monday 19th July this week is set for the heat to continue with expected temps of around 27 - 29 degrees celsius So the first thing Anne and i did today was water everything in pots and newly planted. our plot (like most of stoke on Trent) is on heavy clay its had a lot of organic matter over the years so while the top can get bone dry and crack, an inch or so down there's still moisture available for the plants. This being the case we dont worry too much about watering established plants. After watering we weeded and hacked back the buddleia (its too big for the space and covers the path) and started summer pruning the Apple tree. Then after hiding in what little shade we could find we harvested potatoes, garlic, onions, spinach and the first of the soft fruit. ready to cook up for the wonder women on Wednesday, Potatoes are traditionally followed by leeks in a crop rotation so this is what we did and managed to get most of them in the space we had created. I love planting Leeks its a little different than most other plants you dib a hole and twirl your bare root leek seedling into it then water the hole which fills it with very fine soil giving you nice straight white leeks in a few months time. wednesday 21st July it was almost too hot to do anything today! but a few wonder women braved the heat to join us on plot 33 Anne and Reannan painted the fence in the shade of a gazebo while the rest of us continued to make some banners for a project we are working on. Then we enjoyed a lunch of frittata made with the potatoes, spinach, onions and garlic, and some disaster biscuits for dessert ok im not the best baker by a long shot but i thought i could manage some biscuits using the lovely blackcurrants picked on Monday. Alas the oat biscuits recipe could not cope with the extra moisture added by the 250g of currants i snuck into the mix and produced a soft flapjack/ granola ish something that while tasting delicious no way resembled a biscuit and the group polished the lot off with some greek yogurt Friday 23rd July its cooled down today but the wind has picked up so yet again it was a case of watering pots mostly (Anne has popped down most days to water the greenhouse some time watering twice a day) but today i was on my own most of the day as Anne has to set up an art exhibition in Stoke. I continued to paint the fence and pick some more blackcurrant. Fingers crossed we still have gooseberries next week as ive just found out Bingo the fox is partial to them and has stripped next doors bushes Anne arrived just as i was finishing off and in time to pick the first cucumbers and courgettes.
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AuthorsGreening Stoke is a project run in partnership between Festival Stoke and Letting in the Light. We are based in Stoke-on-Trent. COVID SafeWe are started this adventure in January 2021 in the middle of a national lockdown. Gradually, as things begin to open up, close down and then open up again, Rachel and Anne abided by all the Covid-19 Government guidance, worked in a socially distanced way, to prepare and maintain Plot 33 so that they were eventually able to invite the community to work with them. Archives
March 2023
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