Upchurch Horticultural Society
Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course Ltd
Autumn has finally started to get a hold and temperatures are dropping after a mild start to November, leaves are falling, and the rain is coming down. The only thing that appears to be going up is prices! East Anglia is a very arable farming area with lots of local produce being retailed by independent traders. So a weekly shopping trip to the market town of Beccles is proving to be an interesting experience. This town has two independent greengrocers and a weekly market stall offering excellent fruit and vegetables at highly reasonable prices. I was delighted to find a large torpedo shaped Marrow for £1.50, which allowed me to engage in my passion for stuffed Marrow. The shop owner was quite surprised that anyone could get so excited about a lowly vegetable. I really cannot wait to get another vegetable patch up and running, but we are yet to complete on the cottage and still living in temporary accommodation out on the marshes. We do like it here. It reminds me of how Kent used to be 50 years ago with wide open countryside and lots of peace and quiet.
After tidying up the landscaped area around the lodge, the management of the park have appointed a firm of landscape contractors to tidy up the rest of it. I appear to have become the gardening consultant, which makes me feel uncomfortable as the position is unpaid and leaves me susceptible to picking up the blame. They are doing a good job, but I wince watching a young lad prune the shrubs with a hedge trimmer.
A lot tidier, but the shrubs have been massacred.
Hopefully, all the tidying up in the garden is completed by now, and you can enjoy the quieter Winter months, possibly in front of a wood burner, which is a good thing to have these days. Now is a good time to order seeds for next year and a number of catalogues should already have been delivered through your door. I actually bought my seeds through Amazon and was amazed that I could buy them more cheaply than directly from the seed merchant. The plan is to take up part of the lawn to create the new vegetable patch, but just do half this year and then double the size next year up to 800 sq ft (approx 3 poles). That should be sufficient to feed the two of us. I have selected 16 varieties of vegetables for starters and will increase to 32 the following year. These are tried and trusted old favourites but will concentrate more on Winter varieties in the second year. This will then hopefully provide a number of crops to choose from each month of the year.
Other than looking after Winter vegetables and containers and raking up leaves, it is a quiet time of the year. Leek and Onion seeds can be started in December if you are keen as the large varieties need plenty of time to fully mature. That brings us to the end of the year and time to think about the year ahead… if you want to that is. I keep on extolling the virtues of a kitchen garden and try to encourage people to “grow your own”. It has been a long time since money has been this tight, and the professional advice is that it will get worse before it gets better. Now is an ideal time to create some space and start digging. If you need advice, contact the Upchurch Horticultural Society, who will be happy to help.
It has been a cold, wet day today, so I am going to knock up a Beef Pie with mash from Picasso Potatoes (the world’s greatest mash), Hispi Cabbage, Carrots and Leek in beef gravy… and a cook’s glass. That way, I can fill up on both vegetables and beer!
Happy Christmas, and I hope to be writing to you next year from Suffolk.
UHS is always looking for new members and tries to encourage a fun attitude towards friendly competition. So if you want to grow your own fruit, vegetables, and flowers or even enter any of the shows we hold each year, please get in touch. We would be happy to hear from you.
If you are interested in becoming a new member, (all ages are welcome), please contact Tracy Wells: tracywells0312@gmail.com
Sean Barry
