My first month working in the gardens at Garden Organic has been a dream come true. Not only have I had chance to work with wonderful gardeners, but I’ve also been blessed with gorgeous weather! Weeding becomes a pleasure on a warm summers day here and I’m happily reminded by passing visitors that I have the best job in the world.
My three gardens are at their peak at the moment. The Judas Tree in the Cook’s Garden was at its best a couple of weeks ago, with a beautiful pink bloom that encourages you to walk the winding path under it. We’ve finished planting out the crop rotation for this year’s vegetables, and already have others on the cards for succession sowing later on in the year. Succession sowing is when you sow seeds of fast growing vegetables at regular intervals, so there is always something ready to replace what has been harvested throughout the year.
When I arrived one of my first tasks was to sow eight different green manures in the Compost Display garden, as a comparison for visitors to see. This was great practice for sowing in drills (making a ‘V’ shape groove in the soil with a hoe, then sowing seed and covering using a rake) and broadcasting (scattering seed evenly on the soil, then raking over). I’ve been following plans for several beds to demonstrate different types of mulches, such as leafmould, compost and even grass, to cover your soil, and planting out different crops on each.
My third garden is the Restaurant Borders, which is predominantly ornamental, filled with Alchemilla mollis, and irises.
I’m having so much fun working with Matt and Claire, my fellow Seeds of Change Apprentices, and looking forward to an exciting year ahead!
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