulting piece of art was later erected at the May Project Gardens site.The other major activity we had going on at the May Project Gardens was the laying of the foundation for our new communal space. We were generously donated some funds to complete the first stage of our communal space. We bought and laid some decking on gravel. This was done by our volunteers during one of out volunteer open days. We had lots of fun constructing the base and we were all happy with the results. 

Wooden decking foundation for
new communal space

The next stage would be sourcing some poles for the construction of the walls and roof. We also had our first Permaculture course delivered to our volunteers at the May Project Gardens site. It was a great success and judging from the feedback, everyone gained something as a result of the day. So all in all it has been a very busy and eventful few weeks. 

Courgette

While all these activities were going on we had to keep on top of the gardening side of things. The rain fell and kept falling and falling and falling. we had a few thunder storms and the pond had regularly overflowing. The frogs are loving the wet weather as are the mature trees, but the soft fruits and most vegetables are struggling as a result of slugs and snails not giving them a chance to get going. Also the wet and humid atmosphere have been causing rot and diseases but luckily the straw we put down as mulch earlier this year has helped keep this to a minimum. We have finally been able to harvest some strawberries but due to the lack of sun they weren't as sweet as last years' harvest.

Strawberries

This year we have had some new additions to our soft fruits harvest. Our black current and red current bushes have fruited this season and have been very productive. The little experiment we had going with the 2m x 2m polyculture bed is going very well. Again the only major issue is with slugs and snails. All the beans have been eaten and the cucumbers have not been given the best start due to both slugs and snails and the limited sun we have had so far this season. But overall the polyculture bed has been very successful and I would urge everyone to have a go at incorporating one into their gardens. It's a very efficient use of space and because it is a small space it is very easy to manage.

Black Currents

The only space in the garden that has not been too affected by the slug and snail population explosion is the polytunnel. There has been some damage but because the moisture levels under the polytunnel can be easily managed their numbers are greatly reduced compared to outdoors. We have peppers, aubergines, tomatoes, and melons so far in the polytunnel and lots of seeds and seedlings coming up in the nursery. The new sites we have acquired are slowly coming together. I will attempt to get some pictures and share in the next post. Until then enjoy the weather regardless of what it may bring and happy gardening.

Summer's here

Mix Salad Leaves

Cabbage, Spinach, Chard, Salad leaves, and Comfrey are plentiful in the garden this month. We've been getting very creative with these ingredients and when combined with a few skipped vegetable we end up with some amazing meals. Over the past weeks we've seen a lot of growth as the average temperature increases. The Food Forest Garden is really looking alive now. Both the fruit trees and bushes are doing well. We are experimenting with a technique for gardening in small spaces by creating a poly-culture bed. We'll be growing ten or more vegetables in less than 4sqm. So far so good. We had a few run ins with snails and slugs but managed to keep the bed going. We've planted; garlic, parsley, lettuce, onion, tomato, potato, courgette, broad bean, and we added some vertical space for runner bean, and cucumber. 

Chard (leaf beet)

Poly-culture: 10 diff veg in 4sqm

Another experiment we are conducting is using different mulching techniques. We have been given the use of an allotment space near here and now have the space to player around with other methods of gardening. Our little plot at Dean City Farm (DCF) is also coming along nicely. Putting down straw as a mulch has been a big help in controlling weeds and holding moisture. It's great that we have these new spaces to work on and I am sure we will learn alot from it. 

Strawberries at DCF plot

We've started putting out our summer crops. This season we'll have tomatoes, sweet corn, courgettes, onions, potatoes, runner beans and broad beans growing on the main outside beds, and, tomatoes, peppers, melons, aubergines and cucumbers in the polytunnel. We're growing most of our crops from transplants which we start off in our mini-greenhouse nurseries, this allows us to design the garden very efficiently (spacings, light, shade, etc). The poly-culture bed is a good example of what can be achieved using transplants and good design.

Food forest garden

We harvested most of the chard and spinach from the polytunnel and replaced them with tomatoes and aubergines. We like to leave the roots of the previous plants in the ground when harvesting. I believe in giving back to the soil as much of more than what's been taken. With the chard, for example, we harvest all but two of the plants by cutting cut the entire plant as close to the ground as possible, leaving the roots in the ground. The two that remained are for seed production. We then add a generous layer of worm rich compost (made on site). We give the worms and other creates present in the compost time to settle in. Then we add tomato plants to the bed and water in. Job done. Transplants enables you to be flexible and helps keep your beds active. We had hope to have some pumpkins and squashes planted up in the Forest garden but we lost all our seedlings during a very hot few days. We are now playing catchup and hope we will be able to get some more germinated in time. We produced a lot of food from the garden this spring, and I think summer's going to be even better.    

Steady Growth = Manageable Progress

Food forest garden

We have had a few really good week in the garden recently. We have had quite a few visitors and volunteers passing through and they all love the site. Two weeks ago we managed to upgrade the paths in the food forest garden by putting down wood chip and the week after we made a wormery out of old used tyres and 'waste' chicken wire. We made these path by first digging out a low trench, lined it with cardboard then filled it in with the wood chip. We are very lucky to have friends at the Morden Hall Park who were generous enough to give us some of their excess wood chip. 

Wormery made from
old used tyres

We have been making an effort to network with as many similar projects as possible, both locally and beyond. We now have a small plot at the amazing Dean City Farm in Merton Abbey and are very involved in helping to get their new allotment space up and running. Many people have been showing interest in what we do at the May Project Gardens, so we will be doing some short and long courses and workshops on Permaculture and various other sustainability topics in the near future. We have an experience Permaculture teacher who is willing to help make this happen. Another project we will be getting more involved with is The Peoples' Kitchen. This group addresses the problem of perfectly good food going to waste in the city of London by hosting weekly and monthly communal feasts. 

Lemon Balm

During this time of year we gardeners are beginning to see the fruits of our labour. Almost all the seeds sown at the beginning of the season are now ready to be planted out and perennial plants (those which come up year after year) are now showing substantial growth. We've got chives, thyme, rosemary, fennel, comfrey, rhubarb, lemon balm and a number of fruit bushes including black currents and red currents are developing fruit. Slugs and snails are a continual problem but we have been able to keep the majority of our crops safe from harm by putting down decoy barriers of cabbage leaves and going out hunting for them regularly. Recently we added some nematodes, which are microscopic natural predators of slugs and snails, to the garden and we wait to see if they really make any difference to the pests' population. 

Spinach

In the polytunnel we have been harvesting salads, leaf beet and lemon balm for a few weeks now. It really does pay to have a polytunnel in you garden, if you've got the space for it. It has allowed us to extend our growing season and it also helps with pest management. As it is an enclosed space the problems we get with pest under the polytunnel is much lower than the outdoor gardens. The only problem is keeping it watered. It gets hot in the polytunnel, very hot on some occasions and as a result the crops grow quicker but the ground dries out quite quickly. The mulch we put down has help but we really need to get our irrigation system up and running asap. The polytunnel is also the space we use to start off most of our seeds.

Third succession of seed sowing

We sow seed in our seeds in a succession. We sow the first set of seeds early in the season, in February then a second set in late March then another set in mid to late April and so on. This technique ensures that we have a consistent supply of produce throughout the season and not ending up harvesting all our produce all at once. The polytunnel also allows us to still work in the garden even when the weather's not too friendly for outdoor work. On rainy days we  sometimes retreat to the polytunnel and conduct other activities such as clay making.    

Clay making session

So food growing is not the only activity we get up to in the Garden. We are in the process of building a structure made from wooden pallets and other 'waste' materials, and earlier this week a few volunteers came down and we had a nice session making bird boxes, feeding tables and insect habitats all using 'waste' materials.

Bird boxes, table feeder, and insect habitat

The project is growing and the skills and interactions gained as a result of getting involved with the May Project Gardens are  invaluable. As we grow we welcome each and everyone to come we grow together. If you would like to get a taste of the May Project experience check out our website or give us a shout o on facebook and visit us at the garden on one of our open days. More information on courses and workshops will be published soon.