Welcome to September’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 4 places remain @£50. 10% discount for RCG members » BOOK NOW  

• Sunday 22nd September, 12:00pm to 4:00pm - Open Day With Apple Pressing (bring containers for juice, CASH only)» TICKETS

• Sunday 29th September - Clean Air Day Guildford we will have a presence on the ZERO stand, please let us know if you can offer an hour or two of support (email: [email protected])

• Wednesday 2nd October - SCC Community Volunteer Day (private event)

• Sunday 6th October, 11:00am to 1:00pm - Big Job Sunday - job tbc

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

• Surrey Hills Society Cobbing Day - date tbc

Events at ZERO » CLICK

🌱IN THE GARDEN

by Clare Millington

After a quiet August, with a lot of people away, September is looking to be a very productive month. 

We’re really excited about the apple pressing day on the 22nd and hope it’ll be as fabulous as usual. This a big fund-raiser for the garden and a great chance for everyone to get together and enjoy the garden, so come and join in, have a go at pressing and enjoy some gorgeous home-made food and fresh apple juice. (please bring containers for juice and cash, and any un-sprayed surplus apples you may have)

This year, the fruit has been phenomenal - the apples are literally abundant and the autumn raspberries are the best ever!

After a slow start the tomatoes are starting to ripen, with the black variety winning the taste test this year. The raised beds have been great and produced some lovely pink fir potatoes, squash and brassicas and yes…. more black tomatoes!

The Hub is now felted at long last and the poly-carbonate top will go on soon. We’ve been busy networking with local groups to run some cobbing days in the next months, which, hopefully will get the walls done before the winter.

This week we also had a visit from  Gemma and Louise at Fare Share in Guildford. Fare Share is a wonderful charity that distributes waste and surplus food from food outlets to local community groups, to combat food poverty and wastage. We’re very pleased to be involved and they will drop off any spoiled fruit and veg for us to compost.

This time of year is probably the best for gathering produce and a gradual slowing down from the mad growth spurt of Summer

The plants are setting seed and we have started to collect them to dry and save for the next planting. It’s great to see plants self-seeding around the garden - kales especially have all self-sown in the poly-tunnel and are looking healthy. 

The hops have nearly covered the old compost loo and the flowers smell amazing! They are great for helping sleep in a herb pillow and of course for beer.

The phacelia (a lovely purple flowering annual - beloved by bees) bank has been a great success and hopefully will self-seed the bank for the spring.

Zero are hosting a seed saving day on the 5th October for Guildford Seed Bank which should be very interesting, with top tips on seed saving and a talk by Andre Tranquilini (go to zerocarbonguildford.org for details).

The sedum in the bee flower bed is now coming into flower and is covered with the bumbles and pollinators. These beautiful drought-tolerant plants are a real must in any garden, providing much-needed autumn nectar. 

We’ve also harvested a bumper crop of nettle seeds to try out the medicinal benefits we shared in the last newsletter. To be continued….

👩🏻‍🌾AUGUST JOBS AT THE GARDEN

• Collect ripe seeds in cardboard punnets, label and put them in the metal cupboard in the kitchen

• Start to clear polytunnels and mulch ready for autumn sowings

• Sow autumn salads and greens in modules

• Keep watering in polytunnels if needed.

• Gather windfall apples into black baskets and store in the metal shed.

• Pick raspberries, ripe apples, potatoes, salad, tomatoes and pattypans

📰COMMUNITY NEWS

🌾Thistles and Teasels by Margaret Hattersley

There is a patch of wild vegetation near the pond which has been left alone, and with minimal interference, nature has provided amply.

At this time of year the thistles, ragwort and teasels that have grown there are now covered in silky furred and prickly seedheads respectively. This is a great feeding opportunity for finches, in particular goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis). These handsome birds have beaks which end at a fine point like a pair of tweezers, excellent for extracting the seeds from the plants. Interestingly, I have just found out that the male birds have a slightly longer beak, making them more able to contend with the prickly teasel heads, whilst the females are often seen feeding alongside them on the softer thistles.

The seeds are a concentrated source of many nutrients including essential fatty acids. Flocks of goldfinch arrive to feed on them – a flock of goldfinch is known as a “charm”. The Anglo Saxon word for goldfinch is “Thistel tuige” which means “thistle tweaker”. Teasels are often used in flower arrangements or to craft hedgehogs, but maybe we should wait until after the goldfinches have had their fill.

Goldfinches will hatch chicks as late as September, probably because the seeds they like to feed on are abundant now. Growing a few teasels in the garden is a great way to encourage them. Most overwinter in the UK, although some migrate to Spain. We are looking forward to seeing these beautiful birds at the garden this Autumn.

🐝 Peter’s Updates

The Bees in September » CLICK

Moths to spot in September ⬇️

🌿PLANT OF THE MONTH:

Yarrow by Helen Harris

Scientific Name: Achillea millefolium

Habitat: Yarrow is a tough plant of many grasslands, from lawns to verges and meadows. Yarrow has been used to help restore arable land to grassland by sowing it along with other natives.

Description: A herbaceous perennial, with clusters of white, flat-topped flower heads and dark green, finely divided, feathery leaves and one to several stems. Growing to about 1 metre tall, it is also characterized by a pungent smell. 

Flowering time: June to November

Other names: arrowroot, death flower, eerie, hundred-leaved grass, knyghten, old man's mustard, sanguinary, seven-year's love, snake's grass.

Traditional and medicinal uses

The entire plant is reportedly edible and nutritious, but it is advised not to consume much as it is bitter and astringent. The leaves can be eaten raw when young with an aniseed-grass flavour. It can also be brewed as tea.

Yarrow has been found in Neanderthal burials dated up to 60,000 years old suggesting its association with human species dates back a long way. Centuries ago, Yarrow was used in Europe as a charm against bad luck and illness.

In the Middle Ages, yarrow was part of a herbal mixture known as gruit used in the flavoring of beer before the use of hops. The flowers and leaves are still used in making some liquors and bitters.

The dark blue essential oil of yarrow contains chemicals called prozalunes similar to those found in chamomile and wormwood. Yarrow contains many other active chemicals including isolaveric acid, salicylic acid, asparagine, sterols and flavonoids and penolic acids. 

Yarrow is widely used in traditional herbal medicine as a laxative,  to heal wounds and stop bleeding, and to stop nosebleeds. Yarrow and its North American varieties were traditionally used by Native American peoples for treating headaches, toothaches and earaches.

Plant Yarrow for wildlife in your garden

Several cavity-nesting birds, including starlings use yarrow to line their nests. Experiments suggest that this may inhibit the growth of parasites.  It is a useful food plant to many pollinators and insects including a large number of moth species, beetles, bugs, hoverflies and wasps.

🐛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]

Have a fab September and hope to see some of you at the garden.