A great day out to enjoy Wisley Garden and the RHS Festival of Flavours
The Roehampton Garden Society is affiliated with the Royal Horticultural Society, so we are able arrange a trip to beautiful Wisley for free for members of the RGS. This year we have decided to make the trip coincide with the annual Wisley Festival of Flavours. There will be an apple identification stand and tours around the World Food Garden as well as exhibitors selling food and drink.
Stalls from Surrey Bees, RHS Fruit Group, Apple ID and Plant Heritage as well as live talks and chef demonstrations. Read about it here
Garden Entry is Free for all RGS members on this trip. We hope to offer transport too.
Although the trip is free of charge, we will need to obtain tickets in advance, so please let us know if you are able to come by the Friday 29 September and also if you will need a lift or can provide a lift for someone else.
Please reply now to Shan Karwatowska at karwatowski@gmail.com
We’ve heard of Whale sounds – but here’s a new addition to the sounds of Nature.
The University of Warwick is developing a method of finding out how many worms populate our soil by listening to their chatter – well – more a rasping, apparently!
The extract below – from ‘The Week’ magazine explains all…
Earthworms are vital to soil health: they help keep it nutritious, oxygenated and contaminant-free, so it is little wonder that farmers like to make sure their fields are teeming with them. The type of worm matters too. A field will ideally be home to three varieties: surface dwellers, horizontal burrowers and deep burrowers. But finding out how many of each are present isn’t easy: it involves digging up a sample of soil, extracting the worms and sending them to a lab for analysis. A better solution, say scientists at the University of Warwick’s Crop Centre, would be to listen to the sounds under the crops and identify the worms, and their number, by the “rasping and rhythmic scrunching” noises they make. The researchers have received £250,000 of government funding to do just that: they plan to develop a probe which, when put in the soil, would eavesdrop on the subterranean chatter and record it. The idea is that by training AI to analyse this “soundscape”, they will be able to give farmers a breakdown of the wormlife on their land within a few minutes. “Our basic hypothesis [is] that a noisy soil is a healthy soil,” said Andrew Baker, founder of acoustics experts Baker Consultants, which is partnering with the university on the project.
It’s that time of year when some things we grow almost get out of hand. It’s not that a good crop isn’t welcome, but just keeping up with things can be a strain.
Here’s some help to use some of the fast growers on our allotments….
French beans: Many allotments have lovely crisp new green beans just now and they feature in so many good summer recipes from the classic Salad Niçoise, to Lokanta, an unusual Turkish vegetable stew, from Nigel Slater. Long may the season last… Recipe here:
Courgettes: Pick before they become marrow size! An easy light gratin from the Hairy Bikers – Recipe here or share with the neighbours…
All you need to know about Rhubarb… Most sources say don’t pick after July – but my rhubarb keeps going happily through August. Split and move after September. Freezing – store up to 8 months. Find out more here
Once again our Summer Show will be held on Site 2. Please have a look at the schedule and make an effort to enter the show, everyone will have something to enter, be it flowers, fruits, vegetables or even cup-cakes.
DONATIONS OF PLANTS OR PRODUCE FOR OUR POPULAR STALL WOULD BE VERY WELCOME.
🍎 Fingers crossed for good weather. This is an opportunity for everyone gather together, see the entries and have a great time catching up with our allotment neighbours. There will be savoury snacks and Buck’s Fizz available, as well as other refreshments.
As our plots abound with interesting greenery that we definitely did not plant, how can we check up whether some of these arrivals are welcome? A scorched earth strategy of pulling up everything doesn’t always pay dividends. Better a pretty wildflower in an open spot than empty earth ready for another batch of weeds to arrive and more weeding later on. It’s also the case that for every desirable wildflower there is a weed whose leaves are so very similar early on…
So, when it comes to making that decision, for those with a smart phone, help is at hand. Plant identifier apps can work very well – and some are free. Plantnet worked well last week on Site 3 – recommended by Greg’s garden designer daughter. Thank you, Laura!
Let’s see what’s available. You can read about 10 top apps here – the top 3 are featured below.
Pl@ntNet
Labelled as “a citizen science project available as an app”, the database of this app is growing continuously thanks to the contributions of people all around the world.
This app is ideal for identifying wild plants, common houseplants, trees, herbs, vegetables, weeds, etc.
Seek does more than identify plants. It uses the power of image recognition technology to help you identify unknown plants, fungi, and animal species from photos.
For adventurers who like to spend their time exploring nature….
Free to use, no ads, and you can skip the registration screen.
If it’s tree identification that interests you, do find out about the free app from the Woodland Trust here. Identify native and common non-native trees in the UK whatever the season using leaves, bark, twigs, buds, flowers or fruit.
The RHS have also announced their own identifier app this week. RHS Grow adds cultivation hints to identifying plants. Free at present – but do expect a subscription offer later on. Find out more here
The Buzz Club is a citizen science group run by the University of Sussex and directed by Dave Goulson. They create experiments that ask important insect conservation questions, specifically based around pollinators. These experiments can then be conducted by anyone with an outdoor space and the data is then sent back to us to analyse.
These experiments are perfect to do in allotments as they all seek to improve the biodiversity and pollinator abundance, which will improve your yield. Each experiment is easy, accessible and really will enhance our scientific knowledge and your allotments ecological value.
They also hold online webinars so you can learn how to ID the species you find. Our next event is a ‘Beginner’s Bee ID Webinar with Dave Gouslon’ – find out more here:
It seems there is a world wide trend to plant more stinging nettles – and not just for soup! In New Zealand nettle cultivation is revitalising their red admiral butterfly population, and in the UK the Woodland Trust urges us to conserve nettle patches – home to several lovely UK butterflies. If you have a small patch of nettles, please consider leaving it alone this summer….
Butterflies on Site 3… On Sunday last, (9th May) both Albert and myself were treated to a charming Common Blue Butterfly fluttering over both our allotments. Everyone has been telling me about Peacock Butterflies, how they for a few days and were everywhere, then suddenly disappeared. Don’t be sad, they will have mated, laid eggs, and the caterpillars from those eggs will grow over the summer, to enchant us all flying around in August and September. Small Pearl Fritillarys are now on the wing; several can be seen on site 3. They are about the size of an old half-penny at most. In some of the ponds, damsel flies are now in residence. I’ve yet to see any dragonflies but with the expected hot weather, they will put in an appearance.
The Government have banned retail sale of all peat containing composts from next year. Plant growers will also have to stop using peat – container plants containing peat may only be sold up until 2026.
As gardeners, we know we have a responsibility to save peatlands, but alternatives have not always proved reliable or of good quality.
A fascinating talk by Catherine Dawson, a Senior Associate of Melcourt, who make Sylvagrow, highlighted the long and difficult process of producing an effective all round peat-free compost.
Each different mix can take years to trial, so it’s no wonder that some of the products rushed to market were not top quality and gave peat-free a bad name! Much better peat-free composts are now being produced, and the challenge is to supply the ever growing market, and do so sustainably. Catherine was positive that this could be achieved.
One of our Plotholders, Alexander, was part of a prize winning team at the Chelsea Flower Show this year. He helped to create “The Shifting Garden”, which won a silver-gilt medal in the Container and Balcony Gardens section.
The Shifting Garden reflects the changing climate and plants that need little or no fertiliser and can cope with periods of dryness. Alexander developed a new formula for the Hypertufa material for the containers which does away with peat and is far more sustainable and eco friendly than concrete, as well as being lighter and porous, so lichens can more easily grow on it.
The National Gardens Society have a wonderful programme of Open Gardens this month. You can visit the many superb gardens around Kew Green, Lambeth Palace, Royal Trinity Hospice, the Hurlingham Club, the Water Gardens at Kingston, Garden Barge Square at Tower Bridge and more.
The azalea garden at 21 Arthur Road Wimbledon is open on 21 May and has superb views.
Arthur Road Garden
Find details of the gardens open near Sw15 this month here. In June gardens at 40 Chartfield Avenue and 39 Hazlewell road will also be open.
Strawberries are one of the easiest fruits to grow in containers – including pots, grow bags, hanging baskets and windowboxes. Terracotta pots, tins, pipes, plastic milkbottles…anything goes!
If this gives you ideas – get some growing advice here
