Category Archive

Hot, dry weather and no sign of Thames Water. Will we see them this summer? They have to get borough permission to dig up the road. Is that in train? Well, expect no rush from them or the Council. How these things play out is always dispiriting, delay the watchword. Our standpipe, hardly comparable to the Elizabeth Line, which was …

Sauvages de ma rue, wild things in my road, or in our case: plants just outside the fence. They are in the little soil that slips out of the garden into the gap between the paving stones and the fence. We have sow thistle, hedge mustard, various grasses, white campion, purple toadflax, nettle and chickweed. The Sauvages de ma Rue …

The wildflower bed is a sea of red poppies; most have come out today as yesterday the scentless mayweed, that largish white daisy-like flower, held sway. Poppy flowers only last a few days, the petals easily detached in the wind. But they will keep coming for the next month of so, leaving behind their pepper pots of seeds. There are …

We have quite a number tadpoles in our pond that have not developed into froglets. They should have done so by the this time of year, having been released from the spawn in late March. I have noted this in previous years. There are always a few who remain tadpoles, but there are more this year. It may be because …

Forest Gate Community Garden Monday, 29 May 2023 The last half of May has been dry, after a very wet April and March. The garden is still green as the earlier rain has soaked into the soil, but another week or so and the plants in the soil will begin to suffer as those in pots and raised beds already …

Forest Gate Community Garden Sunday, 21 May 2023 The bright yellow pond irises are out, catch ’em quick, some are already fading. There’s a pond in Epping Forest called the Lost Pond. I used to go there with Woodcraft Folk over half term while they were camping at Debden, end of May. Usually the irises were out, a large swathe …

Forest Gate Community Garden Friday, 12 May 2023   On Bank Holiday Monday, a group of volunteers, organised by the garden, planted out Earlham Bridge. After the planting, it rained overnight, giving the plants a good start. And they will need it, as these beds have proved difficult for us. Last year, we had a similar plant out, and 80% …

Forest Gate Community Garden Monday 1st May 2023   A busy weekend for the Garden, beginning with a plant sale on Saturday, with the Garden having plenty of visitors. Then, on Bank Holiday Monday, we had a stall at the Green Fair in Forest Lane Park. I was on the Forest Gate Festival stall, which severely limited what I saw …

Forest Gate Community Garden Sunday 23 April 2023   Six months ago, I suggested we have a display of wild flowers. This was agreed at a steering group meeting. But how to get them? My first thought was to buy seeds. But the seeds, I could find were mostly collections of wild flowers suitable for seeding a meadow, say.   …

Saturday 1 April 2023 Forest Gate Community Garden   It’s cold, with a biting wind. I look at the tadpoles in the pond; the mass of them are clustered under water over the remnant of the jelly. I am surprised they are not nearer the surface. Are they clustering to keep warm? I would expect them all over the pond …