Garden News - August 2024

The glorious hot weather these last couple of weeks has really worked its magic on the garden, and finally we’re seeing some lovely fruit and veg ready to harvest.

The cold wet spells have meant everything has been a bit delayed, but the plus side is we’ve hardly had to water outside and everywhere is very lush.

It’s looking like a great year for apples and plums in the orchard, with some varieties ready now! We had our first wineberries this week (a Japanese berry that is like a sticky raspberry x blackberry) and the raised beds are producing calabrese, cabbages and pattypan squash (lovely used in stir fries and ratatouille).

Last week was the traditional harvest festival of Lammas, so it seems apt to have our bounty ripening now. (see Margaret’s piece about Lammas origins).

This month we have been focussed on creating new relationships with potential local community groups that want to come and use the space to meet, and/or get involved with the projects. Hopefully, September will see the garden buzzing with various community days helping with the Hub, pond and water harvest projects.

The Hub

The end is in sight and Fudge (the roofer) has started the last leg of the roofing, which will be felted with the poly-carbonate top installed, hopefully in the next month (weather permitting).

We hope to host some groups through the Surrey Hills Society, that are keen to work on the cobbing and carpentry for the walls.

Water Harvest

Galliford Try are booked in for October to come and lend their expertise to installing the solar pump and completing the gutters on the tunnels, so we should be ready for the next dry spell with our rain-water tanks.

Pond

The pond is flourishing with all the plants really well established both in the water and around the margins. We will be planning some more big job days to install a new bank and hopefully some deck areas for pond dipping.

The Big Butterfly Count By Lisa Dittmar

There's still a few days left of this year's Big Butterfly Count, which runs from July 12 - August 4, 2024. It's a big citizen science initiative run every year by the Butterfly Conservation charity, who have been running it for the past 14 years.

What are the results so far?

This year, preliminary results indicate that butterfly numbers are the lowest on record in the UK after a wet spring and summer dampened their chances of mating, says a recent article in the Guardian.

Many people have noticed the lack of fluttering and buzzing insects in their gardens. Experts say this is due to the unusually wet conditions so far in 2024. Climate breakdown means the UK is more likely to face extremes in weather, and the natural rhythms of the seasons that insects such as butterflies are used to can no longer be relied on. 

The UK had its wettest spring since 1986 and the sixth wettest on record, as an average 301.7mm (11.87in) of rain fell across March, April and May, nearly a third (32%) more than usual for the season. 

Climate change also is altering migration patterns. Examining 50 years of data, researchers have identified a clear northerly shift among many species, including the familiar garden favourites the comma, peacock and holly blue.

How To Get Involved? 

To participate, simply find a sunny spot (in Rosamund, your own garden or another sunny spot in your local area) and do the following:

• Download the Big Butterfly Count ID guide - you can download and print your own from this page or you can download the free app. 

• Grab a pen and paper, or a way of noting down what you see

• Find a sunny spot

• Submit your sightings via the Big Butterfly Count website or app by July 4. Congratulations you are now a citizen scientist! Print or download your certificate. 

Lammas Festival and its Origins and Meanings in Tradition by Margaret Hattersley🌽

Lammas is a festival derived from Celtic tradition that falls around the 1st or 2nd August each year. The name has changed from the original Lughnasadh to Lammas which is derived from the Anglo-Saxon words for ” loaf mass”. At this time the first harvest became available and celebratory loaves would be made with the first grain.

Feasts and gatherings would also happen at this time. The Sun was celebrated for being at its height and the Sun gods would be remembered. Nature is at its most abundant at the moment and the fields and woodlands are at their peak of growth. Bilberries and blackberries are some of our wild fruits that can be foraged in August.

Although we do not all join in with harvesting the grain crop nowadays, we can take a moment to reflect and be thankful for all that we have “harvested” during the year up until now. As the Celtic year follows the agricultural calendar and starts at Samhain in October (31st October), this means everything that we have hoped to bring to fruition from that point last year.

Herbs that have seed now are chives and coriander. Coriander seed can be used in cooking when it is green as well as when dried. Now is the time to gather and collect dried seed from herbs, vegetables and flowers for sowing next Spring. Spare seed can be swapped for other varieties at seed banks, such as the one at Zero Carbon Guildford.