Year's end

As you can imagine, with the cold spell the vegetables were frozen in the ground. I am going down tomorrow to see if the leeks have survived, as a number of people ask for them.
We had a little get-together before Christmas organised by revitalIse. I hope to go to a coppicing talk at the Field Centre soon.

New arrivals

The latest group of saved battery hens came a few weeks ago. they are gaining confidence; when they first came they thought that the coop was too dark and the sky was too big, so they just stood under a plank all day. Now they are trotting around and have learned to use the feeder. Irene had to teach them to drink, as they were used to droppers. Fortunately they had quite a lot of feathers.

Catching up

I haven't posted for a long time as there was a lot going on. The Green Patch has had a good summer with a glut of several things. A lot of marrows were bought by a gurdwara for a dinner. There were plenty of runner beans, tomatoes and aubergines. Sometimes volunteers were able to cook our produce in the Green Shed. The Patch is looking very spick and span thanks to the workers and volunteers. Eight new people have been taken on part-time including one clerical. We hope this scheme can continue.
There was a family fun day in the summer with bouncy castles and a free barbecue. the weather was great and it was well-attended. In August a party of children from a youth centre in Wellingborough had a day of activities here.

Shimmering in the heat!

The prolonged drought didn't do the beans any good, and the summer raspberries were very few. the spindle tree hasn't any fruits this year, pity for the birds. There do seem to be a bumper crop of blackberries. As for marrows, we are swamped!
I am just making an infusion of elder leaves as they are said to be good for mildew,which has attacked the Lord Derby apple.
During term-time there has been a Tuesday evening gardening club at the Patch, which has been very successful.

High Summer

The hot weather has brought all the crops on, but the rain has missed Kettering as usual.
There was a Family day on June 6th which was very well supported, There were free bouncy castles and barbecue, including our own salad. Nigel has started an after-school gardening club which has been popular.
The wildflower meadow has six sorts of grasses and a whole flock of hedge sparrows feeding on them (or maybe on the insects) . I saw three sorts of butterfly there last week.
The redcurrants are ripe and there is lots of chard.

Across the fields

On May 16th the Warkton Women's Institute visited the Green Patch. After their meeting at Warkton they took the footpath across the dairy farm to the Ise Brook and along it to the lane. It was a sunny day, not too hot and they enjoyed looking round, having a snack and buying plants and eggs.
On the following week the farmer took us round the dairy farm and we learned what a lot of work is involved in rearing pedigree cattle, it's really 24/7 . In the field there are often 3 generations grazing together, Grandma, Mum and daughter.

Spring changes

There's such a lot going on in Nature at this time of year it's a job to know where to start. There are teams down at the Patch all week, plus some faithful volunteers. Recently a group went to create raised beds at Grange Primary School, it will be interesting to see what they grow.
There are lots of seedlings to be planted out and we have a new Lord Derby tree -a sort of cooking apple.The rhubarb is doing well in its new position.
There are several fish(unidentified) in the big pond and some frogspawn in both ponds though not as much as last year. The blackthorn and flowering trees are out everywhere .