2 minute read
A View from the Potting Shed
‘Sing a song of seasons! Something bright in all!
Flowers in the summer, Fires in the fall!’ Robert Louis
Advertisement
Stevenson wrote the poem Autumn Fires in Victorian times, when the annual autumn bonfires disposed of non-compostable material, including disease ridden branches and woody roots. This practise was common until fairly recently; the smell of wood smoke still takes me back to my great aunt Maud’s country garden, and great uncle Ernie puffing on his pipe as he tended his bonfire. Bonfires in your garden are not illegal, but
wh at to do JOBS TO DO iN NOV
3 Clean – pots, seed-trays, bird nesting boxes, mowing machines. 3 Lag – garden taps and pipes, drain hoses, remove saucers from terracotta pots and use pot feet. 3 Mulch – rhododendrons with chipped bark or compost. Use straw or bark to mulch nerines and agapanthus. Straw, bracken or leaves for susceptible border plants e.g. cistus penstemons, fuchsias, dahlias.
mEmBERS’ NOTiCE BOARD
Dear Members, We hope to see you on Tuesday 30th November at 7pm, ST LUKE’S CHURCH, Walmer Road, Seaford, for the AGM & fun Quiz, plus local metal sculptor Paul Cox will be attending and we can buy his wonderful creations! We are seeking new committee members, if you are interested please contact Chair Sara (07885 406576). they can be annoying, even harmful to others, and could make you unpopular with your neighbours. It’s true that burning will destroy plant diseases, but high temperature local authority composting of green waste will kill most, and even home composting can deal with less-persistent diseases. As for those autumn leaves, just bag them up to make leaf mould. Black bin liners are fine; puncture several holes in the base and sides to help drainage and allow air flow, then stack them out of sight for a year or two, maybe behind the potting shed.
topi c of the mont h COmmON NETTLE
Our September social evening featured a Foraging talk with Gillian Edom; an interesting subject with special mention for the Common Nettle (Urtica dioica) as food (soup or greens), drink (tea or beer), and a strong fibre, which once rivalled flax. Nettles have been foraged for food and cures for centuries – our ancestors recognised their many benefits, while modern gardeners in general have made sure that this stinger is outlawed. I do in fact have a nettle patch in my garden; it arrived uninvited, but I let it stay and develop to support wildlife. Nettles are the number one destination for ladybirds with eggs to lay, they are also a primary food source for many caterpillars, including those of the small tortoiseshell and peacock butterflies. In late summer huge quantities of seed feed the birds. Your nettle patch can also provide a nitrogen-rich liquid plant feed, or mix chopped nettles into your compost where they will speed up decomposition, but don’t add the roots.
Inspired by Gillian’s talk I can benefit from eating young, nutrient-rich nettle leaves. Samuel Pepys ate nettle porridge in 17th-century London; I think I will stick to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s very green soup!
