This week in the garden, the big news is that we were judged to be Outstanding by the RHS London in Bloom It’s Your Neighbourhood Awards 2018.  This is truly an award that we can all feel really proud of. We were judged on ‘Gardening Achievement’, Community Participation’ and ‘Environmental Responsibility’.

Highlights of what the judge said about us are: ‘an excellent example of a thriving, well run community garden and educational centre used by a variety of local groups, young and old. Schools, volunteer groups, wood turners and mother and baby groups from all strains of local society are involved in using the space….The horticulture on the site is excellent with a lot of variety and good practice…a fantastic space and resource that brings a lot of pleasure to its’ users.’ See the full report.  Well done everyone!

On Saturday 29th September, we will be having our Squash Roast-up so we will be harvesting our squashes, marrows and grapes. If you are able to help out on Saturday, do let us know by replying to this email. We need table decorators and movers, cooks, servers and clearers up!  We are meeting at 10am and will finish by 5pm latest. Any time you can give would be great.

And if you have little ones, think about bringing them to this lovely workshop Helen is running ‘Squash-I Monsters’. It starts at 11am just before our lunch on Saturday 29th September,

On Sunday 30th September at 2pm, we are having our AGM. Everyone is welcome but only members can vote.  The AGM will be followed by tea and cakes.  Any bakers out there, please feel free to bring along cake or biscuits!  Let Kate know if you plan to do this by emailing director@brockwellgreenhouses.org.uk.  Thanks!

Two trustees are retiring this year but two new trustees are standing in their places. The list of members standing is here
The minutes of last year’s AGM are here
The 2017-18 Annual Report and Accounts are here.

The melons in the passive greenhouse have been harvested and it is now time to sow winter salad greens in the large passive greenhouse planter. Hopefully with the insulation of the passive greenhouse it will enable us to protect our winter salads from the worst of the winter’s cold and enable us to produce good quantity salad greens throughout the winter.

In the garden there will be plenty of soil preparation to do. If you want good results in the garden it is always worth spending time preparing the soil before planting.

Our fern bank is due to be extended and new ferns planted this autumn.  Early autumn is an ideal time to plant ferns because the soil is still warm and the ground is getting moister due to the approach of autumn. Generally ferns like moist conditions. However the ferns we will be planting have been selected for their tolerance of occasional dry conditions – just in case next summer turns out to be as hot and dry as this year’s!

Autumn fern planting enables the ferns a period of time to get established before all growth slows up in the winter. Ferns do not have well developed roots unlike other plants and for this reason it is important not to plant them too close to tree roots with which they cannot compete. Ferns like to grow in a moisture retentive soil so a soil with a high leaf litter content is ideal. We will be adding some of our well- rotted leaf litter to the top soil for planting the ferns in.

We will be preparing sign boards for creating more interpretation signs around the garden. These will include lots of names and information about our trees. This week we will be priming the boards with an undercoat. If you are a keen calligrapher and illustrator and would enjoy writing and illustrating our signs, let Cat know in person or  email garden@brockwellgreenhouses.org.uk, as this would be a great help.