Welcome to August’s garden update.

📅UPCOMING EVENTS

• Friday 13th September, 10:00am to 12:00pm Enjoy a walk around the garden as part of - Walkfest  » TICKETS

• Saturday 14th September, 10:00am to 4:00pm - Learn To Sythe with Clive Only 8 places @£50. 10% discount for RCG members » TICKETS 

• Sunday 22nd September, 12:00pm to 4:00pm - Open Day With Apple Pressing

• Sunday 29th September - Clean Air Day Guildford (we will have a presence, please let us know if you’d like to support)

• Tuesday 8th October - Galliford Try - Water Harvest Project (all welcome)

Events at ZERO » CLICK

🌱IN THE GARDEN by Clare Millington

The glorious hot weather these last couple of weeks has really worked its magic on the garden, and finally we’re seeing some lovely fruit and veg ready to harvest.

The cold wet spells have meant everything has been a bit delayed, but the plus side is we’ve hardly had to water outside and everywhere is very lush.

It’s looking like a great year for apples and plums in the orchard, with some varieties ready now! We had our first wineberries this week (a Japanese berry that is like a sticky raspberry x blackberry) and the raised beds are producing calabrese, cabbages and pattypan squash (lovely used in stir fries and ratatouille)

Last week was the traditional harvest festival of Lammas, so it seems apt to have our bounty ripening now. (see Margaret’s piece about Lammas origins)

This month we have been focussed on creating new relationships with potential local community groups that want to come and use the space to meet, and/or get involved with the projects. Hopefully, September will see the garden buzzing with various community days helping with the Hub, pond and water harvest projects.

The Hub

The end is in sight and Fudge (the roofer) has started the last leg of the roofing, which will be felted with the poly-carbonate top installed, hopefully in the next month (weather permitting).

We hope to host some groups through the Surrey Hills Society, that are keen to work on the cobbing and carpentry for the walls.

Water Harvest

Galliford Try are booked in for October to come and lend their expertise to installing the solar pump and completing the gutters on the tunnels, so we should be ready for the next dry spell with our rain-water tanks.

Pond

The pond is flourishing with all the plants really well established both in the water and around the margins. We will be planning some more big job days to install a new bank and hopefully some deck areas for pond dipping.

🐌 JULY JOBS AT THE GARDEN

• Harvest pattypan squash, cucumbers, sweetpeas, kales, salads, courgettes and beans (coming soon)

• Clear brambles around poly-tunnels and entranceway

• Clip long grass around tree bases

• Water poly-tunnels when dry and pots/raised beds if very hot.

COMMUNITY NEWS

🧮The Big Butterfly Count By Lisa Dittmar

There's still a few days left of this year's Big Butterfly Count, which runs from July 12 - August 4, 2024. It's a big citizen science initiative run every year by the Butterfly Conservation charity, who have been running it for the past 14 years.

What are the results so far?

This year, preliminary results indicate that butterfly numbers are the lowest on record in the UK after a wet spring and summer dampened their chances of mating, says a recent article in the Guardian.

Many people have noticed the lack of fluttering and buzzing insects in their gardens. Experts say this is due to the unusually wet conditions so far in 2024. Climate breakdown means the UK is more likely to face extremes in weather, and the natural rhythms of the seasons that insects such as butterflies are used to can no longer be relied on. 

The UK had its wettest spring since 1986 and the sixth wettest on record, as an average 301.7mm (11.87in) of rain fell across March, April and May, nearly a third (32%) more than usual for the season. 

Climate change also is altering migration patterns. Examining 50 years of data, researchers have identified a clear northerly shift among many species, including the familiar garden favourites the comma, peacock and holly blue.

How To Get Involved? 

To participate, simply find a sunny spot (in Rosamund, your own garden or another sunny spot in your local area) and do the following:

• Download the Big Butterfly Count ID guide - you can download and print your own from this page or you can download the free app. 

• Grab a pen and paper, or a way of noting down what you see

• Find a sunny spot

• Submit your sightings via the Big Butterfly Count website or app by July 4. Congratulations you are now a citizen scientist! Print or download your certificate. 

🌻Lammas Festival and its Origins and Meanings in Tradition by Margaret Hattersley🌽

Lammas is a festival derived from Celtic tradition that falls around the 1^st or 2^nd August each year. The name has changed from the original Lughnasadh to Lammas which is derived from the Anglo-Saxon words for ” loaf mass”. At this time the first harvest became available and celebratory loaves would be made with the first grain.

Feasts and gatherings would also happen at this time. The Sun was celebrated for being at its height and the Sun gods would be remembered. Nature is at its most abundant at the moment and the fields and woodlands are at their peak of growth. Bilberries and blackberries are some of our wild fruits that can be foraged in August.

Although we do not all join in with harvesting the grain crop nowadays, we can take a moment to reflect and be thankful for all that we have “harvested” during the year up until now. As the Celtic year follows the agricultural calendar and starts at Samhain in October (31^st October), this means everything that we have hoped to bring to fruition from that point last year.

Herbs that have seed now are chives and coriander. Coriander seed can be used in cooking when it is green as well as when dried. Now is the time to gather and collect dried seed from herbs, vegetables and flowers for sowing next Spring. Spare seed can be swapped for other varieties at seed banks, such as the one at Zero Carbon Guildford.

🐝 Peter’s Updates

The Bees in August » CLICK

Moths to spot in August ⬇️

🌿PLANT OF THE MONTH: Nettle

Scientific Name: Urtica Dioica

Nettles grow up to 5 feet tall and have opposing green leaves, which are coarsely toothed, oval, pointed on the ends, and can be several inches long. The leaves are covered in fine hairs that break easily on contact, releasing formic acid which irritates our skin.

Nettle seeds grow in tiny geometric clusters on thin threads along the stem, after the plant has flowered.  When Nettles go to flower, all the energy and goodness goes into producing the flower and seeds, and the leaves go all tough and stringy, you’ll notice they don’t look quite so vibrant! At this point, we stop picking the leaves, and turn our attentions towards foraging for nettle seeds.

Nettle seeds are small but mighty powerhouses that offer a range of benefits nutritionally and medicinally.

As the plant is dioecious, only half the plants will carry the seeds (the female). The male plants produce pollen to fertilise the female, which in turn produces the seeds. The female plants are distinguished by their slightly frosty appearance and droopiness of the flowers. Both plants are edible, but when it comes to harvesting the seeds, make sure you pick from female plants as their seeds are full of nutritional goodness.

You know the seeds are ready to pick when the long seed bundles droop towards the stem. We would generally recommend picking from the top ⅓ of the plant, where the seeds and nutrients are most abundant, also leaving plenty of opportunity for for regrowth and the plant’s survival.

While nettle leaves are best to forage in early spring, nettle seeds will be ready to harvest from mid-Summer to mid-Autumn. They are best picked when they’re plump, green and looking healthy – brown clusters of seeds are not to be picked.

How to harvest nettle seeds to dry

1. Pick the top ⅓ of the plant, leaves, stems and all.

2. Tie your nettle plants upside in a dry spot, and leave to dry for 3-4 days.

3. Using gloves, snip off the seed clusters from the stems, discarding the leaves and main stem.

4. Put all the seed clusters in a kitchen sieve, and pop over a larger bowl, rubbing the threads through a sieve to release the seeds from the little stems, which can be thrown away. 

5. Pop your seeds in a jar, and they’ll keep for up to a year.

Flavour and How to Use

Nettle seeds are pretty tasty and have a great earthy, nutty flavour.  We foraged for nettle seeds and harvest an abundance throughout late Summer/Autumn and use them throughout the seasons ahead. The seeds can be consumed fresh or dried, although once dried the seeds will not be as much of a stimulant but still great for the body. 

Essentially, you can use them in any recipe where you’d use seeds, with a few ideas to get you started below:

• Use them to make Nettle Seed Burger Buns

• Add them to your homemade granola or granola bars

• Use them in baking, for example replace poppy seeds with nettle seeds for a delicious wild twist on a lemon and poppy seed cake!

• Add them to your energy balls, or roll your homemade chocolate truffles in nettle seeds to finish

• Pop them in seeded crackers

• Make your own wild dukkah, with toasted hazelnuts, nettle seeds and common hogweed seeds

• Make a nettle seed salt to sprinkle on your dishes

• Powder them to make a nettle seed powder, to add to smoothies

• Make a tincture for your joints

• Make a nutritious nettle tea, infusing the seeds in boiling water for 5-6 minutes

Medicinal Properties

Nettle seeds are considered to be a natural source of vitamins, minerals, and essential fatty acids. They are often used to support overall vitality, promote healthy hair and nails, and enhance energy levels. Nettle seeds are great as a tonic, as the seeds contain serotonin – a teaspoon every morning is great for a pick-me-up! 

Nettle seeds helps to support the adrenal glands (the glands above the kidneys which produce hormones that help regulate your metabolism, immune system, blood pressure and your response to stress) and endocrine system (the system of glands in the body that releases hormones into the bloodstream so they can travel to tissue and organs throughout the body.

Nettle seeds are considered a wild adaptogenic herb. An adaptogenic herb is any herb that helps our body to respond to stress, anxiety, fatigue and overall well being. In its most basic form helping the body to recalibrate itself back to its normal function – so a real powerhouse of a wild plant!

🐛GARDEN VOLUNTEER GROUP SESSIONS

We usually have groups on Tuesday and Sunday from 2.00 pm - to 4.00 pm and Friday from 10.00 am - 12.00 pm so if you want to come and garden together, please email Clare [email protected] to check we will be there. If you are in our WhatsApp group, please also use this to check if people are in the garden for a session.

👥TEAM VOLUNTEER GROUP SESSIONS

💰MEMBERSHIP 

The Rosamund Community Garden shares a membership system with Guildford Environmental Forum for joining info please email [email protected]

Come and have a cuppa and a sit and enjoy the birds. Happy gardening!