Hello and welcome to September’s garden update.

📅UPCOMING EVENTS AT THE GARDEN

🌿 Saturday, 13th September, 2:00–3:15 pm – Family Nature Connection with Jane - a perfect event for families to slow down, explore, and enjoy meaningful time together outdoors. » BOOK HERE 

🤝 Tuesday, 16th September, 10:00 am–2:00 pm – Corporate Volunteering Day with Clyde & Co (closed group)

🍎 Sunday, 21st September, 12:00–4:00 pm – FREE Open Afternoon with Apple Pressing - a relaxed, family-friendly afternoon at our beautiful Guildford community garden, with apple pressing, homemade produce, children’s activities, and music. » TICKETS

🪓 Sunday, 28th September, all day – Bodgers in the Hub (closed group)

🎨 Sunday, 5th October, 11:00 am–3:00 pm – Natural Plant Dye Workshop with Erin (part of Sustainable Fashion Week, 27th Sept–5th Oct) — learn to create beautiful textiles using seasonal, organically grown dye plants in our garden. » TICKETS THROUGH ZERO HERE

🌍EVENTS AT ZERO GUILDFORD » CLICK

🌱GARDEN NEWS

by Clare Millington

What’s happening in the garden?

This summer has brought unusually extreme weather. After the dry spring, we were worried there might not be much fruit at all.

The drought has affected vegetable harvests. Yet, the fruit trees and bushes have managed to thrive, drawing on the reserves left by winter rains.

Our plum trees, hybrid berries, and even our new cherry tree have given wonderful, sweet fruits. The apple trees are groaning under the weight, ready for our apple pressing afternoon later this month.

The hawthorns and sloes are especially full and striking this year. Unfortunately, they may be gone before the cold weather sets in, which could affect the birds and animals that rely on berries and nuts to see them through the winter.

On the other hand, the dry, warm weather has brought a noticeable increase in insects compared to last year. Butterflies, bees, and many other species have been making the most of the blossoms and flowers in the garden.

Thanks to Paul Jolley’s wildlife camera, we’ve witnessed many nocturnal mammals visiting the pond - polecats (we think), badgers, foxes, and rabbits.

We are starting to sow our gorgeous salads for the winter polytunnels. Mibuna, mizuna, rocket, kale, and spinach all do very well under cover, and this year we’re trying a pak choi variety.

Sam (DofE) and his mum, Penny, have been working really hard on the outside seating area, creating beds under the trellis for perennial planting schemes.

Forest Garden

The new forest garden (planted this spring) is doing extremely well, thanks to the deeply mulched soil structure. We plan to add in perennial kales and broccolis to the planting groups and some lovely signage to explain the various schemes and their uses.

Clare was very pleased to welcome Sarah Mason from the Orchard Project when she visited the garden. Sarah helps to run the forest gardening course, which Clare completed last year, and it was lovely to show her the new planting and share ideas.

Hub

With the help of the wonderful Camberley Nepalese group, (facilitated by Surrey Hills Society) and Surrey Choices Growth team, as well as corporate groups in the spring, we’ve managed to complete the major structure of the walls.

As we move into autumn, the plan is to use dry stone walling to create the infill plinths under the wattle and daub sections. We’ll also block in the remaining small sections between the walls and the roof.

We were fortunate to be successful in our funding bid to buy water-harvesting equipment for the roof. Zero Carbon Guildford has agreed to fund the project. This will enable us to install a series of suspended bamboo “gutters” that will take rainwater in a cascading water feature into upcycled wooden whiskey barrels for storage. The system will bring rainwater to the beds near the Hub and also provide a lovely water feature on the building.

Water Harvesting

The new solar water system on Poly 1 had a practice run this season and seems to work very well. Over the coming weeks, we’ll move the hoses into their permanent position ready for next year. The trial has shown us how best to position the equipment for maximum results.

Poly 2 has also been filling the giant tank, which has been an essential supplement for the wildlife pond in the heat.

Dye Bed

Erin and the DofE students have been busy with the dye bed, keeping it watered and weeded.

The woad has completed its two-year cycle and has produced a phenomenal amount of seeds. We’ve saved these to share with others and to plant next spring. Erin also tried including the seed in one of her bundle dyes and managed to get a blue dye from them! Hopefully the woad has self-sown for next year, but if not, we’ve got enough seed to not worry too much. (video)

The coreopsis and dyer’s chamomile have produced incredible numbers of flowers this summer. Erin and the volunteers have been harvesting and drying them each week, ready for Sustainable Fashion Week in October, when she’ll be running a natural dyeing workshop at the garden - book your space HERE.

👩🏻‍🌾SEPTEMBER JOBS AT THE GARDEN

• Sow autumn salads in modules in Poly 2

• Water seedlings and tomatoes as needed

• Water outside beds if dry

• Harvest tomatoes, apples (if ready), chards and beans

• Clear any spent plants

• Start to store ripe apples in crates for pressing.

🌱PLANT OF THE MONTH

Elder (Sambucus Nigra)

This time of year, the hedgerows are heavy with wild berries such as hawthorn, sloes, and these beautiful clusters of shiny elderberries.

The elder tree can grow to around 15 metres tall and may live for up to 60 years. It is widespread across the UK, thriving in woodland, scrub, wasteland, and along hedgerows. Elders are often found near rabbit warrens or badger setts, where the animals help to spread the seeds in their droppings.

Elder trees are characterised by their short trunk, or bole, with grey-brown, corky, furrowed bark, their clusters of white flowers, and their glossy black berries.

Flowers

The flowers provide nectar for a variety of insects, while the berries are eaten by birds and mammals. Small mammals, such as dormice and bank voles, feed on both flowers and fruit.

Many moth caterpillars also rely on elder foliage, including the white-spotted pug, swallowtail, dot moth, and buff ermine. The flowers, borne on large flat umbels 10–30 cm across, are creamy-coloured, strongly scented, and five-petalled. They generally appear from late May.

Uses and Folklore

Although the flowers and cooked berries (pulp and skin) are edible, the raw berries and other parts of the Sambucus genus are poisonous, containing traces of arsenic.

The flowers are traditionally used to make wine, cordial, or tea, and can even be fried into fritters. The berries, rich in vitamin C, are used in preserves and wines, or baked into pies with blackberries.

Folklore around elder is abundant. It was once said that burning elder wood would summon the Devil, but planting it by your house would keep him away. Elder is also called the ‘Judas tree’, as legend has it Judas Iscariot hanged himself from one.

Elder wood is hard and yellow-white. Mature timber is valued for whittling and carving, while smaller stems can be hollowed to make craft items. In the past, elder foliage was hung to repel flies, particularly around dairies.

The tree has long been a source of natural dyes. Its berries yield blue and purple, the leaves give yellow and green, and the bark produces greys and blacks. Historically, these dyes were used in the making of richly patterned Harris Tweed.

The name elder is thought to derive from the Anglo-Saxon aeld, meaning “fire”, because its hollow stems were once used as bellows to blow air into flames.

Credit: woodlandtrust.org.uk

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We look forward to seeing you in the garden soon!