So little rain this month. All our rain barrels are empty. Our sole source of water is our tap on the standpipe. I have been keeping track of rainfall with our rain gauge, hardly arduous this month. Throughout August, we have had 4mm of rain, while the average rainfall in London for August is 48mm. This is drought. Farmers are …
A coolish day, somewhat surprising, after the hot days, with the temperature creeping up to the low 20s while I am in the garden this morning. But it remains dry. Two days ago we had 3mm of rain which gives us 4mm this month, which is a paucity when August’s average in London is 48mm. Many of our plants are …
There’s a sprig of wheat in the wildflower bed, quite short as the bed is dry. It has sprouted from bird seed. There’s a bird feeder over the bed, and birds are quite messy eaters, and seeds drop to the ground and some sprout. I first noticed this when I did the Cereal Project in 2020. We grew a variety …
There were six ripening walnuts on the walnut tree, almost occluded by the buddleia. Now there are none. I suspect squirrels have gathered them, as they were too big for birds, the size of ping-pong balls. I find one on the ground, just one. I decide to cut it up to see how much the nut has developed. I slice …
The wild flower bed is past its best but we still have California poppies, wild carrot, hedge mustard, corn marigold, flax, purple poppy, white campion, cornflower, borage and teasel. The most prominent is the wild carrot, its flowers somewhat like cow parsley, but when they go to seed, they curl into green, miniature birds nest type structures. It’s the first …
Yesterday was the garden’s AGM. We looked back on the year’s achievements. These included: – Increased footfall from 4546 to 5758 over the year. – Completion of our all-weather shelter, and a side door in the container. – Two solar panels on the container which we use for lighting and hot drinks. – Regular income from plant sales. – The …
In the early hours of Monday (7 July) through to 8am, we had 21 mm of rain as measured on our rain gauge. The average for July is 41 mm; so that’s half a month’s rain in one day day. It gave the ground a good soaking. I examined the earth with a trowel and the rain had soaked down …
The garden had a stall at Forest Gate Festival today, held yearly on Osborne Road. Kate brought a bin of soil and showed some soil science. Wooden medallions were painted, many by children and some adults too. And we had a plant sale, mostly with plants donated by Underleaf. The owners of Underleaf, a couple, moved into the new flats …
Today is the longest day of the year, 16 hours and 39 minutes between sunrise and sunset. The sun rose at 4.42 am and will set at 9.21 pm. As well as being the Summer Solstice, it is Midsummer’s Day, halfway through the year. We get the long day of the summer solstice because the earth’s axis is at an …
On Saturday we had a very successful plant sale in spite of the rain, 2 cm in the last two days as measured by our new rain gauge. Underleaf donated plants for the sale, a van full which I helped to unload on Friday. They supply plants to businesses and for events, and had a lot over. We were certainly …
